Creamy Pesto Baked Chicken

February 15, 2025 By Lilly

This creative way of baking chicken is a game changer when it comes to providing a quick and delicious meal for your family! The combination of cheeses and flavorful pesto creates yummy comfort food that’s easy to prepare, naturally low carb, and super versatile. Serve it however you’d like! It’s awesome with a side of buttered noodles, seasoned rice, roasted potatoes, garlic bread, veggies, salad, or anything else your family enjoys for dinner.

I recommend a good quality, refrigerated basil pesto such as the Kirkland brand from Costco or Giovanni Rana which can be found at most grocery stores.

If you’re looking for easy ways to bake chicken, add CREAM CHEESE to your shopping list! It turns baked chicken from boring to awesome. In fact, you can experiment by mixing the cream cheese with other sauces such as salsa, marinara, enchilada sauce, buffalo sauce, etc.

This simple family dinner recipe is fast to prepare, kid friendly, low carb, packed with cheesy flavor, and perfect for those busy weeknights when you really don’t feel like spending all night in the kitchen. It’s a surefire hit!

Print Recipe

Creamy Pesto Baked Chicken

How to make delicious baked chicken breasts with a block of cream cheese and pesto! This easy family dinner recipe only takes 5 minutes to prepare and then you just pop it in the oven. It's versatile enough for the entire family served with any of your favorite side dishes.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Keyword: baked chicken, cream cheese, easy dinner ideas, family meals

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 3-4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1½ pounds)
• 1 (8oz) block cream cheese (softened)
• 1/3 cup basil pesto *see notes
• 1+ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• fresh chopped tomatoes and basil for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375° F and grease a 9×13 baking dish.
• In a small bowl, combine the block of softened cream cheese with 1/3 cup pesto.
• Place the chicken breasts into your greased dish and use a spoon or spatula to spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over top of the chicken.
• Sprinkle a cup or more of shredded mozzarella over top. No need to actually measure if your family loves cheese, just go with your heart!
• Bake, uncovered, in the center rack of your oven for 30-45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. The cook time will highly depend on the size and thickness of your chicken breasts.
• Garnish with fresh chopped tomatoes and basil. Enjoy!

Notes

• I recommend a good quality, refrigerated basil pesto such as the Kirkland brand from Costco or Giovanni Rana which can be found at most grocery stores.
• If your chicken breasts are large (or you want to speed up the cook time), pound your chicken breasts to flatten them out a bit, and then cut them in half for easier serving. This gives you more of that toasty, cheesy outer layer!
• Do you like a lot of flavor? Pesto is already loaded with herbs and spices, but you can additionally season the chicken breasts with a bit of salt, pepper, or garlic powder before spreading the cream cheese mixture over top. 
• If you're a cheese lover, feel free to sprinkle on a bit of parmesan cheese along with the mozzarella. Is it possible to have too much cheese? Nah. 
• My family loves this baked chicken with a side of garlic buttered noodles. For a quick side dish, you could also try a box of Pasta Roni, Rice A Roni, roasted potatoes, garlic bread, salad, or veggies. 
• Looking for more easy baked chicken recipes? Try this 3 Ingredient Spinach Artichoke Baked Chicken!

Don’t forget to pin and save this easy chicken dinner for later! 🙂