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.
Made this last night and my hubby says, “this rivals a restaurant babe!”
A homerun in my book!
That’s so awesome! Thank you for sharing that great review with us!
I have now made these 3 times, and they are on this weeks menu. My husband loves this recipe!
I add some white wine before it goes in the oven, and sliced mushrooms w/ the tomatoes. My husband loves mushrooms and they go perfect w/ this recipe! The light Sauvignon Blanc wine was a nice added flavor.
I also make my own pesto, never knew it was so easy to make!
Thank You for a great recipe!
You’re so welcome! Thank you for that wonderful review! It sounds like you have a new favorite!
I made this tonight, with a slight variation on the recipe! 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! They were delicious! My husband said, wow please make sure you keep this recipe to make it again! 🙂
That’s just awesome!! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
At what temp did you bake these?
Served these for the first time to a crowd of ten young adults tonight. I made a slight variation with a garlic, wilted spinach and cheese instead of the pesto because I couldn’t get any basil. The reviews were outstanding from all my guests. Every plate was cleaned! Thank you for sharing this with the world, I can’t wait to make it again. 🌎 😋
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Just made it. Not as pretty as yours but so tasty. Family loved it!
Sounds like you found a new family favorite, Leanne!
Can’t wait to try these. A hint: empty liners from cold cereal boxes
are great for pounding chicken. Also, saying “cut horizontal” would make more sense to me than “lengthwise”. Thanks.
That’s a great tip and an awesome way to reuse! Thank you for sharing that with us Jane!
This is an amazing dish! We use the pan drippings and make a quick sauce for linguine! Its heaven!
That’s just awesome!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review 🙂
Aaamazing recipe Natasha! My husband even said I cook better than the restaurant after he tried this meal😅thanks to u! Most of my recipes are from your website! Keep them recipes rolling🤗
That’s amazing! I’m so happy you bother loved this! Thank you for this wonderful review!
Hello. I think this recipe looks amazing and I want to try it. My biggest problem is that I live in China so my house doesn’t have a real oven and premade pesto is very hard to come by. Do you think it would turn out okay if I did it entirely on the stovetop with a homemade pesto? Also, do you have a homemade pesto recipe you particularly like?
Thanks!
Hi Eric! Thank you for your amazing feedback! That’s a great question! We have a basil pesto recipe here! I hope you like it!
Could boneless skinless chicken thighs be used in place of breasts? They seem to be more tender.
Hi Angela, I haven’t tried it with thighs, here is what one of our readers said: “I made it over the weekend with chicken thighs because we don’t like chicken breast, did it all according to directions but less pesto just a thin layer maybe 1tsp. It was delicious, husband loved it, it was very delicious and i think I have to make it again this week! Thank you for great and delicious recipes Natasha!” I hope this helps!
omg!! made these roll ups for my wife tonite and she LOVED it!!! you make it easy for a non-cooker to cook. thanks
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Tracy!
I watched your posts on FB, and I did a lot of them. You are fabulous. Thank you for your time and receipts. you
Hi Dana! Thank you so much for watching those! I’m so happy you discovered our blog.
WHAT WONDERFUL RECIPES YOU HAVE, THANK YOU SOO MUCH !!!
Thank you Nicki! I’m so happy you are enjoying them!!
This was my first try at this recipe. I think it overcooked… the chicken was rubbery! I used the cook times exactly per the recipe.
Hi Susan, it could be due to having the heat higher which would cook the chicken faster.
Delicious recipe! I added Kalamata olives with the cherry tomatoes, and it was perfect!!!! I got lots of compliments. Thanks!
Hi Patrice! Thank you for the great review! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Merhaba natasha bu akşam deneyeceğim sonucu göreceğim ama mükemmel görünüyor
Hi Taju! Enjoy! Thanks for the awesome review!
Hi I love this recipe but sometimes pesto doesn’t agree with me. Can you recommend a replacement for the pesto? Thanks
Hi Jennifer. One of our readers mentioned omitting the pesto and still enjoys the recipe. Are you a fan of chimichurri? Although it might not be perfect for this recipe a substitution like spinach may work instead of basil and you can make your own sauce? Pesto is a bit hard to replace since it is so unique.
Hi Natasha,
Love this recipe but could you plz tell me substitute of wine as I don’t consume wine?
Hi Nomi, This recipe does not come with wine. Were trying to comment on another one by chance?
My family and I LOVE this dish. It’s so flavourful and delicious, and pretty easy to make. A hit every time!! Paired with a nice risotto and a salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, you think you’re in a fancy restaurant. Thanks, Natasha!!
You’re so welcome John! I”m so happy your family enjoyed these! Thank you for the awesome review!
Natasha you have changed my daily meal plans and I truly greatly appreciate your recipes. So far I have cooked seven of your recipes and I love them all please keep them coming!
Wow! Thank you so much Ana! You’re so nice! I appreciate the amazing feedback!