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?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
I love fresh pesto so I made this for dinner tonight for my family. My husband and son loved it. I even forgot to make the sandwiches with the mozzarella on them and we didn’t even miss it. They were delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
I substituted pistachios for the pine nuts in the pesto. No joke. This is the best tasting pesto I’ve ever had!
I’ll have to try that!!!! 🙂
Silly question – can you use canola oil? I’m out of olive oil so wondering if I need to make a trip to the store or if I’m okay with canola?
Anna, I do not recommend using canola oil. It is best to use olive oil to obtain the best results possible.
I use the pesto on baked or grilled salmon, baked chicken and have also put some on a plate and poured some olive oil over it to dip bread in. Delicious! I added a little lemon to the pesto and it is good that way too. I have basil in my garden, so I make this pesto almost everyday and add it to a lot of recipes. Today, I added it to the stuffing/Mild italian sausage stuffed green pepper recipe. Turned out great! Thanks for recipe.
I have this chilling in the fridge for dinner. I can barely wait to eat it! I poached a package of chicken tenders in chicken broth, lemon balm, lemon verbena, and a couple of smashed garlic gloves. This recipe is a great way to stretch a meal!
Just made this with lettuce and basil from my garden. It was delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Totally amazing you rock!!
I have really been enjoying your blog I am wondering if you have any nutritional information fir the wonderful things you make
Thanks!!
Sam, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes! But unfortunately, as I am not a registered dietician, I am not comfortable sharing nutritional information of my recipes. Please use online resources at your own discretion to obtain such information.
Pingback: 今週を作る7つの大急ぎの夕食 | 最新流行フード・北米版！最高に流行る予感！
I don’t have a food processor:( can I just use a blender?.. I really want to try this. It looks yummy:)
Unfortunately, a blender will not work. It is best to use a food processor.
I used my blender & it worked pretty good. Probably takes a bit more time, but my husband & I love the flavor of the pesto!
I also use a blender to make pesto and it works well. You do have to be a bit more patient and stop to push the ingredients down, but it works. You can put some olive oil in first so it’s on the bottom of the other ingredients and then once it gets going, remove the little middle part of the lid and stream more olive oil in as needed.
Hi Jessica. I use a mini food processor all the time. Its the 1.5cup size, so you may have to process in batches. But its inexpensive and lasts a long time. I paid around $12. Can find at Target or Walmart or even your local grocer. Hope this helps!
We just made a batch and love how it turned out. We have a busy life right now with an infant and were wondering if anyone has had success freezing batches for later, and if so, how long would it keep a quality taste?
Pingback: Caramel Potatoes » Pesto Chicken Sandwich
This is sooo good! We put them on sandwiches but you could do so much with this pesto Chicken! Thanks for sharing!
This looks delicious! I’m going to make it tomorrow for our family, which includes a 2 and 1/2 yr. old. I might serve it on a tortilla, grilled as a quesadilla for him since his mouth is too little for a sandwich like this and he’s really into quesadillas right now. I’ll keep it on a baguette for me and my husband. Either way, I can’t see not loving this. And what a great idea to serve this up sliced into smaller sandwiches during a Spring/ Summer get-together or party. =)
Any tips on where to get the pine nuts inexpensively? At my local grocery they were almost $4 for 1.75 oz!
Pine nuts are insanely expensive but you can save a little bit if you purchaste it at Costco.
FYI, you can also try other nuts. I never liked pesto much until I started using pistachios instead of pine nuts. Now I can’t get enough of it! I also get my nuts at Costco, the savings is tremendous over grocery store prices.
Try the Hispanic aisle. I have seen small bags of such items much cheaper in Walmart. Your local farmers market may also have smaller serving sizes that are reasonable.
Can you make this pesto without the nuts ?
Cassandra, you can certainly omit the nuts but please remember that by doing so, I cannot speak for how much this will change in the overall taste or texture of the dish. I recommend using the specified ingredients listed in the recipe whenever possible for optimal results.
I made these tonight for dinner and it was so yummy! The only thing I did different was instead of Greek yogurt, I threw in 2 avocados to the food processor with the pesto to get the creaminess. Sooo good, thanks for the idea!
Made these last night! They were great! I made them as a hot sandwich! I placed everything on the sandwich except the arrival and placed them in oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes!!!! Great!!
This looks so good! But I have a tree nut allergy and wouldn’t be able to do the pine nuts in the pesto. Would it still work if I omit those?
Deana, I recommend substituting sunflower seeds for the pine nuts.
I have made this twice now and it is amazing! The first time I used pre-roasted turkey breast from the grocery store and this time just chicken breast that I cooked at home. I added a bit of onion and paprika since I am avoiding black pepper at the moment. Delicious! This is now a staple for my lunch menu.