Gluten Free Living – 2014

Pesto Chicken is SO simple, yet so delicious! I love those quick and easy 3-ingredient recipes. This one has pesto, parmesan cheese and chicken. That’s all. But the taste is so scrumptious and so amazing. Last week I made up a quick supper with this chicken dish, Pesto Asparagus and some baked parsley potatoes. I actually made the Pesto Asparagus on a lark, because it was this Pesto Chicken recipe I really set out to make. I wasn’t disappointed that night for dinner. Both recipes turned out fabulous.

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I love baking chicken in the oven. We buy boneless chicken breasts frequently when they’re on sale. Then we package them up for the freezer. It’s easy to pull out a package once or twice a week for easy dinners. Since I love the taste of pesto anyway, I thought I would see how this would turn out with parmesan cheese added. Yum, is all I can say! Plus, you get the added benefit of being able to have your chicken oven-ready in about 5 minutes. That’s a win-win for me when I don’t want to spend a lot of time on dinner meals.

When I originally made this last week it was dark and gloomy outside so I didn’t even bother to take any good pictures with my Canon camera. Instead, these are all with my iPhone and indoors which is very poor lighting, but the chicken was so tasty I decided to go ahead and post this delectable recipe anyway.

If you’re looking for a healthy, low calorie, gluten free recipe for chicken, then this main dish is one you’ve got to try out sometime. It’s quick, easy, economical, and very flavorful. You and your family will love it–especially if you love pesto and cheese. For those of you growing lots of basil in your gardens this summer, this is a great way to use some of it up!

When I first posted this recipe in April 2013, the day was extremely overcast and I didn’t have my meat cooked in time to take pictures outside in what little light I had available. I ended up taking pictures inside with poor lighting, and I was never very satisfied with the pictures. I recently remade this recipe (February 2015), and took some new pictures. Even though these were taken later in the day, they are still better than the originals.

Originally I made this with straight parmesan cheese and pesto sauce. This time I used a delicious 6-cheese Italian blend with Mozzarella, Parmesan, Fontina, Asiago, Romano and Provolone cheeses. I loved it with the cheese blend even though it is excellent with the parmesan cheese, too. If you enjoy chicken and pesto and cheese, I think you’ll enjoy this recipe just as much as we did!

Pesto Chicken has amazing taste. It’s hard to believe only three ingredients provides such spectacular flavor!

When I made Pesto Chicken the first time, I served it with Pesto Asparagus and Potatoes sprinkled with olive oil and parsley. This time I served it with Parsley Potatoes.

The pesto sauce is enough for 4 pieces of boneless chicken breasts or one whole chicken, cut up.

Here’s what I did.

I used these three ingredients.

Place pesto sauce and Italian cheese blend in a bowl.

Stir pesto and cheese to combine.

Spray a 9×13″ glass baking dish with cooking spray. Place chicken pieces in dish. Spoon pesto sauce mixture over top of the chicken.

Bake about 30 minutes at 350 before turning chicken over and baking the other side. Be sure to spoon more pesto over top of the chicken once you turn it over.

Serve Pesto Chicken with your favorite side dishes. 

Here’s a close up so you can see the texture of the chicken.

Pesto chicken was very moist and tender. It’s delicious served with Parsley Potatoes.

Here’s the recipe.

PESTO CHICKEN

(My own concoction)

This is a great recipe to whip up when you’re on the go and don’t have a lot of time to prepare dinner. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare and then it bakes in the oven while you are doing other things.

Doesn’t Pesto Chicken look marvelous? It sure tastes it! Add Parsley Potatoes and fruit, and you have a fantastic meal!

You may also enjoy these delicious recipes!

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

Pesto Ravioli with Chicken

Baked Chicken Bruschetta