Creamy Pesto Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes is a rich and flavorful meal keeping weeknight eating delicious and fun. Dairy-free, gluten-free, keto, paleo and whole30! Serve it up with your choice of side dishes for a complete meal.
In all my years of recipe developing, I’ve learned the incredible power of pesto.
Everyone loves it! It is guaranteed to bring tons of flavor to any dish, and the herby nutty notes hit the palate just right.
This creamy pesto delight is a lovely celebration of everyone’s favorite sauce. This easy recipe makes otherwise boring boneless chicken breasts a real wild ride.
Serve it up with anything you like! Steamed rice is my preference. Lemon Garlic Rosemary Rice is a great complement.
You can also do pasta noodles, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, roasted or sautéed vegetables.
This recipe saves very well and becomes even more flavorful as it sits, making it ideal for meal prep!
Double or triple the recipe if you’re feeding a large family, guests, or want leftovers!
Let’s dive into the ingredients list!
Ingredients for Creamy Pesto Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: Our lean protein selection! I use boneless skinless chicken breasts, which turn out nice and tender because they are both marinated and cooked in a deliciously creamy sauce. If you prefer chicken thighs, feel free to use them instead!
Pesto Sauce: The star of the show! Pesto is used to marinate the chicken breasts and is also added to the sauce for an ultra pesto experience. Feel free to scale the amount of pesto up or down according to your personal taste.
In order to keep the recipe dairy-free, a vegan pesto sauce must be used. You can find non-dairy vegan pesto at select grocery stores, or you can make it at home.
Avocado Oil: Used to brown the chicken. Avocado oil is a high-temperature cooking oil which is ideal for this application. If you don’t keep it on hand, use whatever cooking oil you prefer!
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Adding little bursts of tangy flavor, sun-dried tomatoes add a nice vibrance and fun texture to the dish.
Gluten-Free Flour or Tapioca Flour (Optional): To thicken the sauce, you’ll need to add 1 to 2 tablespoons of a gluten-free flour blend or tapioca flour. If you aren’t gluten-free, you can use regular all-purpose flour or cornstarch.
Sea Salt: Add sea salt according to your personal taste!
How to Make Creamy Pesto Chicken:
Place the chicken in a large zip lock bag and add the pesto sauce. Seal the bag and shake everything around until all of the breasts are well-coated in sauce. Marinate at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator, ideally longer, up to 12 hours.
Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the pesto-marinated chicken breasts. Brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chicken has a nice golden-brown crust. Flip and do the same for the other side.
Add the remaining ingredients (coconut milk, pesto sauce, sea salt, black pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes) and stir well. Note: for a thicker sauce, add 1 tablespoon of regular all-purpose flour, gluten-free all-purpose flour or tapioca flour. Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cover. Cook for 8 to 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken), or until the chicken is cooked through (it is considered fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F) and the sauce is thick.
Serve over rice, zucchini noodles, with pasta noodles, or with sautéed or roasted vegetables.
Want to turn this into a one-pot meal? Add 1 cup of chicken broth and ½ cup of white rice. Cover and cook until the rice is cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Note: brown rice will take much longer, which will cause the chicken to over-cook, so I’d recommend sticking with rice or even pasta noodles.
There you have it!
Your easy pesto-centric meal that is straightforward and easy to put together any night of the week.
More Healthy Chicken Recipes:
- 30-Minute Creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken
- Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Baked Garlic Lemon Rosemary Chicken
- Easy Greek Chicken
- Pesto Chicken and Broccoli
Pesto on, in, and around everything!
Creamy Pesto Chicken (Dairy-Free, Paleo)
Ingredients
- 1 to 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ⅓ cup basil pesto sauce*
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
Creamy Pesto Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp pesto sauce*
- 1 cup full-fat canned coconut milk
- 1 tsp sea salt to taste
- Pinch black pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp gluten-free all-purpose flour or tapioca flour optional
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large zip lock bag and add the pesto sauce. Seal the bag and shake everything around until all of the breasts are well-coated in sauce. Marinate at least 15 minutes in the refrigerator, ideally longer, up to 12 hours.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot, add the pesto-marinated chicken breasts. Brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the chicken has a nice golden-brown crust. Flip and do the same for the other side.
- Add the remaining ingredients (coconut milk, pesto sauce, sea salt, black pepper, and sun-dried tomatoes) and stir well. Note: for a thicker sauce, add 1 tablespoon of regular all-purpose flour, gluten-free all-purpose flour or tapioca flour.
- Bring to a full boil, then reduce the heat to medium and cover. Cook for 8 to 15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken), or until the chicken is cooked through (it is considered fully cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F) and the sauce is thick.
Notes
Nutrition
Note: This is only dairy free if you use a pesto that is not made with parmesan.
Thanks for pointing this out, Chris! 😀