The Best Pesto Chicken Recipe with Pasta

This quick and easy pesto chicken uses simple ingredients – including delicious basil pesto, heavy cream, and balsamic vinegar – to transform boring chicken breast into a delicious meal your entire family will love! Serve over pasta for a complete meal in just minutes.

 

You Will Love This

• It’s so easy and versatile! This pesto chicken takes less than a half hour to make, the chicken can be marinated ahead of time, and served with pasta or veggies, or just eaten by itself. This is a great chicken recipe to have in your back pocket for a quick weeknight meal.
• If you loved this recipe, be sure to check out my 30 minute creamy Tuscan chicken pasta, easy cilantro lime chicken, and my Bruschetta chicken pasta.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Chicken Breast – Cut the skinless chicken breasts into cutlets so that they cook quickly while staying tender. You can also use chicken thighs if you prefer, but they will need a bit longer to cook depending on their size.
• Basil Pesto – You can use any store-bought basil pesto you like, or make your own with my super easy basil walnut pesto recipe.
• Garlic – I prefer fresh garlic for this recipe, but you could substitute with 3/4 of a teaspoon of garlic powder instead.
• Italian Seasoning – Herby Italian seasoning takes this whole recipe to another level. If you don’t have Italian season on hand mix together some dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram – or use whatever your favorite dried herbs are.
• White Wine – A dry white wine is best for this recipe, so a Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay would be perfect. If you prefer not to cook with wine, add chicken broth instead.
• Heavy Cream – Heavy cream gives you the best flavor and consistency for the white wine cream sauce, but you can use half and half instead. The sauce might be a little bit thinner, but it will still work.
• Grape Tomatoes – The grape tomatoes in this recipe cook down and become part of the sauce which is just delicious. I like using grape tomatoes because they are small, have fewer seeds, and don’t completely turn to mush when you cook them down. Cherry tomatoes would work as well. If you’re not into tomatoes, try fresh green beans or sliced red onion instead!
• Balsamic Vinegar – The sweet, rich, tangy flavor of balsamic vinegar balances out the creaminess of the sauce and the richness from the pesto. Don’t worry the sauce, won’t taste like vinegar, but the acid from it really changes the whole dish. If you don’t have balsamic vinegar on hand red wine vinegar will also work.
• Pasta – I love to serve this pesto chicken with creamy sauce over rotini noodles, but rice would work as well. You can also just serve it alongside your favorite roasted veggies like green beans, asparagus, or herby potatoes.

Instructions

Marinate chicken in pesto. You can use a Ziploc bag or just a shallow bowl.

Sauté marinated chicken in olive oil.

Sauté garlic and Italian seasoning in the same pan.

Stir in white wine to deglaze the pan, scraping all those yummy bits off the bottom.

Add remaining pesto, heavy cream, tomatoes, and a couple pinches of salt and pepper.

Simmer and stir in balsamic vinegar. Add chicken breast and juices back into the pan and simmer for a few more minutes.

Serve over cooked pasta if desired. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Tips

• Here is a simple video that shows how to cut a chicken breast into cutlets. In this video, they also pound out the chicken a bit thinner after placing it between two pieces of plastic. While you are welcome to do this if you like, it’s not necessary for this recipe. Cutting the chicken breast in half lengthwise is going to give you two thinner pieces of chicken per breast which will allow the chicken to cook more quickly. 
• Marinate the chicken ahead of time. This chicken is marinated in basil pesto sauce and some salt and pepper, which means it can sit in the marinade for up to 24 hours. Give it at least 1 hour, but the longer the better for more flavor!
• Serve with pasta! Pesto chicken in white wine cream sauce is one of my favorite things to pair with pasta. Because of the sauce, I like to use short pasta like rotini, penne, or rigatoni, but you can also use angel hair, linguine, or fettuccine. All the flavors go so well together and the pasta fills out the dish. You can also serve this chicken with veggies, fries, or salad.

Make Easy Baked Pesto Chicken

• Turn this dish into the perfect weeknight meal by transferring it to a baking dish, adding cheese, and popping it in the oven. This will transform it into a hearty, comforting casserole!
• Top this pesto chicken pasta recipe with your favorite cheese and bake it in a 350-degree oven until the cheese melts. I love to add fresh mozzarella cheese, grated Parmesan, or shredded mozzarella and let it melt into the pasta.

What does pesto chicken go with?

This pesto chicken recipe goes perfectly with pasta! But the beauty of it is that it’s so versatile it can go with many other things. We also like to serve it alongside air fryer green beans, air fryer asparagus, herby roasted potatoes, air fryer zucchini, or just a simple salad. You can also skip the pasta and use zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute as well.

What is pesto chicken made of?

Tender, juicy pesto chicken is made by marinating the chicken in basil pesto. Then sauté it in olive oil and create a white wine cream sauce with more pesto, garlic, Italian seasoning, heavy cream, and balsamic vinegar. The end result is a perfectly juicy chicken breast nestled in a pesto cream sauce for a delicious dinner that everyone will love!

What meat works with pesto?

Chicken is our family’s number one favorite meat to pair with pesto! It is the perfect blank slate and beautifully soaks up all the fresh basil and nutty Parmesan flavor from the pesto during the marinating process.

What does chicken pesto taste like? 

Pesto chicken has all the delicious flavors of pesto – fresh basil, olive oil, nutty Parmesan, and toasted pine nuts – in a tender, juicy chicken breast. Pesto has a generally mild flavor but it really elevates a plain old chicken breast. Pair with it a creamy pesto sauce and your taste buds are sure to be delighted!

Make-Ahead, Storage, and Reheating

• Make-Ahead: This pesto chicken is the perfect meal prep recipe because it will stay good in the fridge for up to a week. You can also plan ahead and marinate the chicken up to 24 hours in advance. 
• Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• Reheating: Reheat this pesto chicken in a sauté pan or skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add a splash of cream or half and half to the pasta to loosen up the pesto sauce. You can also zap it in the microwave in 30-60 second increments. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

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