For a tasteful reminder, or a simple scent of summer herbs, you are going to need a handful of basil leaves, and you love them, right? We do too.
Homemade pesto can be made in larger batches when basil is in season and frozen into small cubes, ready for thawing at a moment's notice. It tastes delicious with roasted meat or vegetables, so if you are a cook who plans ahead, it is a good thing to keep it in stock.
However, you can make basil pesto fresh too, and cook with it just as the need occurs. This recipe for pesto chicken is so simple; it almost cooks itself!
All you need to do is pulse all ingredients together in a food processor, minus the chicken, of course, and there it is, ready for slathering on the meat on the baking sheet. Why consume basil, though?
Besides the wonderful fragrant aroma, basil is rich in flavonoids and volatile oils with antibacterial properties, as well as abundant in many vitamins and minerals. It has been touted as a superfood, and its meaning comes from the Greek word for royal, but perhaps it is super because you simply feel refreshed after eating it.
May we offer a serving suggestion? Lay the baked chicken breasts over a bed of zucchini or sweet potato zoodles, add a few fresh or roasted tomatoes or some pickled radish, and you will have created a meal that you have never eaten before.
Basil Pesto Chicken Recipe
Serves: 4 Prep: 20 min Cook: 30 min
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, skinless and boneless
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Put the basil, garlic, pepper flakes, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is well chopped.
- Add the olive oil, pulse again until smooth, and season to taste.
- Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish, and cover them with a good layer of basil pesto.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
📖 Recipe
Basil Pesto Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts skinless and boneless
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Put the basil, garlic, pepper flakes, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until everything is well chopped.2 cups fresh basil leaves, ½ tsp. red pepper flakes, 3 garlic cloves, ⅓ cup pine nuts
- Add the olive oil, pulse again until smooth, and season to taste.½ cup olive oil, Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Place the chicken breasts in a baking dish, and cover them with a good layer of basil pesto.4 chicken breasts
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.
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