Flavorful and filling, our Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Bake is simple and only 6 ingredients. Full of beautiful colors and delicious herbs, this dish is a great week-night meal for someone that wants to step up their chicken game! Pesto and bruschetta are amazing alone, but together, they are fantastic! We love that this bakes and can be served all in one dish, making clean up quick too.
Over the past decade, we have cooked a lot with both pesto and bruschetta. Why we never combined the two until now is beyond me. My husband requests bruschetta chicken often and I felt like I needed to vary our current recipe to mix it up. A lot of times, we make bruschetta with fresh basil so I knew these two flavors would pair together great!
What is pesto made of?
Pesto is a type of sauce that originated in Italy. Traditionally, it consists of crushed or minced garlic, pine nuts, salt, fresh basil leaves, and a hard cheese like Parmigiano-Reggiano, all blended with olive oil. It is green in coloring due to the basil. If making from scratch at home, you can make it as thin or thick as you like by adding more or less olive oil.
Do you have to make your own bruschetta?
Not at all! We typically do because it gives us control of exactly whats in it. Also, we can slightly alter it based on the ingredients we have on hand. If time is something you don’t have, you can buy bruschetta mixes already made. Most grocery stores have prepackaged options like this one from Publix.
Ingredients for our Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Bake:
- Chicken breasts, about 2 lbs
- Cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths
- Fresh basil, chopped
- Fresh garlic, chopped
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/2 Jar of Classico Pesto
How to make our Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Bake:
Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
Chop the cherry tomatoes into fourths. Next, chop basil and garlic. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes, basil, mozzarella and garlic with the vinegar.
Lay the chicken breasts flat in the bottom of a large baking dish and season with the remaining salt and pepper.
Next, spread all of the pesto on top of the chicken. We like being very generous with this part because we love pesto. A good thing to remember is that the pesto is going to melt a little so if you are afraid of the taste being overwhelming, it won’t be!
Pour the tomato mixture over the top of the chicken and then use a spatula to spread it evenly over the chicken.
Bake on the middle oven rack for 35-45 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F.
Pair with:
Pesto Bruschetta Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, about 2 lbs
- 1 Cup cherry tomatoes, cut in 1/4ths
- 1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
- 2 cloves fresh chopped garlic
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1.5 Cups of mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 Jar of Classico Pesto
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F.
- Chop the cherry tomatoes into 1/4 pieces. Chop basil and garlic. In a large bowl, toss the tomatoes, basil, and garlic with the balsamic vinegar and half of the salt and pepper.
- Next, lay the chicken breasts flat in the bottom of a large baking dish and spread pesto on top.
- Pour the tomato mixture over the top of the chicken and then use a spatula to spread it evenly over the chicken.
- Last, top with the mozzarella cheese.
- Bake on the middle oven rack for 35-45 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165˚F.
- Serve hot and Enjoy!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 600Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 230mgSodium: 517mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 82g
(Nutritional information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
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