Super easy one-pan Paleo Pesto Baked Chicken that’s kid friendly, Whole30 friendly, healthy and seriously delicious! Ready in 30 minutes and perfect for weeknights.
Little effort, big results. That about sums up this INSANELY delicious, easy Paleo Pesto Baked Chicken! Clearly, I’m on an easy meal kick lately – and I’m not about to stop anytime soon.
I honestly have no clue why it took me so long to break out this old pesto recipe and give it new life. But now that I think of it, I’m sure the answer has something to do with the kids revolting against the GREEN appearance of the pesto when they were toddlers.
We must be making progress though, because each one of them LOVED the pesto and this recipe is now officially in our dinner rotation, along with our bacon wrapped chicken thighs, slow cooker BBQ chicken and meatballs. Lots of chicken happening lately, I must say!
I took my old pesto recipe and revamped it a bit with the addition of baby spinach along with the basil, and nutritional yeast, which I’ve been quite the fan of lately. If you haven’t experimented with nutritional yeast, I highly recommend trying it out with eggs, roasted veggies, or the breakfast casserole I’ve been making lately.
The pesto itself is incredibly easy to make – you just put all the ingredients into a high speed blender or food processor, turn it on, and let the pesto-magic happen. The recipe makes extra pesto to use in another recipe or just to enjoy with whatever you happen to be eating – I especially love it with eggs, potatoes, or as a topping with any of my favorite breakfast hash recipes.
One you make the pesto, you simply top the chicken, layer on sliced tomatoes, sprinkle with a bit of additional spice and then bake for 25 minutes. You can serve it over salad, with roasted veggies or potatoes – you absolutely can’t go wrong with this delicious, savory pesto baked chicken!
I’m all for easy one-pan, oven-baked recipes to make my weeknights easier! One more serious plus to this chicken is how well the leftovers keep.
I actually made the chicken during the day and it stayed perfectly moist and full of flavor for hours, plus survived reheating of the leftovers for lunch the next day. I’m thanking the pesto – which is now in my fridge 24/7 because I’m just a little obsessed with it. Hope you like it – let’s cook!
Easy Paleo Pesto Baked Chicken {Whole30}
Easy Paleo Pesto Baked Chicken {Whole30}
Ingredients
For the Pesto*
- 1 cup raw shelled walnuts
- 3 cups fresh basil leaves
- 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2/3 cup light flavored olive oil
- 3/4 tsp salt you can adjust to your taste
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast**
For the Chicken:
- 1.5 lbs organic boneless skinless chicken breasts
- sea salt & pepper
- 4 slices tomato
- generous pinch Italian seasoning I used this one
- generous pinch nutritional yeast**
Instructions
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First, make the pesto while you preheat your oven to 400 F. You can also make the pesto the day before and store in the fridge to eliminate prep time.
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Add all of the pesto ingredients to a high speed blender or food processor (I used this one) and process/blend on high speed until a "paste" forms, stopping to scrape the sides and stir once or twice for even blending. Store the pesto in a covered container/jar in the refrigerator for up to one week.
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Place the chicken breasts in a well greased baking dish or cast iron skillet (I used this one) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then, generously spread the pesto all over the chicken (I went VERY generous!) and save the rest for another recipe.
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Top each piece of chicken with 2 tomato slices and a generous pinch of nutritional yeast** and Italian seasoning.
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Bake in the preheated 400 F oven for 25-30 minutes or until just cooked through. Slice chicken as desired and serve! Makes 4-6 servings.
Recipe Notes
*This pesto recipe makes more than you'll need for the chicken. Store the remaining pesto in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
**You can omit, or you can replace with parmesan cheese if you are okay with dairy and are not completing a Whole30.
What I Used to Make My Easy Paleo Pesto Baked Chicken:
Want more easy Paleo weeknight dinner recipes? Try one of these!
Pan fried Italian style meatballs
Turkey Meatballs with Apples and Herbs
One-Pan Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs
Smoky Slow-Cook Paleo BBQ Chicken
Paleo Chicken Recipes on the Web:
Sheet Pan Chicken with Bacon & Apples
Tell Me!
How often do you make your own pesto?
Have you experimented with nutritional yeast yet?
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I don’t think Ive ever made my own pesto but this looks like its definitely worth trying! Love an easy one-dish meal like this. I could definitely see myself making the pesto over the weekend to save time during the week.
Totally worth trying for how easy it is, and the pesto itself goes with everything!
Thanks for sharing! I have run into trouble finding nutritional yeast at the grocery store. How does it come out without using this ingredient? Thank you!
You lose a little bit of flavor but it’s still very tasty 🙂
I get nutritional yeast in the bulk section – if you have never cooked with it you really should try! It adds a rich, cheesy-like texture!
So easy to make and very delicious!
Yay!
Definitely trying for my Whole30 this month! I don’t know much about the nutritional Yeast…what does that do for the chicken baking process? 🙂
nothing regarding the baking but it adds a subtle “cheesy” flavor to the pesto!
Made this for dinner for my mom the other night along with some roasted potatoes and a big salad and it was SO good!!! We both loved it, and she was surprised the Whole30 meal I made for her could be so delicious 🙂 love the pesto so much, and I’m glad I have a bunch extra. I added some lemon zest & juice to the pesto as well to give a little zip. Thanks for the wonderful Whole30 recipes – you’ve been making Whole30 way easier for me!
That’s awesome Rachel! So happy to hear that! I love having extra pesto leftover to put on everything 🙂 The lemon zest sounds delicious. We’re big fans of your recipes over here as well – my kids ask me to make everything they see of yours on Pinterest!
This recipe is fabulous. Thank you very much for sharing it! I made it for a few friends the other night, and they loved it. The leftovers are great, too.
I made a few small changes to the recipe that worked well for me:
I used pine nuts instead of walnuts because I prefer pine nut pesto.
I cut the amount of garlic and spinach in half.
I butterflied the chicken breasts to make them thinner. I baked the chicken at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, and it was very well done. Next time I’ll probably try baking the chicken for 15-18 minutes.
Thank you again!
This is the best pesto i have ever tasted!! I made it for the spaghetti squash recipe and my husband and I loved it. He said “this is really good” more than once which is unusual lol AND then we used the left over for chicken breast and DELISH! Always going to have this in my fridge!
Can I make it without nuts? My husband can’t eat them.
I do believe you can, however I would add more basil and spinach to make up for some of the lack of bulk.
Can’t wait to try this recipe. For the pesto, is there anything that I can substitute for the walnuts that is not nut based? Thanks!
Hmm, not that I know of so I’m really not sure!
Some people replace nuts with sunflower seeds…..
Great recipe!! It was a easy to make and is one of my new fave weeknight sauces!
This was phenomenal! I like it even better than non-paleo pesto, honestly. It was really packed with flavor. I accidentally used chicken breasts vs. thighs so I had to add baking time but the tomato was a nice touch.
On another note, the meatballs are going on the repeat dinner menu! My husband, who is not paleo, ate all of it. He even put them on a sandwich. Just perfect.
Keep up the good work!
That’s amazing to hear – thrilled you loved it! And the meatballs, too! Love it when the non-paleo family members like the recipes too, then you really know they’re winners 🙂
Do not hesitate to make this because it is absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing!
What could I sub for the walnuts? My son is allergic to walnuts and pecans……
Do you think almonds or cashews would work?
I just found your site, and I love it! I made this yesterday, and it was a hit! Thank you for sharing.
So happy it worked out!
Does the pesto last longer than 1 week?
Perhaps if you freeze it, if you do, you can freeze it in the portions you’ll need to serve 🙂
I have a treenut/peanut allergy. I cook with sunflower seeds a lot. Do you think I could substitute them for the walnuts?
I think it’s worth a shot, not sure about the consistency though!
Anyone else have trouble blending the pesto? I tried my ninja food processor…cuisinart smart power blender..and another large blender and have had zero luck. I guess this means i wasted all of this food. 🙁 I really wanted to try this with the squash pasta recipe.
Add more oil 1TBLSP. At a time or can also try adding a bit of water or a combo of the two to loosen things up in the blender/food processor.
So fantastic! Another great recipe from paleo running momma – you never disappoint. I’ve made several of your recipes doing Whole30 and they’ve been my favorites.. Followed the recipe exactly, served over spaghetti squash and topped with crumbled bacon and a drizzle of balsamic. So good!!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it! Love adding the bacon and balsamic 🙂
From one Michelle to another Michele:
Your pesto recipe is BOMB.
So I did go through with making the whole recipe, but if I had stopped at the pesto, that would’ve been just fine because the fresh PESTO IS AMAZING.
I am going to stop at the store to get more ingredients for it.
PS. the amount of pesto specified is enough for 3-3.5 pounds of chicken. I also put some white wine and water in the baking dish and covered it to keep it moist.
THANK YOU.
WOW! This recipe is amazing! It’s hard for me to find gluten and dairy free meals for my boyfriend. I followed the recipe completely, and it turned out fantastic!
I would love to try this recipe but I don’t see the nutritional information. Could you provide that please?
Calories (per serving)
Sodium
Carbohydrates
Sugar
Protein
Fiber
Absolutely amazing recipe!! Will be making this again and again!
Easy and YUM!
I made this, and it was great!
Thank you for this fabulous recipe, it is on constant rotation in our house. It is just so easy and a perfect balance of flavours.
Made this chicken for dinner tonight with some roasted root veggies! So delicious! I took Rachel from Bakerita’s advice and added a squeeze of lemon for some tang—yum!
Best pesto I’ve ever made my husband and my kids love it thank you so much
Thanks sharing this article about the paleo pesto baked chicken this is help us information
The field is growing, with specialty purveyors focusing on vegan foods, seasonal ingredients, and smoothies. Some services—like Sunbasket, Snap Kitchen, and Fresh and Easy—send you oven-ready meals that are ready to warm and serve, which can come in handy if you’re cooking-challenged or used to getting takeout. For parents who are juggling childcare with working from home these days, there are even services like Yumble and Little Spoon that specifically cater to fussy kids.
Amazing recipe, my 15 year old loved it! I served it with zucchini noodles and pesto!
The pesto was so yum!
I’ve made this recipe a bunch! It is a fave for the whole family. I am growing a bunch of basil this summer, do you think the pesto freezes well?
Made this last night and the family loved it! I had fresh thyme & rosemary that needed to be used, so replaced some of the basil with it. Worked very well!
Made the pesto the day before to save on prep time. Thanks for the tip about refrigerating it.