Baked Pesto Chicken Parmesan takes minutes to prep and just 30 minutes to bake. This comforting, flavorful chicken dinner is a winner!
Got a case of the Mondays, aka busy busy and no time to think nor prep ahead for dinner?
I’ve got you covered with Baked Pesto Chicken Parmesan!
This simple yet flavor-packed chicken dinner requires just 4 ingredients, 5 minutes of prep work, and 30 minutes of baking time. It’s a busy weeknight dinner dream come true!
Cheesy Pesto Baked Chicken Thighs
Baked Pesto Chicken Parmesan is boneless, skinless chicken thighs tossed in prepared pesto, topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese, then baked. So unbelievably simple! Like I said, five minutes to prep then 30 minutes to bake.
If you need a quick and flavorful dinner idea – this is your recipe.
Start with trimmed, boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs) seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper.
Boneless skinless thighs are not only less expensive than chicken breasts but they’re incredibly tender and juicy — especially when baked.
Place the seasoned thighs into the bottom of a 8×8 or 9×12 baking dish then add prepared pesto and turn to coat with your hands.
You can absolutely use your own fresh pesto though, in the spirit of keeping this meal extremely quick and easy, jarred pesto works great.
Next spread marinara sauce over the thighs then top with sliced fresh mozzarella. Shredded mozzarella is fine too.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove the foil then cook for 10 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly, and the chicken is cooked through. That’s it…dinner is served!
You will adore how tender the chicken is, and how delicious each bite of pesto mixed with marinara and mozzarella cheese is. Pure, easy comfort food — enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, about 8
- salt and pepper
- 1/3 cup prepared pesto
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 8 oz fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper then add to a 8x8" or 9x12" baking dish. Add pesto then use hands to evenly coat.
- Spoon marinara sauce over top of thighs followed by mozzarella cheese then cover tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil then bake for 10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
Recipe looks sooo simple, my kinda cooking. Oh, when my daughter was your son’s age, we were at a nice restaurant and she was doing the yelling thing too. My husband looked at me and said, “Now we’re the people we used to move away from!!”
Enjoy it! They grow up very fast!
Thanks
I was really looking forward to making this tonight, but it was just an epic fail. It looks nothing like the picture at all and so greasy and oily.
Thanks for the recipe, it was delicious. But I’m wondering why it would be called Baked Pesto Chicken PARMESAN, since there isn’t any parmesan (unless I missed something?) Puzzling!
Made this again tonight! It is sooooo good!!!
I want to try putting it together, freezing, and baking… Anyone think this will work ok?!
My family really enjoyed this chicken. Thanks so much for another great recipe.
I used chicken breasts. It looked horrid when I took it out of the oven. Very greasy and unappetizing…but it tasted AMAZING!
Tried it and LOVED it!! So quick and delicious!!! My mom loved it so much she had seconds!!
Gave your pesto chicken parm and it was delicious! I shared it on http://www.glutenfreemomtobe.com!
I tried this recipe tonight with my family, including the potato wedges! We all loved it! thanks for the beautiful photos with your blog posts! Glad you are feeling better after your diagnosis. :)
Hi Kristen – Made this tonight and everyone loved it, thank you! It turned out fairly soupy for me too – I wonder if that just has to do w/what kind of marinara sauce used (I used Rao’s) – but it was still tasty. I was worried my chicken breasts might not cook through in time b/c of some of the comments, but it was perfect at 30min. I wonder if some of the people whose chicken wasn’t done used breasts and cut them in half the wrong way? I cut mine lengthwise (like I was butterflying it), and after I pounded it, they were as thin as thighs.
Hi there ! I love reading your blog and decided to make this recipe for dinner last night and it was outstanding !!! So good and will make again. Your pictures look amazing, mine look terrible :) Thanks for the recipe !!!
Ah I am loving the 30 minute meals on your blog. This looks awesome!
This was fantastic! Trader Joes usually has the skinless, boneless thighs. I wasn’t super impressed with the looks of them though today. Sooo, I opted for just over a pound of super thin sliced chicken breasts. They worked perfectly! Baked same amount of time. If you use regular breasts, you’ll for sure need to let them bake longer. These ones were very thin!
Used the fresh pesto from TJ’s refrigerated section. Used a jar of “fancier” (read: more expensive) marinara from Target. Delicious!!! Hubby and son loved it! And I’m making this to take to a family tomorrow! Yum! Thanks for sharing!