Chicken Pesto Pasta
Chicken Pesto Pasta, yum! This is a quick and easy dinner, perfect as a mid week meal, especially if you have pre-made (bought) the pesto. This is on regular rotation at our house as, amazingly, I know everyone will eat it (recipe at the bottom) and I can hide extra veggies in the pesto too. Sneaky! I use buckwheat pasta to make it gluten free but what ever your favourite pasta is will work.
If you want to make the pesto yourself here are some of mine that would go well in this dinner; basic basil, avocado pesto which makes it extra creamy,
minty pea pesto , a fresh favourite of mine and is a great dip,
kale & walnut pesto , that goes with this yummy tortellini dinner
and to add a bit of pink for a change you could try this beetroot pesto as well!
I think pesto is an easy and healthy way to add some flavour to a meal & it’s always handy to have for those ‘quick, what’s for dinner” moments!
Ingredients
- 250g chicken cut into small pieces (breast strips/tenderloins/thigh fillets whatever suits your budget)
- 2 Tbsp OIive oil (for traditional method)
- 1 small head of broccoli cut into small florets
- 1 C frozen peas
- 1 C pesto of your choice - see recipe list
- I packet of your favourite pasta
Instructions
- Boil a saucepan of water (size that a bamboo steamer can fit on top of)
- Heat oil in fry pan and cook chicken through (about 5 - 7 mins), set aside
- When water is boiling add pasta and cook as per packet instructions and put broccoli & peas in steamer basket on top, steam for about 6 - 7 mins then set aside until pasta has finished cooking.
- Drain pasta and put back into saucepan, add chicken, veggies and pesto and stir through
- Transfer into dinner bowls and enjoy!
- Boil a saucepan of water for the pasta and cook as per packet instructions
- Fill TM bowl with 500 g water and place broccoli and peas in the TM basket. Place the chicken in a single layer in the Varoma tray. Steam on Varoma/ 10 mins speed 1 reverse.
- Drain pasta and place all the ingredients in the saucepan including the pesto and stir through.
- Transfer into dinner bowls and enjoy.
Are you a pesto fan? Do you find ways to hide veggies?
Very quick and easy to make, even when making your own avocado pesto. 6 year old thought it was yummy but a bit too lemony – and ate it all up, adults really enjoyed it. Good way to get lots of green veggies into a pasta meal ( we added extra baby zucchini ).
A fantastic quick mid-week meal, Vicki! I haven’t made my own pesto in the longest time. I know it’s a lame excuse, but I really can’t stand cleaning the garlic smell out of the blender – it just seems to take forever! I love that you have four different pesto recipes on the blog. The kale and walnut version looks just divine!
I love pesto so always have it around for those emergency meals – great for hiding vegetables in too. I think you’d like the kale & walnut one too. I’ve no tips on getting rid of the garlic smell though – what about whizzing some lemon juice around in it?
I am a BIG pesto fan. I haven’t made a pesto in a little while – but it is always a great quick and easy mid week meal with pasta.
I need to make a batch too.
This looks so tasty Vicki! I was experimenting with similar ingredients last week but I snuck broccoli into my pesto so my daughter would eat it 🙂
Oh yes the lengths we go to right!