Chicken pesto is a savory dish essentially prepared with Italian pesto sauce and chicken. However, other ingredients like lemon juice, pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. can be added as per the demand of the recipe. Pesto chicken can be made in a number of ways, using different ingredients. However, pesto sauce and chicken are the two vital ingredients as per all the recipe variations. The pesto sauce used in the dish is an Italian sauce generally made with basil leaves, garlic, pine nuts, salt, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. The chicken can be used in several forms like shredded chicken, cubed chicken, or chicken breasts to prepare the pesto chicken dish. Other ingredients that can be used to prepare the dish consist of mushrooms, pasta, spaghetti, and mozzarella cheese.    

Popular Chicken Pesto Recipes

A few popular chicken pesto dishes have been discussed hereunder:

• Penne pasta with chicken and red pesto sauce- this dish is a combination of shredded chicken, red pesto sauce, and penne pasta (cylindrical shaped Italian pasta). This dish can be served as main course meal with tossed salad.  The red pesto sauce used in this pesto chicken dish is prepared by grinding together basil leaves, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts. Other ingredients used to prepare the sauce consist of parmesan cheese, salt, lemon juice, black pepper, tepid water, and olive oil. The dish is prepared by combining boiled pasta with a sauce made by cooking together garlic, olives, pesto sauce, feta cheese, and red wine. Shredded chicken is then stirred in and the dish is served after garnishing with basil leaves and parmesan cheese.

• Chicken pesto with spaghetti- the pesto sauce as per the chicken pesto recipe for this dish is prepared with garlic, basil leaves, pine nuts, olive oil, salt, and parmesan cheese. This dish also suggests the use of white sauce, which is diluted by adding milk. The recipe for the dish suggests placing seasoned and cooked spaghetti in a plate, and pouring over a mix of cooked and seasoned chicken cubes, white sauce, and pesto sauce.

• Mushroom and pasta based pesto chicken - this pesto chicken dish is easy and quick to prepare, with the requirement of only chicken, pesto sauce, mushrooms, pasta, onions, green pepper, garlic, and cheese as the ingredients. Garlic and onions are sautéed in some oil, to which chicken cubes, mushrooms, pepper, salt, and pesto sauce are added. This pesto chicken mix is combined with boiled pasta and served after sprinkling grated cheese on top.

• Mozzarella chicken with pesto- the chicken pesto recipe for this dish suggests spreading pesto sauce over chicken breasts, and then placing a slice of mozzarella cheese over it. The mozzarella chicken with pesto is then placed on a grill until cheese melts and served in a bowl after pouring over any left out juices in the grilling pan.

Nutrition Information about Pesto Chicken

Chicken pesto contains the nutritional values of chicken and pesto sauce, with chicken being a rich source of protein, and pesto sauce being rich in fat, carbohydrate, and protein content.