Chicken breasts with a cheddar-crumb topping, nestled in a creamy pesto sauce on a bed of roasted cherry tomatoes. This Easy Baked Pesto Chicken is a mouth-watering easy dinner that doesn't require any pre-cooking. Just add it all the dish and bake.
One-pan cooking doesn't have to be all about same-coloured food that spends all day in the slow cooker. Whilst I am a huge fan of coming home to a meltingly tender pork ragu or spicy chicken curry, sometimes we're out too early to start something cooking, and home too late and don't have a lot of time, but still want a delicious meal.
It's those days when you need a meal like this. All cooked in one tray, you can have a beautiful meal on the table in half an hour - and two-thirds of that time can be spent sat on the sofa enjoying a cup of tea.
The textures and flavours will make you so happy you skipped the beans on toast!
What do we need?
How to make this Pesto Chicken
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.***
- Chop up cherry tomatoes and mix with a little cornflour, salt and pepper, then stir in garlic, stock and pesto.
- Top the tomatoes with chicken breasts and spoon a little pesto on each, then sprinkle on some grated cheddar.
- Add my seasoned panko mixture (see the recipe card)
- Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- If you like, sprinkle on a few pine nuts halfway through the cooking time (Note: I'm adding them halfway through because I've tested this recipe and they'll burn if they're in the oven for the whole time).
- Once cooked, stir a little cream into the sauce.
Sprinkle with a few fresh basil leaves before serving.
What to serve it with
- Homemade Pasta
- Crispy Roast Potatoes
- Easy Artisan Bread
- Pan-Fried Sauté Potatoes
- Easy Garlic Bread
Ingredient swaps
- Try swapping out the pesto for harissa and adding olives for a spicy version.
- Try swapping the pesto for barbeque sauce and throw in some chorizo for a smoky version.
More Italian Inspired Recipes
- Lasagne
- Spaghetti Bolognese
- Tomato Risotto
- Chicken Parmesan
- Chicken Alfredo Pasta Bake
- Tuscan Chicken Soup
- Pizza Fries < OK not really that Italian but I think it qualifies as Italian inspired!
Watch how to make it
Easy Baked Pesto Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g (14oz) cherry/grape tomatoes - sliced in half
- 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 chicken stock cube - mixed with 120ml (½ cup) boiling water
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 3 tbsp fresh pesto
- 4 small chicken breasts - or 2 large chicken breasts, sliced in half to make 4 fillets
- 60 g (2.1 oz or just over hafd a cup) cheddar cheese - grated
- 25 g (½ cup) panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
To finish:
- 3 tbsp double (heavy) cream
- Fresh basil leaves
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Place the cherry tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkle over the cornflour, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper. Toss together with your hands.
- Add the garlic, stock, red wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of pesto and stir together.
- Top the tomatoes with the 4 chicken breasts.
- Spread the remaining 2 tbsp of pesto on the chicken breasts and sprinkle on the cheese.
- Mix together the panko breadcrumbs, paprika, olive oil and the remaining ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle the mixture on top of the chicken.
- Place in the oven to cook for 10 minutes, then sprinkle over the pine nuts.
- Place back in the oven to cook for a further 10-15 minutes - until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.
- Remove from the oven and stir the cream into the liquid and tomatoes in the baking dish.
- Sprinkle fresh basil leaves over the dish and serve with some fresh pasta or some boiled potatoes.
Video
✎ Notes
Nutrition
This recipe was first posted in October 2014. Updated in November 2020 with new photos, video and improvements to the recipe.
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Teri D says
This was sensational, and got 2 thumbs up all around! My sister in law even warned us how terrible it was, and said she’d sacrifice by taking home the leftovers. 😂😂 A couple comments on the recipe: I doubled the amount of pesto and it was just that much more amazing. However, what is supposed to happen with the broth mixture? I poured it over the tomatoes and put the chicken on top, which seemed to make sense, but that info is missing from the recipe. Also, cheddar cheese did not make sense to me with the other flavors, so I went with shredded mozzarella and it was perfection. The good news is that I have a whole jar of pesto still, so I’m going to have to make it again soon! Served with a garlic & herb wild rice blend and broccoli.
Ruth says
Hands down the tastiest dinner I’ve ever made. So easy and yet so tasty. Absolutely love any recipes I’ve made from this site. Fantastic for tasty family dinners. 5 stars!!!
Sarah says
Loved this!
Never had pesto before, but this is a dish we will definitely have again. So quick and easy to make.
Might try with fish as suggested by someone else.
Darren says
Wow! A real flavour full dish. I used cod loin pieces. Started cooking the tomatoes in the pan and then deglazed with a little white wine and then followed the recipe with 15 minutes in the oven.
Rachael Cohens says
Incredible dinner and can say with certainty that it's the most delicious, flavor banging dish I've ever made; I'm 50yrs old with a grandchild and cooked a lot of meals in my lifetime! Hands down, the best! I added a little spicy kick as along w/ sliced black olives but even sticking to recipe (w/o pine nuts), exceptional! Making it this weekend for my son and 4yr old granddaughter! Thank you for the amazing meal ideas, from my 💜!
Rachael
P.S. Wish I could embed a photo to show it off! I took plated and dug-in photos of yummyness!