Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon Basil Sauce
on May 16, 2016, Updated Oct 13, 2021
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Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon-Basil Sauce – Having a great dinner doesn’t mean that you have to venture out to a restaurant.
Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon-Basil Sauce
You can make restaurant-quality meals at home, for not a lot of money or preparation. My case in point is this easy, flavorful Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon-Basil Sauce.
By now, if you follow any of my other recipes, I am all about ease and convenience in the kitchen, without sacrificing flavor. My time-saving secret with this recipe is that I used a jar pesto sauce to stuff the chicken breasts with. You could certainly make your own, but I used other fresh ingredients to help balance out the taste of the dish which made my Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon-Basil Sauce sing.
With only a few ingredients, lemon juice and the zest of the lemon, fresh basil, garlic, butter, and olive oil, this recipe goes to together in a flash. The overall taste is light, bright, and as Dan told me, restaurant quality.
Having a great dinner doesn’t mean that you have to venture out to a restaurant.
Whether you are having company over, or just want to make a wonderful meal for someone you love, my Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast & Lemon-Basil Sauce should be your meal of choice. When you are asked which restaurant you ordered it from, you can smile and say it came right out of your kitchen. Happy dishes, enjoy! -Scott
Pesto Stuffed Chicken Breast and Lemon-Basil Sauce
Ingredients
- 3-4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
- 4 TBS Pesto
- 3 TBS Olive Oil
- 1-2 TBS Butter
- 2 TBS Minced garlic
- 3 TBS Fresh lemon juice
- 1 Cup Chicken broth
- Zest of one lemon
- 1/2 cup Fresh Basil chopped
- 4 to othpicks
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut a small slit in the side of each chicken breast to form a small pocket, being careful not to cut through to the other side of the chicken.
- Put a tablespoon of pesto in each of the pockets of chicken that you created.
- Using a toothpick, pin the opening of the slit closed to keep the pesto inside of the chicken.
- Salt and pepper each chicken breast to season.
- Over medium heat, put olive oil in a large skillet and then add each chicken breast.
- Cook each side of the chicken for about 5 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked thoroughly.
- Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Keep warm by covering with aluminum foil.
- Add garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest to the skillet.
- Scrape the pan with a spoon and cook for about 1 minute.
- Add chicken broth and continue to cook over medium heat for approximately 5-8 minutes.
- Add butter and stir until melted and incorporated.
- Stir in fresh basil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Plate each chicken breast, remembering to remove the toothpicks.
- Pour sauce over the chicken breast.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
It looks in the picture like there are little tomatoes incorporated, but I don’t see that in the recipe???
Hi Pam, tomatoes would be fine with this pesto; however, what you are seeing is a side of our homemade guacamole.
I like simple, no-fuss dishes and this is my kinda dinner. With a glass of wine and this recipe is all I need to end a busy day. definitely going to try.
I am a basil fanatic – this is my kind of chicken
Oh my gosh, I love anything with pesto and these stuffed chicken breasts look delicious! I love that you stuffed them with the sauce instead of just plopping on top. 🙂
That topping looks delicious!
Oh that lemon basil sauce sounds amazing right now! These kind of dishes are my favorites for crazy days!
This looks so simple and flavorful, my kind of dinner!
This looks delicious and I can tell the chicken breast is so juicy and moist. Love the flavor combo!
Pesto is one of my favorite things with which to prepare chicken breast – not only does it add amazing flavor, but it helps to keep them more moist as well. And that basil lemon sauce sounds delicious! I just so happen to have everything I need for this, so it will be on our menu this weekend for sure. Thank you!