Pesto-Baked Chicken

If you are bored with chicken and want something deliciously simple, then look no further than this Pesto-Baked Chicken. It’s an easy gluten-free dinner recipe everyone in the family can enjoy. Not only that, the pesto in this recipe is pine nut-free and paleo-friendly. {Paleo}

Pesto-Baked Chicken is much easier to make than I thought it would be. If I have to fold things into things, then there is a 99.6% chance I will get the folding wrong. Pretty sure I once had to watch a 3-minute video tutorial on how to fold a fitted sheet for a solid 47 minutes. So folding pesto into a chicken breast, I figured, wouldn’t go well.

Except that it went just fine. And, really, all we’re doing is butterflying the chicken breast enough to get about a tablespoon or two of pesto into the center of it, baking its, and then calling it dinnertime. If you aren’t quite sure the best way to butterfly a chicken breast (or are wondering what in the fresh it even means), then you might like BBC Good Food’s post, How to Butterfly Chicken Breasts. Pretty straightforward. Also, this is how we win dinnertime, Spiriteds. 

Pesto-Baked Chicken tastes like something straight out of a restaurant. And it’s easy to make several servings or just one or two. So grab a cutting board, a few chicken breasts, and let’s ditch boring dinners in favor of flavor! Because, Spiriteds? This dinner, however simple it seems, is anything but blah!

Pesto-Baked Chicken is

• Gluten-free and paleo-friendly
• Easy to adapt for one or two people or a larger crowd
• Restaurant-style flavor but without the high price tag
• Perfect for date night in

Pesto-Baked Chicken ingredients

Below are the ingredients to make your own Pesto-Baked Chicken. You can buy store-bought pesto. Or, if you’re in the mood to make a pine nut-free pesto, then you you can easily throw a batch together in about 5 minutes!

• Chicken breasts. I butterfly each chicken breast so that they’re sliced lengthwise about 2/3rds – 3/4ths of the way through. If you do accidentally fillet the chicken by slicing it all the way through, that’s okay. Don’t throw it out or set it aside. Dollop the pesto as you normally would. Then, if necessary, place a toothpick in the center to hold the chicken breast together while it bakes.
• Homemade pesto. This pine nut-free pesto recipe uses fresh basil, cashews, fresh garlic, lemon juice, water, olive oil, and sea salt. If you want to use store-bought, that will also work too. A thicker pesto is ideal so it doesn’t run right out of the chicken breast.
• Olive oil. I use enough to cover the baking dish and then enough to drizzle over the chicken breasts so they don’t dry out during the baking process.
• Sea salt and pepper. I add each to taste.

Side note: I added cashews to this recipe because I used a cashew pesto for the filling. For extra crunch, add pine nuts, cashews, or other nuts to the baking dish, if desired. If you don’t want them to char, then add them partway through the baking process.

How to make Pesto-Baked Chicken

1. Set the oven to 375 degrees. Pour enough olive oil into a 9×13 baking dish to cover the bottom of the pan. If desired, add pine nuts or cashews to the dish and set aside.
2. Butterfly each chicken breast about 2/3 – 3/4 of the way through (so that the breast is still intact rather than sliced into two separate chicken breasts), and spoon 1-2 tablespoons pesto into each chicken breast. Close the chicken breasts and drizzle them with additional olive oil. Then sprinkle sea salt and pepper over the top of each one.
3. Place the chicken breasts in the baking dish without overlapping them. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Serve over lettuce, veggie noodles, gluten-free noodles, mixed vegetables, cauliflower rice, or by themselves.
4. If desired, top with leftover pesto before serving. This recipe is best enjoyed right after baking is complete. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for about 24 hours.

Side note: See the empty baking dish above in all its gloopy glory? Drizzle the leftover oil, baked pine nuts or cashews, and any crispy goodness over the top of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or other vegetables. If I have enough olive oil leftover in the dish, I’ll place raw vegetables in there, tent the dish with foil, and let the heat from the oil and the pan soften the veggies naturally. The veggies won’t be super-soft, but they will have a delicious, savory crunch to them!

Side note #2: If the pesto oozes out of the chicken breast, it’s completely up to you whether you spoon it back in or scoop it up and drizzle it over the top of the chicken breasts once they’re done cooking. I tend to do the latter.

More delicious chicken recipes!

 If you like this chicken recipe, then you might also enjoy:

• Sheet Pan Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
• Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Soup
• Easy Paleo Apple Chicken Salad

Spiriteds, stay wild and stay well. I’m glad you’re here! 🩷

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