Cheesy Pesto Chicken Recipe (Keto and Low Carb) - Remake My Plate (2024)

I’m a huge fan of fast and easy keto recipes. Life is busy and I don’t have time to spend on recipes that involve lots of steps, fancy equipment or ingredients. If your life is the same then you will LOVE this cheesy pesto chicken recipe.

This deliciously cheesy pesto chicken recipe is a favorite in my house. I keep it keto for me by serving it with a low carb side dish such as miracle noodles (as shown below), spaghetti squash, cauliflower rice, cauliflower mashed potatoes, salad or other low carb vegetables.

For the rest of my family, who eat a more traditional diet, I serve it over rice, pasta, mashed or even baked potatoes.

Cheesy Pesto Chicken Recipe

No matter what your family’s eating style is this dish is ALWAYS a hit. Made with a few simple ingredients it takes a few minutes to put it together before you bake it in the oven. You can make this topped with or without tomato slices or even diced tomato. It’s delicious either way.

Ingredient notes for Cheesy Pesto Chicken:

Pesto sauce – use your favorite store bought or homemade pesto

Cream cheese – I used regular cream cheese but light cream cheese also works well

Boneless, skinless chicken breast

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Tomato – I diced a plum tomato. Use your favorite kind of tomato in this recipe.

How To Make Cheesy Pesto Chicken:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a bowl combine the cream cheese and pesto sauce. Stir until well combined.
• Place the chicken breasts in a 9 X 13 baking dish.
• Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the chicken breasts. Spread the cream cheese mixture to cover the chicken.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove chicken from the oven and sprinkle the mozzarella cheese evenly over the top of the chicken.
• Divide the diced tomato evenly over the top of the chicken.
• Return to the oven and bake for 10 to 20 minutes or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the chicken breast reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

What is pesto sauce made of?

Pesto can be made a variety of ways but the kind usually found in most grocery stores is made from fresh basil, pine nuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese. The ingredients are pureed together to make the pesto sauce.

You may find other types of pesto sauce that include different nuts, cheese or other ingredients such as tomatoes and citrus. Just about any type of pesto sauce you find will taste delicious with chicken.

Can I use a different type of cheese?

Sure you can use other types of cheese in this recipe including Provolone, Parmesan or even feta cheese. All of them taste delicious with the creamy pesto sauce and give this cheesy pesto chicken a delicious flavor. .

What do I serve this with?

Serve with your favorite side dish such as cauliflower rice, cauliflower mashed potatoes, salad and low carb vegetables.

Looking for traditional ways to serve this dish? Try it:

• Over your favorite pasta
• Over mashed potatoes
• Dice the chicken up and serve this as a topping for baked potatoes
• Even better, try them over mashed sweet potatoes
• Serve with salad and your favorite vegetable on the side
• Include this cheesy garlic bread on the side

Trying to watch your carbs? Try it:

• Over cauliflower rice
• Over spaghetti squash
• Over cauliflower mashed potatoes
• With a green salad topped with Italian dressing
• With your favorite low carb vegetables on the side
• With these cheesy keto biscuits

No matter what your family’s eating style is this dish is ALWAYS a hit. Made with a few simple ingredients, it doesn’t take long to put it together before you bake it in the oven.

What type of pesto should you use?

I have tried this recipe with a variety of store bought pesto. They all came out delicious. Use your favorite brand or even your own homemade pesto.

Can this cheesy pesto chicken be made in the crock pot?

Yes!

I’ve made this is the crockpot using diced tomatoes (drained) in place of the whole sliced tomatoes. That’s because I like to shred the chicken up in the end and have all the tomato bits mixed in. You don’t have to use tomatoes or shred the chicken when you make this.

Place your chicken in the bottom of the crock pot. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the chicken. Sprinkle half the shredded cheese over the top of the chicken. Top with tomato slices or diced tomatoes (drained) if desired. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or until the chicken is tender or on low for 6 to 8 hours. The time that the chicken needs to cook will depend upon it’s thickness.

The chicken will be fall apart tender. You can leave the chicken whole or shred it.Top the chicken with the shredded cheese and put the cover back on the crockpot. Let it cook for another 30 minutes on low, or warm if your crockpot has that feature, to allow the cheese to melt.

Serve with your favorite side dishes.

Freezer Tips:

You can prepare this cheesy pesto chicken as a freezer meal one of two ways. You can freeze the ingredients so it will make whole pieces of chicken with sauce topped with cheese. Or you can freeze this meal so it will create a shredded chicken in the cheesy pesto sauce.

To make chicken topped with sauce:

• Mix the cream cheese with the pesto and place in a small freeze bag.
• Place the shredded mozzarella also in a separate freezer bag.
• Place your chicken pieces in a larger gallon sized freezer bag.
• Add the bags containing the shredded cheese and the pesto cheese mixture. Seal the bag and label it with the recipe name, date and cooking directions.

To make in the crockpot:

• Thaw your freezer meal. Place the chicken pieces in the bottom of the crockpot.
• Spread the thawed pesto cheese mixture over the top.
• Cook the chicken 6 to 8 hours on low. The time needed to cook will depend upon the thickness of your chicken.
• Once the chicken is cooked sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top and cook on low for another 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

To make shredded chicken in cheesy pesto sauce:

• Mix the cream cheese with the pesto.
• Place the chicken pieces in a large gallon freezer bag.
• Spoon the pesto cheese mixture over the top. If you want to include tomatoes then drain the liquid off of a can of diced tomatoes and add that to the bag.
• Place the shredded cheese in a separate bag and put it into the main freezer bag. Seal the bag and label it with the recipe name, date and cooking directions.

To make in the crockpot:

• Thaw your freezer meal. When you are ready to cook it remove the bag of shredded cheese.
• Dump the remaining contents of the bag into the crockpot. Cook the chicken on low for 4 to 6 hours. Part way through the cooking you may want to stir the sauce that is forming. Cook until the chicken is done. This will depend upon its thickness.
• Using two forks shred the chicken and mix it into the sauce. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the top and cook on low/warm for another 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

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Find out more about the lazy keto diet method here.

Looking for more lazy keto recipes? Check out these 12 lazy keto recipes or even these 9 lazy keto recipes. Fast. Easy. Simple to make.

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