Description
Make dinner special tonight with these Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breasts. You will create juicy chicken pockets filled with savory pesto and cheese. This recipe is simple enough for a weeknight but impressive enough for guests. Let’s get cooking!
Ingredients
Scale
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup prepared pesto sauce
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking dish.
- Place one chicken breast on a cutting board. Hold your knife parallel to the board and slice horizontally into the thickest part of the chicken, stopping about half an inch from the other side. You are creating a pocket.
- Gently open the pocket you just cut.
- Spoon about two tablespoons of pesto into the center of the chicken pocket.
- Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over the pesto inside the pocket.
- Carefully close the chicken breast. You can secure it with toothpicks if it opens too much, but try to avoid it.
- Repeat this process for the remaining three chicken breasts.
- Rub the outside of each stuffed chicken breast with olive oil. Season the outside generously with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken breasts in the prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F (74 degrees C) and the juices run clear.
- Let the chicken rest for five minutes before serving.
Notes
- Use store-bought pesto for a quick meal, or make your own fresh pesto.
- If you have very thick chicken breasts, you might want to pound them slightly to an even thickness before stuffing.
- For extra flavor, you can sear the chicken breasts in a hot skillet for 2 minutes per side before baking.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 breast
- Calories: Estimate varies
- Sugar: Very low
- Sodium: Moderate
- Fat: Moderate to High (depends on pesto)
- Saturated Fat: Moderate
- Unsaturated Fat: Present
- Trans Fat: Negligible
- Carbohydrates: Low
- Fiber: Low
- Protein: High
- Cholesterol: Moderate