This creamy pesto chicken is all made in one pan and couldn’t be more delicious if it tried!
This is one of those dinners that you’ll come back to over and over again. Mainly because it’s so delicious, but also because it’s so quick and easy to make! Follow me…
Creamy Pesto Chicken Ingredients
You actually don’t need too many ingredients for this recipe. A lot should hopefully be knocking about in your cupboards too! The full recipe is down in the recipe card, but just to quickly go over each ingredient:
- Chicken – We’ll be using a couple of chicken breasts for this recipe, which we’ll later slice in half.
- Flour – This is to coat the chicken. I also like to season the flour with salt, garlic powder and black pepper.
- Butter and Oil – This is to fry the chicken.
- Shallots – These add a nice base flavour to the sauce.
- Stock – This adds some depth of flavour to the sauce. I use 1/2 Oxo cube + hot water.
- Cream – This makes up the bulk of the sauce. I recommend using double/heavy cream for a thick and luscious sauce.
- Parmesan – This adds a boost of flavour to the sauce.
- Tomatoes – Cherry tomatoes add little bursts of sweetness that balance out the rich sauce.
- Pesto – You can use a good quality store-bought pesto, or of course, use my Homemade Pesto!
Pan-Fried Chicken Breast
To prep the chicken, you’ll just need to slice it through the centre to double the portion size. This will not only help the chicken cook through more evenly, but it’ll also cook through more quickly too.
Dredging through flour
Dredging the chicken through flour is an important step in this recipe. This will help the chicken build up a nice golden crust, which in turn, helps the sauce cling to the chicken (as opposed to sliding right off).
The chicken won’t take long to cook – a few minutes on each side should do the trick. Keep in mind it’ll carry on cooking slightly as it rests and when added back to the pan.
Process shots: slice chicken (photo 1), dredge through flour (photo 2), add to pan with oil and butter (photo 3), fry both sides (photo 4).
Creamy Pesto Sauce for Chicken
The sauce actually comes together very quickly. Here are a few tips as you go along:
- Simmer the cream and stock until it’s nice and thick. You need to keep in mind that the tomatoes and pesto will thin it back out once you add them.
- Only simmer the tomatoes until they just begin to soften. They will continue softening and leaking out juice once you add the pesto and chicken.
- When you add the pesto, make sure the heat is very low and you give it a swift stir to combine with the cream; if you don’t, you risk the sauce splitting.
Process shots: remove chicken (photo 1), fry shallots (photo 2), simmer stock, cream and parmesan (photo 3), simmer tomatoes then add pesto (photo 4), swiftly stir (photo 5), add chicken (photo 6).
Creamy Pesto Chicken FAQ
My initial thought when testing this was that pesto + cream is going to result in a very rich sauce. However, for the following reasons, the sauce turns out lighter than you might think:
– The pesto doesn’t have too much oil (3 tbsp, so 0.75 tbsp per person).
– The sauce is 2/3 cream and 1/3 stock, which helps to tone down the richness.
– The sweet pops of tomato work wonders in balancing out the sauce.
I actually prefer breast for this recipe, but you could use boneless skinless thighs if you’d prefer. I recommend draining away the excess fat after frying them and be aware they’ll take a little longer to cook through.
This is definitely better made fresh, so I do not recommend making it ahead of time.
How to serve Creamy Pesto Chicken
You only need to add the chicken back into the pan to warm it through and coat it in the sauce. Also, don’t forget the stir in the resting juices for extra flavour!
Here I’ve served with a simple side salad and some crusty bread. There will be plenty of sauce, so you could even serve with pasta, rice or potatoes!
For another pesto chicken recipe check out my Crispy Baked Pesto Chicken!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this creamy pesto chicken shall we?!
How to make Creamy Pesto Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
Creamy Pesto Chicken
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Shallow Dish (for dredging chicken)
- Large Pan & Tongs
- Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock)
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2x 250g/9oz Chicken Breasts
- 35g / 1/4 cup Plain Flour
- 1 tsp EACH: Salt, Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tbsp EACH: Olive Oil, Butter
Sauce
- 2 Shallots, finely diced
- 160ml / 2/3 cup Double/Heavy Cream
- 80ml / 1/3 cup Chicken Stock (see notes)
- 20g / 1/4 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan
- 200g / 7oz Cherry Tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup Pesto (see notes)
Instructions
- Horizontally slice each chicken breast right through the centre to create 4 even-sized cutlets. In a large shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. One by one, coat the cutlets in the flour, give them a shake then place to one side.
- In a large pan over medium-high heat add 1 tbsp oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the chicken and fry both sides for a few minutes until golden on the outside and just about cooked through the centre. Remove and place on a plate to one side.
- Lower the heat to medium, then fry the shallots in the excess fat until soft and golden. Stir in the stock, cream and parmesan and simmer for a couple of minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Add the tomatoes and simmer for another couple of minutes until the tomatoes just begin to soften.
- Turn the heat to low, then swiftly stir in the pesto until it completely blends into a sauce. Stir in any resting juices from the chicken and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Add the chicken back in, coat in the sauce then serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
Instead of basil pesto, could you use sun dried tomato pesto ?
I haven’t tried myself but I imagine it’ll work just fine! C.