Chicken Pesto Sandwich
Lightened up with Greek yogurt, this hearty sandwich is one of the quickest, most tastiest meals you’ll ever have!
I hope everyone had a fun-filled weekend! I spent the weekend in San Francisco visiting Jason and attending the 4th Annual Foodbuzz Food Blogger Festival. It was such a blast meeting so many new people, exploring the city, and being pampered at the Saturday night gala which was held at California Academy of Sciences. I have a post ready for you guys tomorrow to share all my experiences so stay tuned!
So just the other day, I was going through my fridge and I noticed that I had some chicken breasts to use up and a jar of leftover pesto. That’s when I thought of the possibilities of combining those together. A lightbulb then went off in my head and I figured I could easily make a chicken pesto sandwich.
I thought of adding in some nuts, dried cranberries, maybe some apples or grapes but then I really just wanted to keep this nice and simple. So I threw in some Greek yogurt for a bit of creaminess and tossed it all together with the shredded chicken and homemade pesto. It was so quick and easy to put together, and it served as such an amazing sandwich filling, especially when slathered over a fresh baguette with some arugula, sliced tomatoes and mozzarella.
It was by far one of the best 5-minute prep lunches I’ve ever had!
Chicken Pesto Sandwich
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded chicken breast
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 baguette, cut into 3-4 equal pieces, toasted, for serving
- 2 cups arugula, for serving
- 2 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced, for serving
- 8 ounces mozzarella, sliced
For the basil pesto
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ⅓ cup olive oil
Instructions
- To make the pesto, combine basil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper, to taste. With the motor running, add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified; set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine chicken, 1/2 cup pesto, Greek yogurt, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Serve sandwiches on baguette with arugula, tomatoes, mozzarella and chicken pesto mixture.
Did you make this recipe?
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I added some chopped walnuts for a bit of crunch, but fantastic recipe!
Excellent recipe. I was lazy and bought prepared pesto and topped with balsamic glaze. Made upside down by accident on a crusty toasted Arthur Ave Bastone. Delish. Thank you!
Question: If one is too lazy to make the pesto from scratch, about how much of store-bought would this pesto need–do you think it’s about 6- or 8-oz prepared pesto?
I use the pesto from Costco and still use 1/2 cup. I also use a bit more as spread on the rolls instead of mayo or yogurt.
It’s hard to go wrong with pesto. This is one of my family’s favorite recipes. They constantly request it and if I made it every single day, I don’t think they would complain, so thank you!
I have made pesto for years by “eyeballing” it and when my husband tried this he said it was the best he ever had. So I printed it out for my recipe folder. I’ve made batch after batch of it from my summer basil and froze it in ice cream scoop balls. I mix mine with mayo and it is divine. I’ve probably made it 5 times in the past 2 months. A loaf of french bread, some fresh sliced tomatoes (I leave out the mozzarella, just a personal preference) and I have a sandwich I would be delighted to get in a restaurant. This will be in my life forever!
I tried this recipe but I used vegan chicken instead of real chicken and it’s great!!!
This is easy to make, and so, so delicious! I will be making this again…and again!
These were AMAZING! We made our own pesto with basil we grew, toasted the baguette, and demolished this sandwich. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I had some fresh baguettes and came across this recipe. I skipped the mozzarella – didn’t think it needed it – and it was good without it. This pesto recipe’s proportions are perfect!
I gave this recipe a try yesterday and it was fantastic! Was looking for a recipe to use up some of my basil in the garden and this was a perfect vessel for it. The flavour was delicious, the texture was perfect and it was quick and easy to put together. Used up some leftover prosciutto and it added a nice little kick to it. Paired it with a zucchini tomato cucumber salad with some oven roasted sweet potato for a healthy weeknight meal. I will definitely be putting this in the favourites file. Thanks for your great recipes! I come back time and time again for them.
You have some really amazing recipes! I find myself at your site very often through Pinterest. I served this on toasted sourdough and used havarti because it’s what I had. Absolutely delicious! We loved it! Thanks for another great recipe.
Easy and tasty! I used premade pesto sauce and mixed it with greek yogurt. Turned out great!
This is an excellent sandwich. I have served it for lunch with friends twice now with brilliant comments. I do leave off the mozzarella and serve with a little balsamic and olive oil dressed rocket.
Best Recipe for lunch
I am going to put this together tomorrow. But I am going to add a Twist that you might want to try. There was a restaurant in Charlotte North Carolina that would take a fabulous chicken salad like this and put it on bread and then toast it for a few minutes with the mozzarella and tomato Slice on top like an open sandwich. No need to heat the whole thing through. Just enough to get the cheese softened enough to hold the open sandwich together. Try it with Swiss cheese on top also.
I have made this many times. Not using mozzarella. I grate some parm in the chicken and pesto filling. I also have used leftover mashed sweet potato on the sandwich as well I just smeared some on one side. It was amazing!
Sounds yummy!
Hello, the recipe has mozzarella cheese. Do i use fresh mozzarella ?
Yes, fresh mozzarella is perfect for sandwiches! (Regular, factory-made processed mozzarella is lower in moisture and is easily sliced, cubed, or grated. It is most often used in cooked dishes because it melts much better than fresh mozzarella).
Liked your recipe so much. Looking forward for some more mouth watering recipes. Keep up the good work thanks
oh my gosh! this was so damn good!
This was damn delicious! I made it for a baby shower without the cheese, tomatoes, and arugula (not as good, but still great) because I wanted to do sandwiches without having to pay for huge meat platters. The other two sandwiches I brought were pulled pork and egg salad. The fact that the sandwich is served cold instead of warm makes it especially great for entertaining because I don’t have to worry about the temperature. My husband liked it enough that he asked me to make them at home occasionally, so now it’s a part of our family recipe book!