Home
Recipes
Creamy pesto chicken

Pesto chicken topped with breadcrumbs, with vine tomatoes in a baking dish

Creamy pesto chicken

Name: Creamy pesto chicken
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 3 tbsp homemade pesto (see tip below for the recipe); 85g mascarpone; 4 tbsp olive oil; 100g breadcrumbs preferably made from day-old bread; 175g baby tomatoes on the vine; handful of pine nuts; handful of basil leaves

Save recipe

Serves 4

Easy

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 25 mins

A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.279 ratingsRate

loading...

Try this comforting all-in-one pesto chicken dish with roasted vine tomatoes – chicken breasts are stuffed with a creamy pesto sauce and topped with breadcrumbs.

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Showing items 1 to 3 of 3

Pesto sauce

A star rating of 4.4 out of 5.101 ratings

Classic pesto

A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.170 ratings

Cheesy garlic baguette

A star rating of 4.5 out of 5.32 ratings

Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 tbsp homemade pesto

(see tip below for the recipe)
85g mascarpone
4 tbsp olive oil
100g breadcrumbs

preferably made from day-old bread
175g baby tomatoes

on the vine
handful of pine nuts
handful of basil leaves

Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.

Nutrition: per serving

kcal545
fat33g
saturates10g
carbs22g
sugars3g
fibre1g
protein40g
salt0.82g

low

Method

step 1

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Use a small sharp knife to make a slit along the side of each chicken breast to form a pocket. Mix together the pesto and mascarpone, then carefully spoon a quarter of the mixture into each chicken breast and smooth over the opening to seal.
step 2

Brush a little oil, about 1 tsp, all over each chicken breast and season well. Tip the breadcrumbs onto a large plate and season. Place each breast on the plate and press all over with the breadcrumbs. Place in a lightly oiled shallow baking dish along with the tomatoes (kept together on the vine in a couple of bunches). Drizzle over the remaining oil.
step 3

Cook in the oven for 20-25 mins until the chicken starts to turn golden and is cooked through. Scatter over the pine nuts and cook for 2 mins more. Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve with new potatoes or crusty bread.

RECIPE TIP

HOMEMADE PESTO

Heat a small frying pan over a low heat. Cook 50g pine nuts until golden, shaking occasionally. Put into a food processor with 80g basil, 50g parmesan, 150ml olive oil and 2 garlic cloves. Whizz until smooth, then season to taste. See our recipe for classic pesto.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, April 2009

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 4.7 out of 5.279 ratings

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access

Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.

Subscribe now