The BEST Creamy Pesto Baked Chicken! You won’t believe how easy it is to make this simple dinner of tender chicken breasts served in a creamy pesto sauce with blistered grape tomatoes. With just 8 easy ingredients it will become your new go-to dinner served alongside your favorite pasta.
Looking for more weeknight chicken dishes? Try my Chicken Dumpling Soup, One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice, Chicken Pad Thai, Easy Baked Lemon Chicken, and my super-flavorful Moroccan Chicken Tagine!
Why This Recipe Works
It’s quick and colorful: It may take 45 minutes to make, but most of that time is hands-off baking time allowing you to do other things. And because it has simple (but delicious!) flavors and bright colors it is guaranteed to be a hit, even with fussy eaters!
It’s made up of grocery store staples: You don’t need to seek out anything different or fancy to make this creamy baked pesto chicken dish. Jarred pesto, grape tomatoes and garlic are the stars, and if your grocery store does not carry creme fraiche if can easily be substituted for mascarpone and a squeeze of fresh lemon or even heavy cream.
Ingredients
- Chicken breasts: without the skin.
- Garlic cloves: you’re slicing them so you’ll want to buy fresh!
- Grape tomatoes: or another baby tomato variety.
- Creme fraiche: if you can’t find it, sub in mascarpone lightened with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, or heavy cream.
- Pesto – use any basil pesto here. My easy 5-minute pesto recipe is a personal favorite!
Here’s How You Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 375F. (not pictured)
- Brown the chicken: Season the chicken all over, and heat the oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Brown the chicken breasts, working in batches so you don’t crowd the pan, then set aside. (photos 1-3)
- Make the sauce: Add the sliced garlic to the pan and cook for a minute until just soft and aromatic. Stir in the tomatoes, followed by the pesto and the creme fraiche. Remove from the heat. (photos 4-10)
- Bake: Return the chicken breasts to the skillet, spooning the creamy pesto sauce over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken breasts have cooked through to an internal temperature of 165F. (photo 11)
- Serve: Season the sauce to taste with salt (how much you need will depend on which brand of pesto you’re using) before serving over cooked pasta. (photo 12)
Expert Tips
- Don’t skip browning the chicken. Not only does it add extra flavor to the chicken breasts, but it helps keep them nice and juicy inside when they finish cooking in the sauce.
- Cooked chicken has an internal temperature of 165F. If you’re using particularly large chicken breasts and you’re worried they might not be cooked through, test them with a thermometer to be sure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Alongside pasta to make the most of all that delicious sauce, either steamed or roasted greens like broccoli, or a simple green salad would be great! If you don’t want to make pasta, crusty bread, mashed potatoes or rice would also pair well.
Use dairy free creme fraiche, or another slightly thick dairy substitute that has a slightly tangy flavor and won’t split when the dish is baked. Also, make sure the pesto you’re using is dairy free as they often contain cheese.
If your pesto is gluten free, so is this recipe!
More Easy Dinner Ideas
- Garlic Butter Steak and Potatoes Recipe in a Cast Iron Skillet
- Easy Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Butter Sauce
- Old Fashioned Corn Chowder with Shrimp and Bacon
- Easy Slow Cooker Hawaiian Shredded Chicken Recipe with Pineapple
- Easy Creamy Cajun Shrimp Alfredo Pasta Recipe
Did you make this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo on social – I love seeing what you’re up to in the kitchen!
Creamy Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- kosher salt - to taste
- cracked black pepper - to taste
- 1 ½ tbsp olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves - peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cups grape tomatoes - halved
- 1 cup creme fraiche - see note for substitutes
- ½ cup pesto
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Season the chicken all over, and heat the oil in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Brown the chicken breasts, working in batches so you don’t crowd the pan, then set aside.
- Add the sliced garlic to the pan and cook for a minute until just soft and aromatic. Stir in the tomatoes, followed by the pesto and the creme fraiche. Remove from the heat.
- Return the chicken breasts to the skillet, spooning the creamy pesto sauce over the top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the chicken breasts have cooked through to an internal temperature of 165F.
- Season the sauce to taste with salt (how much you need will depend on which brand of pesto you’re using) before serving over cooked pasta.
I am reading this while I have my morning coffee, and all I want to do is skip straight to dinner. This looks amazing!
Looks amazing and it’s what I’m making tonight 🙂 If I’m using store-bought naan or flat bread, would this recipe probably be enough to divide between two or three of them, do you think? The naan I’m looking at is from Stonefire and seems to be a medium-sized flatbread. Love your photos and can’t wait to try some of your recipes!
Hi V! Depends on if you want to use it for a main dish or appetizer. I would use two full pieces of the stonefire naan for this recipe if you want to feed 2-3 people for a main dish. By the way, I LOVE Stonefire!!
Well this was a raving success! I used the sargento part skim mozzarella and the stone fire naan crust. Definitely a favorite now, ty!
Very interesting recipe. Tomorrow I’m going to cook. I cook different recipes. I love to experiment. This was very interesting: http://www.legenrecipes.com/recipe/barbecued-chicken-tortilla-pizzas Now your going to try. Thank you very much.