Have you discovered Pesto Chicken?! These chicken pesto roll ups are stuffed with cheese, juicy tomatoes and pesto sauce! This pesto chicken tastes like fine dining with Tuscan flavors but they are so easy to make.
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This is my sister, Svetlana’s pesto chicken recipe. She sent me a photo of her dinner last week and I set out to recreate it right away. My Mother (who was trained in the culinary arts), was particularly smitten with this recipe. Mom’s rave reviews are especially valuable to me. 🙂
Chicken Pesto Roll Ups Recipe:
These chicken roll ups are simple enough for weeknight cooking but are also special occasion worthy!
Ingredients for Pesto Chicken Roll Ups:
The list of ingredients in this pesto chicken is short and uncomplicated: Chicken, simple seasoning, shredded mozzarella and tomatoes. P.S. We fell in love with homemade pesto sauce but the one from Costco also works really well.
How to Make Chicken Pesto Roll-Ups:
1. Preheat oven to 425˚F. Cut each chicken breast in half lengthwise so you have 8 thin chicken cutlets. Pound each cutlet in a quart sized ziploc bag or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap to 1/8″ thick. Season both sides of your thin cutlets with garlic salt and black pepper.
2. Spoon and spread 1 Tbsp pesto in the center of each cutlet, top with 2 thin slices of tomato and sprinkle with 2-3 Tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese. Roll the chicken up as tightly as you can and seal ends with a toothpick.
3. Preheat a large oven-safe skillet over medium/high heat with 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Add chicken roll-ups and sear on both sides until golden (4 min per side for a total of 8 minutes on the stove).
4. Sprinkle tops with remaining cheese and scatter 1 cup of baby tomatoes over the top. Place the oven-safe skillet on the center rack of your preheated oven and bake 425˚F for 13-15 minutes (13 minutes for these medium chicken breasts and 15 minutes for larger chicken breasts, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 160˚F on an instant-read thermometer.
To serve, remove toothpicks then plate chicken pesto roll ups, spooning pan juices and roasted tomatoes over the top and garnish with freshly chopped basil. Serve with mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus for a fancy (but simple) dinner!
Watch How to Make Chicken Pesto Roll Ups:
Is your mouth watering yet??
⬇Print-Friendly Chicken Pesto Roll-Ups Recipe:
Chicken Pesto Roll-Ups (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts, (4 medium/large chicken breasts)
- 1 tsp Garlic Salt, (or to taste)
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, (or to taste)
- 1/2 cup Pesto sauce, (about 8 Tbsp total)
- 8 oz Mozzarella cheese, shredded,, (reserve 2 oz for topping)
- 2 tomatoes (medium), thinly sliced into 16 rings
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, optional
- 1 Tbsp Fresh basil leaves, shredded, optional garnish
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F. Cut chicken breast in half lengthwise so you have 8 thin chicken cutlets. Pound each cutlet in a quart sized ziploc bag or between 2 sheets of plastic wrap into 1/8" thick cutlets. Season both sides of chicken with garlic salt and black pepper.
- Spoon and spread 1 Tbsp pesto in the center of each cutlet, top with 2 thin tomato slices and sprinkle with 2-3 Tbsp mozzarella cheese. Roll the chicken up tightly and seal ends with a toothpick.
- Preheat large oven-safe skillet over medium/high heat with 1 Tbsp oil and 1 Tbsp butter. Add chicken roll-ups and sear on both sides until golden (4 min per side or 8 minutes total on the stove).
- Sprinkle tops with remaining cheese and 1 cup of cherry tomatoes. Place the skillet on the center rack of oven and bake 425˚F for 13-15 minutes (13 min for these these medium chicken breasts and 15 min for larger chicken breasts, or until internal temp of chicken reaches 160˚F on instant-read thermometer.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Q: Have you tried Pesto Chicken?
P.S. These chicken pesto roll ups reheat really well if you’re lucky enough to have leftovers! I hope you and your family love these easy, excellent chicken pesto roll-ups.
If you love chicken, check out this popular one-pan Chicken Madeira and all of our favorite chicken recipes HERE.
These are so good! Could I make them open face instead of rolling up?
Hi Jane, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Natasha,
I love the chicken pesto roll up recipe and want to make it for a fun dinner party …game night with friends. I’d like to sauté the chicken then move the roll ups to a Pyrex dish a few hours before the dinner. I assume I should refrigerate the dish, take it out a while before placing it in the oven? Would you add more time to the oven cooking? Would you add the tomatoes, mozzarella and cover ? Would the oven temperature be the same? Thanks for your thoughts.
Hi Sandra! I have not experimented with that to advise. My concern is that partially cooking the chicken (sautéing) and then refrigerating is unsafe food handling. You can find more details here at USDA.gov
You should be able to prepare, fill, roll, refrigerate, and then proceed with the recipe as instructed. It may add a few more minutes to the cooking time since they will be cold. You’ll have to watch them in the oven. I hope that helps. Good luck!
My husband came to the table and said….wow….fancy cooking again? It was scrumptious. Madiera will be next!!
Hi Janet! That’s awesome. I’m so glad it was a hit.
made this today using your basil pesto. super delicious. i usually cant stand chicken breasts because they dont have any flavor but the pesto really took them to another level. eeryone loved it.
That’s great, Jim! Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
I love this recipe, only thing I’ve changed is dry spaghetti noodles, instead of toothpicks!
That’s a great idea, Gavin! Thank you for sharing.
I have never left a review on a recipe site, but this was beyond amazing! I was looking for a non boring chicken dish and this will now be in the rotation! Thank you!!
Hello Chris, thanks for this review. We appreciate it!
Absolutely delicious flavours. A little bit of work but the flavours work so well together. I made a sauce with the tomatoes and added some additional veggies like eggplant and mushrooms and stuffed the chicken with red bell peppers but its the roll-ups that are the highlight. The pesto omg, so yummy. Thanks Natasha!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Wayne!
Just delicious and it does taste like a restaurant dish! I used thinly sliced sun dried tomatoes in the stuffing instead of regular tomatoes for more flavor. And also added a thin slice of prosciutto as well and it was great. I added some homemade chicken stock and a dash of lemon to the pan to take advantage of all the amazing flavors in there.
It’s not hard to prepare and everyone tonight loved it and no leftovers! Bravo!
Thank you for sharing, Keena! I’m so glad it was a hit!
Another recipe from Natasha’s Kitchen that I have truly enjoyed.
Thanks, James! So glad you loved it.
Hi Natasha,
Can l make this recipe half ready a day before?
Hi Desta! We like to make this fresh but can definitely try it. I don’t know how the tomato slices would do if they are cut a day before and stuffed in the chicken. Let us know how it turns out.
Tks, Natasha, Do you have any other chicken breast recipes which l can half prepare a day before and finish it in an ovn on the day? So l can have time with my guests.
Hi Desta, you can find all my chicken break recipes using the search toll on the website. Simply type in “chicken” and all of the options will appear. I hope you love the recipes you find!
Hi Natasha,
What if I don’t have an oven proof skillet, suggestions please!
Hi Suzanne! You could still make this recipe if you have another oven-safe pan, it doesn’t have to be this type of skillet. Most pans are oven safe but the oven-safe temperature varies by brand, materials, and pan types. Look for the oven-safe symbol or wording on the bottom of your pan and if you are not sure, you could research on google for more information on what pans are best to use. I suppose you could also transfer this to a baking dish, like a glass pyrex dish. One of my readers commented, “I skipped the pan frying step, and put the roll ups in a glass baking dish with the olive oil and butter. I baked them, covered with aluminum foil, for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10 minutes to brown them, and then uncovered for another 5 minutes with the additional shredded mozzarella on top to melt the cheese!”
I hope this helps!
Natasha:)
I have a really dumb question for you. I have this same staub Dutch oven that you use for this recipe. My question is…..I wash it with soapy water per instructions, but everytime I dry it it has like a “residue” (don’t really know how to describe it) inside of it. Does yours also do this? I hope I don’t have a defective pan because it’s been discontinued. I can’t seem to reach anyone with staub so I am asking you your experience with it. Sorry to bother about something so silly, but just wondering 🤔 thank you! I love your blog!! 😀
Hi Tammy, I don’t think it’s a residue as much as just dulling of the coating in the pot. I think that sounds pretty normal and it’s a great question! If you are concerned, you might send a message to Staub on IG or FB to see iff there’s a fix or some kind of advice to preserve the pretty sheen but I don’t know what that would be.
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I appreciate it. Have a happy day 😊
I hope you have a great day also, Tammy!
Tammy I have the same issue. Once cleaned and very dry I put on a drop or two of flax seed oil. I mean next to nothing. Then I use a paper towel to wipe the oil throughout the pan. I dry and rub with a paper towel for a good minute. Leaves it looking like new. Hope this helps!
So easy to make & so good! Honey’s words (as he was going for 2nds!) “Its a keeper!”
Natasha – you’re making me look like an amazing cook! 🙂
It’s definietly a keeper! Thank you for sharing. I am glad it was a hit!
Oh my – had these for dinner tonight – winner! Kinda had to fight my hubby for the last goobers in the skillet…
I’m so glad thee were a hit, Rhonda! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This is absolutely incredible and so easy. Be good for a dinner party. I left out tomatoes due to reflex and added spinach on top of pesto and then the cheese. The sauce finishes it off when serving.
This is THE perfect dish for a dinner party!
Hi-once again I am looking for a family dinner recipe. Wondering if there can be any other substitutions for the tomatoes? My son can not eat anything with seeds so adding tomatoes is a no-no. Maybe asparagus? Thanks
Hi Vanessa, we love this recipe with tomatoes and haven’t tried without it yet, but others commented and shared this. “Didn’t have regular tomatoes but substituted baby spinach leaves. Used fresh basil from the garden and homemade pesto. It smells wonderful. Thanks for this recipe!” I hope that helps.
Made these over the weekend, simply delicious. Easy to followup recipe, my son said “simply awesome” Thanks for all the great recipes that make me look good. Merry Christmas!
Hello Mary Jane, good to know that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for the review.
I made these tonight and they were delicious! They didn’t stay rolled up very well, but they tasted delicious!! I will definitely make these again!!
Hi Ken, good to know that you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for your comments and feedback!