The quickest Pesto Chicken and Broccoli recipe made in 5 seconds flat! Okay, maybe not 5 seconds, but this meal comes together in a flash!
Welcome to the easiest and potentially the most flavorful chicken recipe you’ll ever make!
Pesto lovers, you will delight in this recipe, as it is a magical celebration of the sauce.
This quick and easy pesto chicken and broccoli only requires four ingredients and couldn’t be any easier to prepare.
What makes this recipe super rad is the chicken, broccoli, and sun-dried tomatoes get marinated together in the pesto sauce for optimal flavor. Then everything is cooked in a skillet together so you don’t need to add ingredients one at a time. BOOM! Easy.
Not only is this recipe low-carb and packed with protein, but it is easy to adapt to your personal taste or dietary needs.
For instance, you can use whatever pesto sauce works for you (homemade or store-bought) and add vegetables to your heart’s delight.
Cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, and spinach are all great adds!
Just note that if you end up adding more vegetables, you will also want to add more pesto sauce so as not to dilute the flavor.
Let’s talk about the ingredients so you know what’s what.
Pesto Chicken and Broccoli Ingredients:
Chicken Breasts: Use 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe, which equates to anywhere between 1 pound and 1.5 pounds of chicken. You can also use boneless chicken thighs! I often go this route, myself.
Broccoli: All you need is one big (or two small) broccoli crowns to add some fiber and vitamins to the meal. Because the pesto chicken turns out tasting so great, this is an awesome way of hiding veggies for kids who don’t love to eat them…just chop the broccoli very finely!
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: A kick of spunky flavor, I find sun-dried tomatoes and pesto sauce go very well together. You can also skip them or sub them out for artichoke hearts, capers, or kalamata olives to still get a briny flavor.
Pesto Sauce: The fun part! Use homemade or store-bought Basil Pesto Sauce for this meal. If you don’t do dairy or seeds, I have instructions below on how to make this using a dairy-free, pine nut-free basil sauce.
How to Make Pesto Chicken and Vegetables:
Add all of the ingredients to a zip lock bag and seal it up. Shake it around like Shake n’ Bake until everything is well-coated in pesto sauce. Transfer to the refrigerator and marinate for at least 1 hour (up to 24).
When you’re ready to cook, simply heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high and pour everything into the hot skillet. Stir the ingredients into an even layer then allow it to sit for 2 to 3 minutes so that the chicken can brown. Give it a stir and continue browning another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir again then cover the skillet with a lid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and broccoli has reached desired done-ness, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Note: once the chicken and veggies begin leaching a lot of liquid, uncover the skillet and allow the liquid to burn off so that the sauce is thick.
Taste the chicken for flavor and add sea salt to taste.
Serve as is or with your choice of side dishes. I go with brown rice!
Can I Make This Dairy-Free and/or Nut/Seed-Free?:
Yes, absolutely! Pesto sauce includes parmesan cheese and pine nuts unless you intentionally make or purchase it without. If you can’t do dairy or nuts/seeds, here’s what you can do to leave them out.
Combine ½ cup fresh basil, ¼ cup avocado oil, ¼ cup chicken broth, and ¼ tsp sea salt in a small blender and blend until completely combined. Use this mixture instead of pesto sauce. It will still taste herby, garlicky, and amazing!
Recipe Adaptations:
- Double the recipe if you’re feeding more than 2 people and/or aren’t serving other side dishes.
- Add ½ to a full head of cauliflower.
- Toss in 4 cups of baby spinach while cooking.
- Add more pesto sauce to taste.
- If you’re a zucchini lover, toss some chopped zucchini in!
- Throw in some jarred artichoke hearts, ¼ cup of kalamata olives, and/or 2 tablespoons of capers
More Healthy Chicken Recipes:
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Instant Pot Jamaican Jerk Chicken
- 30-Minute Paleo Mongolian Chicken
- Chicken Egg Roll in a Bowl
- Paleo Chicken Adobo
Enjoy this herb fest!
Pesto Chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts chopped into bite sizes, 1.25 lbs
- 1 large crown broccoli
- 3/4 cup basil pesto sauce
- ⅓ cup sun-dried tomatoes
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a zip lock bag and seal it up. Shake it around like Shake n’ Bake until everything is well-coated in pesto sauce. Transfer to the refrigerator and marinate for at least 1 hour (up to 24).
- When you’re ready to cook, heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high and pour everything into the hot skillet.
- Stir the ingredients into an even layer then allow it to sit for 2 to 3 minutes so that the chicken can brown. Give it a stir and continue browning another 2 to 3 minutes. Stir again then cover the skillet with a lid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and broccoli has reached desired done-ness, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Note: once the chicken and veggies begin leaching a lot of liquid, uncover the skillet and allow the liquid to burn off so that the sauce is thick.
- Taste the chicken for flavor and add sea salt to taste.
- Serve as is or with your choice of side dishes. I go with brown rice!
Nutrition
This was so easy to throw together and very tasty! I might try making this as a freezer prep meal another time.
I’m so happy you like it, Tricia! Thank you for reporting back. And yes, what a wonderful idea! I hadn’t thought of turning it into a freezer meal, but that is brilliant! xoxo