These Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken Meal Prep Bowls are a delicious low carb lunch idea that comes together in 30 minutes!
Ingredients and substitutions
- Olive oil – or another neutral cooking oil like avocado or canola oil.
- Store-bought pesto – I like the Classico version. You can also make your own using basil, olive oil, parmesan, garlic, pine nuts and salt and pepper.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Chicken breasts – chicken thighs would also be good but would increase the calorie count.
- Veggies – swap out the veggies for any veggie of your choice like parsnips, potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, etc.
How to make this recipe
- Toss the chicken and mushrooms in olive oil and pesto.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Add the veggies and more pesto.
- Bake for another 8 minutes.
- Divide amongst meal prep bowls or serve fresh.
What type of pesto to use
You can use store-bought pesto from your local grocery store if you don't want to make it fresh yourself. Take a look in the pasta aisle of your local grocery store with all the spaghetti sauces – I like the jarred Classico pesto as an easy substitute for homemade pesto.
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However, if you are going with homemade pesto, it's super easy to make!
Most classic pesto recipes are a combo of fresh basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, pine nuts, and salt and pepper. I usually leave out the nuts since they are so expensive and add extra fat, plus I find you don't really miss them when it comes to the flavour. Blend up the rest of the ingredients in a small blender, Magic Bullet or food processor and you're good to go!
Leftover homemade pesto will last in the fridge for up to 5 days, whereas store-bought pesto should last a couple weeks. Just make sure you don't contaminate your pesto with raw chicken if you have some left-over that you'd like to re-use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pesto is a green sauce typically made of basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese and olive oil. It originated in Italy and is commonly served with pasta, although it also tastes delicious with chicken!
If you don’t want to turn on the oven, you can definitely make it on the stovetop. Simply sauté the chicken and mushrooms (and/or any other hearty vegetables) for 5-6 minutes with olive oil in a large pan over med-high heat, then sauté the rest of your vegetables for another 10 minutes along with the pesto.
You can serve this pesto chicken alone to make it a low-carb meal, or add on some sides like pasta, rice, quinoa or roasted potatoes. You can even repurpose the leftovers and turn them into pita pizza.
Storing and reheating
You can store this recipe in meal prep bowls in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, simply sprinkle a tiny bit of water over top to keep the chicken from drying out, then microwave for 1-2 minutes. You can also mix in some extra fresh/jarred pesto for more flavour!
Freezing this recipe
I haven't tried freezing this recipe but you can give it a try – the texture of the veggies may end up being very different, but chicken on its own does freeze well so it's worth a shot if you have too many leftovers. This recipe only serves 4 though, so this shouldn't be an issue. I would recommend enjoying fresh in this case.
More easy sheet pan recipes
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Asparagus
- Sheet Pan Sausage and Root Vegetable Scramble
- The Best Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls for your leftovers.
- I get all my free-range chicken breasts from Butcher Box.
- You can also buy store bought pesto instead of making your own (I like Classico).
Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup store bought pesto
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lb chicken breasts, diced
- 1 cup mushrooms, cut in half
- 1 red pepper or 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
- 1 zucchini, cut thickly
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Add chicken and mushrooms to large sheet pan and toss with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp of pesto, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Bake in oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and drain excess liquid.
- Add red pepper, broccoli, and zucchini, tossing with 2 more tbsp pesto. Bake another 8 minutes until chicken is fully cooked. Remove from oven and divide among 4 meal prep bowls. Keep in fridge up to 5 days.
David says
❤ it, first time trying, used 2 chicken breasts, first time trying zucchini. It was delicious. Thank you
Taylor Stinson says
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Laura says
Can I freeze this recipe?
Taylor Stinson says
I wouldn’t recommend it – the veggies won’t freeze super well.
Cassie says
Does the pesto still have a nice consistency and flavor without the addition of pine nuts/other nuts? I know traditional pesto recipes include nuts, but I would love to try it without them!
Taylor Stinson says
It definitely does have a similar consistency due to the parmesan cheese which thickens it up. Definitely a cheaper and more efficient way of making pesto 🙂
Jill says
I plan to try this recipe really soon!! 🙂 Wondering if “3 chicken breasts” is one lobe (average weight, per Google search, 5.25 ounces) or if you mean three full breasts (a double lobe, per Google, at 10.5 ounces each). Since the recipes makes 4 servings, I’m guessing you mean three – 5.25 lobes, or just about 1 pound… but just wanted to be sure!
Thanks for delish-looking plan-ahead meals!!
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Jill – each chicken breast I use is around 5-6oz, so about 1 lb would be correct 🙂
Kim says
Do you cook chicken first or is it raw chicken diced?
Taylor Stinson says
It is raw diced chicken!
Lauren says
Thank you for this delicious, nutritious and super easy recipe! I occasionally have flare-ups of depression that make it really hard to feed myself healthy food or bother to cook anything at all, so I really appreciate how quick and simple this is. It’s also SUPER tasty – in case anyone is wondering, you can also use frozen broccoli florets and it still turns out great (I just added them to the pan right away witht he chicken and mushrooms).
Lauren says
Oh, and I also cheated and used store-bought pesto. to make it extra easy.
Taylor Stinson says
LOVE IT!!! Thanks so much for sharing with me Lauren – I love that you used store-bought pesto to cut some time and I’m glad to hear you can use frozen veggies too! I’m so glad you find my recipes helpful, you’ve just made my day!
Carol L says
Oops! Think you left something out: • 3 olive oil, divided
I’m gonna guess it was 3 TBSP, but don’t want to be wrong!
Taylor Stinson says
Sorry about that Carol! I have just fixed it – yes it is 3 tbsp!
Wolf says
How much is a serving??
Taylor Stinson says
Hey Wolf – divide the recipe into 4 containers…the recipe has four servings!