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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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!