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 into 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 (1/2 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 half a cup) cheddar cheese grated
- 25 g (1/2 cup) panko breadcrumbs
- ¼ tsp paprika
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
To Serve:
- 3 tbsp double (heavy) cream
- fresh basil leaves
- fresh pasta or boiled potatoes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan).
- Place the cherry tomatoes in the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkle over the cornflour, ¼ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp pepper. Toss together with your hands.400 g (14oz) cherry/grape tomatoes, 1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch), ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper
- Add the garlic, stock, red wine vinegar, and 1 tbsp of pesto and stir together.2 cloves garlic, 1 chicken stock cube, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 3 tbsp fresh pesto
- Top the tomatoes with the 4 chicken breasts.4 small chicken breasts
- Spread the remaining 2 tbsp of pesto on the chicken breasts and sprinkle on the cheese.60 g (2.1 oz or just over half a cup) cheddar cheese
- Mix together the panko breadcrumbs, paprika, olive oil, and the remaining ¼ tsp each of salt and pepper.25 g (1/2 cup) panko breadcrumbs, ¼ tsp paprika
- Sprinkle the mixture on top of the chicken.1 tbsp olive oil
- Place in the oven to cook for 10 minutes, then sprinkle over the pine nuts.1 tbsp 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.3 tbsp double (heavy) cream
- Sprinkle fresh basil leaves over the dish and serve with some fresh pasta or some boiled potatoes.fresh basil leaves, fresh pasta or boiled potatoes
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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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My Husband absolutely LOVED this. He nearly proposed to me again! So easy to pull together and could easily be something you serve at a dinner party as well as a weeknight meal. 10/10!
I’ve made this twice in a week, because it’s that good! I pounded the chicken breasts, and skipped the cheese, extra olive oil, cream and pine nuts. I didn’t think cheddar cheese was the best thing to pair with pesto, but we didn’t miss not having it.
Made this for dinner last night. I am not sure if cheddar is correct as the video shows white cheese (unless they’re using white cheddar?) but still I ended up using mozzarella instead as it made a lot more sense. It was a super delicious recipe! The only thing I’d say is that if you have to cut the chicken breasts in half because they are thick, then you should probably reduce cooking time and keep track with a thermometer or else they will be overcooked with the recipe cook times