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.
delicious! they turned out really good, Thanks Natasha for sharing your wonderful recipes.
You’re welcome Elena! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your great review!
WOW! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Definitely a recipe to impress when having company over.
I learned that its important to make sure to pound the chicken slices thinner then you think they should be so theres no pink in the middle. Used a mandolin slicer to slice really thin tomatoes–made it easier to roll up. Oh…and my house smelled like an Italian restaurant. 🙂 My family LOVED these! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
My pleasure Laura! I’m glad to hear how much you enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your fantastic review with other readers!
This is the best!!! I have made it several times and it’s a great dish. It’s an easy delicious, foolproof dish. For anyone who likes pesto, this is a GREAT dish to make. It’s easy to follow the recipe and you can’t go wrong with it.
I’m happy to hear how much you love the recipe Stephanie! Thanks for sharing your excellent review with other readers!
I didn’t bother with the oven. Folded the tenderized chicken on over the pesto and mozzarella, (no tomates) and skillet fried on low heat with butter. Added lemon the end for a brown butter lemon sauce. Excellent.
I’m happy to hear the recipe is a success. Thanks for sharing your great review!
I haven’t tried yet, but I think I would stick with the stove…adding a cup of white wine and letting it reduce to half would give a lovely sauce…very similar to a basic chicken in white wine sauce but I love the stuffing of pesto, tomatoes, and cheese…definitely going to try!
Do you know how many calories this didn’t would be, approx. per chicken?
Due to time constraints, I don’t typically include nutritional info, but check out this nutrition analyzer – you can plug in the ingredients from any recipe, select the serving size and it will give you nutritional info, calories, etc. I hope that is helpful to you!
I made this for Christmas dinner. It was excellent. I only had chive and onion cream cheese and it gave the dish that extra burst of flavor. My husband could not stop raving about this dish.
I also added fresh spinach. Scrumptious!
I’m happy to hear you both enjoy the recipe. Thanks for sharing your great review!
I love these! Had some difficulty rolling and keeping the ingredients in the roll but I read your suggestions from another post and I’ll try those next time.
Thank you for making them Kristin. Let me know how it goes next time. Have a great Christmas 😬
I have made these 3 times in the last month and a half! So delicious!! How can you go wrong with anything with Pesto in it ;+). I also add a pint of sliced mushrooms when I add the grape tomatoes. They come out so buttery! My only challenge is still how to flatten the chicken breast where it will roll up so tight with the tomato slices and cheese in it. I try to cut them in half and flatten them but I tend to put holes in the chicken. But I’ll keep practicing because this recipe is so easy and delicious!! I serve it over a small amount of Angel Hair Pasta. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
Hi Carolyn, I’m so glad you loved the recipe enough to make it 3 times! Thanks for sharing that with us :). There are different sized chicken breasts – some smaller, some larger and the larger ones are definitely easier to pound and roll. Also, I keep the tomato slices really thin which helps in rolling and you might try sliced cheese instead of shredded and see if that makes the process even easier.
Do you know what the nutrition facts are for these? Especially the calories.
Amanda, I don’t typically include calorie counts because of the time constraint that I have. I really need to hire some help to do that for me! When I need a quick answer though; I have used Caloriecount.com (their recipe analyzer is free).”
This page is showing the nutrition facts on it, but my question is it for 1 roll-up? In other words, how many in a serving?
Hi Coni, Yes, that is for one roll. This recipe makes for 8 rolls or “8 servings”. I hope that helps.
yes, adding ingredients to my shopping list, can’t wait to try this!
Another amazing recipe Natasha! I am new to cooking, but following your recipes is always so easy 🙂
I’m glad to hear how much you’re enjoying the recipes! Thanks for following Tori!
Wow!!!! We loved these Pesto Chicken Roll-Ups! This recipe is perfect and a keeper!!!
Paula, thank you for the nice review and you are very welcome 😬
Hello Natasha!
I love watching your cooking 🙂
I have to try your chicken pesto roll- i don’t know is it going to taste like yours BUT i will give it try 😛
I buy at least 10 of the items on your Costco list. Those are great suggestions Thanks for sharing.
Hello Nikki! I’m glad to hear how much you’re enjoying my site! Please let me know what you think of the recipe! 🙂
Good Morning Natasha!
Where do I begin??? I made your chicken pesto roll-ups for visiting family this weekend. They were a HUGE success! I did not have 1 bit of leftovers. My sister-n-law told me after dinner that she really doesn’t like chicken but this dinner was AMAZING and she might have to try other chicken dinners now :O)~ Thank you again for all your videos and recipes. I LOVE THEM!!!
Morning Michelle! My pleasure, I’m happy to hear how much everyone enjoys the recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Thank goodness for you, I am becoming a wonderful cook.
Ahh, you’re so sweet! I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipes Liz! Thanks for following and sharing your encouraging comments!
Hi Natasha,
I am going to make your Chicken Pesto Rollups tomorrow and was wondering if I could freeze some of them after I have cooked them. They sound delicious and would like to make extra to have in the freezer for the busy holidays ahead.
Hi Louise, I haven’t tried freezing them so I’m not 100% sure how they would work after thawing and reheating. It will have to be an experiment :-). Let me know if you test that out! It sounds like a good idea!
Made this yesterday, AMAZING flavor, was really hard to wrap and keep them rolled, i believed cut them a bit thick, regardless this dish added to my list of do again.
I’m glad to hear you enjoy the recipe Sergio! Thanks for sharing your great review! 🙂
Hi, I made this already, turned out great.
Can I prepare the day before?
Hi Joan, you can prepare everything up until the point you put it in the oven and let it cool instead then refrigerate overnight then bake the following day. Bake a few minutes longer if baking it chilled.
I made the Pesto chicken. It was not as pretty as yours but the flavor was excellent!! I will be making this again very soon!
I’m glad you love the recipe Barb! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
This looks so delicious, I will definitely try to make it. Can’t wait, Thank you so much.
You’re welcome! I hope you love it! Please let me know what you think of the recipe!
These look amazing but my husband doesn’t like pesto do you think anything can be used to substitute the pesto? Thanks!
Victoria, I really haven’t experienced with substitute my self and can’t think of anything of right now. Has anyone else tried using something else besides pesto?
Maybe an olive tapenade, or a sun dried tomato mixture? If it’s the basil he doesn’t like you might try making a pesto with thyme instead? Just thoughts…good luck!
Don
BTW, I added prosciutto to mine and it was amazing. That may also be an alternative in addition to the previously posted options!
Don
YUM! That sounds really good!
Awesome!! Thanks Don! 🙂
I don’t have a green pesto, but I do have a red pepper pesto which I’m planning to use. Would he like that? I also have a rollup recipe that uses cream cheese and minced garlic. It’s really good.
Hi Linda, without testing it first, it is difficult to give a recommendation. If you experiment, let me know how you liked it! 🙂