I am always looking for new and delicious ways to prepare chicken breasts. My latest creation is Pesto Parmesan Chicken. This is an easy recipe for seriously flavorful chicken. It pairs perfectly with pasta, and can be made in just 45 minutes. I recommend making a big batch, since this meal is irresistible!
Chicken breasts are coated in a mixture of Parmesan cheese and panko, then dunked in a mix of pesto and beaten eggs, and topped with a second layer of the parmesan and panko mix. It’s cheesy and crunchy, and it is loaded with rich basil flavor from the pesto. Then the chicken breasts are quickly pan fried until the crust is browned, and then they go into the oven to bake for another 20 minutes. I used that time to prepare the rest of the meal.
Pesto has become one of my favorite ingredients. Store-bought pesto tastes just as good as homemade, and it saves you the significant hassle of making pesto. You just need so so much basil to make pesto (which is convenient if you are a gardener with a big crop of basil, but otherwise it is not), and somehow making pesto from scratch makes a mess of my kitchen. I am happy to pick up pesto at the grocery store instead.
I served the Pesto Parmesan Chicken with my roasted tomato and garlic sauce, over a bed of fresh pasta. The sauce is made from fresh roasted tomatoes that are pureed, and I loved how it paired with the chicken. You could use at store-bought tomato sauce if you want to save yourself some time.
Charles loved putting the leftover Pesto Parmesan Chicken in sandwiches. He added tomato and mashed avocado. I would have sliced the chicken, placed it in a sub roll, drizzled tomato sauce over, topped it with fresh mozzarella and put it in the oven to heat up.
Yields 4
20 minPrep Time
25 minCook Time
45 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 pound of Chicken Breasts
- 1 cup of Pesto
- 3 Large Eggs
- 1 cup of Finely Grated Parmesan
- 1 cup of Panko (or breadcrumbs)
- 2 tablespoons Butter
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 300 degrees.
- I like to pound out chicken breasts just so that they are an even thickness. This is a personal preference, you can skip this step.
- Mix the pesto and eggs together in a shallow bowl, being sure to completely break up the eggs.
- Pour the Parmesan and panko into another shallow bowl. Stir to combine.
- One by one, take the chicken breasts and coat them in the Parmesan and panko mixture, lightly pressing it into the chicken breast. Then carefully dunk it in the pesto and egg mixture. Place the chicken breast back in the Parmesan and panko mixture, fully coating it. Continue this with all of the chicken breasts.
- Heat a skillet over medium heat, and add enough butter to coat the bottom of the skillet. Add 2 chicken breasts - it is likely you can only fit two chicken breasts in your skillet at a time. Let the first side of the chicken cook for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown, then flip to brown the second side. Once both sides of the chicken have browned, place the chicken on a baking sheet.
- Continue this same process until all of the chicken breasts have been browned.
- Bake the chicken for 20-25 minutes, or until it is no longer pink in the center. Serve right away.
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