Indulge in the vibrant flavours of our delicious pesto chicken recipe. Tender chicken breasts smothered in a basil pesto sauce, top with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. served with your choice of sides. “A perfect blend of freshness and savoury goodness awaits you!
What is 4 Ingredient Pesto Chicken Bake
Pesto Chicken Bake, sounds sophisticated or fancy, doesn’t it? In reality, this is one of the easiest recipes. It requires only 5 minutes of prep and only 4 basic ingredients: chicken, basil pesto, mozzarella, and fresh tomatoes. Sometimes if I don’t have the tomatoes, I will just put basil pesto, and mozzarella on it and it’s still delicious.
What is pesto?
Traditional pesto is a blend of fresh basil, garlic, pine nuts (I use walnuts or cashews because they are less expensive) and extra-virgin olive oil, and parmesan cheese. You can omit the cheese to make it vegan or dairy free. The only piece of equipment you will need is a food processor, blender, or mortar and pestle (that requires a little more muscle and arm work) and the best part, it comes together in a few steps:
· Pulse the nuts, lemon juice, and garlic in the food processor until they’re finely chopped.
· Add the basil and pulse again.
· Next, drizzle in the olive oil with the food processor blade still running.
· Finally, add grated Parmesan cheese and process briefly until combined.
If you don’t have the time to make your own pesto, I like to use this pre-made pesto. it’s got fantastic flavor and I’m always happy with it.
Ingredients
You will only need a few simple ingredients to make this delicious made from scratch Pesto chicken, this is just the overview of ingredients. We can find the recipe at the bottom of the page.
Fresh Chicken: I use boneless, skinless chicken breast.
Salt and Pepper: if you’re using a fine ground salt, I would use a little less or it might be a little too salty.
Basil Pesto Sauce: Home-made or store-bought.
Tomato: Sliced tomato, use a large or medium firm red tomato.
Mozzarella: I used pizza cheese, marble cheese, or could use provolone all these work really well.
How To Make 4 Ingredient Pesto Chicken Bake:
How to make the 4-ingredient pesto chicken? It’s a simple recipe and comes together quickly! I include the detailed instructions in the recipe card below. Here are the basic steps:
Your first step is to bake the chicken breasts.
Next, place the chicken breast on a baking sheet with parchment or a liner. Top the chicken with your homemade or store-bought basil pesto. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Carefully take the chicken out of the oven. It should smell amazing right now with the smell of that basil pesto. Place your sliced tomato on top of the chicken and pesto. Bake for another 15 minutes.
Sprinkle with your cheese of choice and put back into the oven for 5 minutes
Helpful Tip
I was always afraid my chicken wasn’t cooked (I think that’s a fear of a lot of people really), so I purchased an instant-read thermometer. I insert it into the thickest part of the chicken breast and aim for an internal temperature of 165 ºF.
4 Ingredient Pesto Chicken
Equipment
- 1 food processor
Ingredients
- 3 Chicken Breasts
- 3 tbsp Basil Pesto
- 2 tomatoes medium size
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese grated or sliced
Instructions
- Smother chicken fillets in the pesto on all sides (about 2 tablespoons of pesto for each chicken breast, depending on your taste). Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F | 180°C. Line a baking dish with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- Arrange the coated chicken breasts in the baking dish and bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- At 30 minutes, remove the chicken from the oven and arrange the tomatoes around each fillet.
- Place the chicken back in the oven and cook a further 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
- Smother the chicken breasts with the mozzarella cheese and put back in the oven for 5 minutes
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does. When I make it for my family, it disappears with my step girls. I always omit the tomatoes but they do really enjoy the pesto and cheese.
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