Pesto Chicken with Zucchini Noodles
on Sep 16, 2015, Updated Dec 08, 2024
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Juicy chicken marinated in pesto is the perfect protein to top these healthy and delicious zucchini noodles! A fast and easy alternative to your regular pasta dinner!
Zucchini noodles are all the rage right now. Actually any spiralized vegetable is. I for one absolutely love them! What about you? Have you tried them yet? If you haven’t I highly recommend it. Not only do they taste great, but it’s a fun way to get more vegetables into your diet.
Before I bought myself a spiralizer I simply used a julienne peeler to do the job. It doesn’t take up any space and is relatively inexpensive. However, after seeing people use the spiralizer I couldn’t resist buying one. I’ve now had mine for about a year and pull it out of my pantry at least once a week to make some sort of vegetable noodles. If you think it’s something you’ll use frequently and you have the space to store it, I definitely think it’s a good investment!
Since I’m still pulling at least 1-2 zucchini off my plant per week I’m in desperate need of ways to use them up. I’ve baked zucchini bread, stuck it in those delicious cupcakes I shared the recipe for a while back, grilled it, sautèed it, and now I’m spiralizing the heck out of it and making easy zucchini noodles.
Once the zucchini is in noodle form the rest is simple. Just toss them in a large sauté pan sprayed with cooking spray, sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and toss them around for a minute. All done. No waiting for water to boil and then waiting even longer for the pasta to cook. Start to finish you’re looking at about 5-6 minutes, you can’t beat that!
For all the doubters out there about the flavor, I’m not here to tell you that it tastes just like pasta, because it’s not pasta. It does however have the look and texture of pasta and when you top it with the delicious pesto chicken and lots of parmesan cheese, it makes a pretty darn good replacement! Not to mention the calories in one whole zucchini are between 30-50 whereas a serving of pasta is about 200 calories, sort of a big difference wouldn’t you say? If you are looking for a great alternative to pasta or maybe a way to get your kids or yourself to eat more vegetables, I highly recommend giving this Pesto Chicken with Zucchini Noodles a try!
Pesto Chicken with Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
Pesto Chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon pesto
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Zucchini Noodles
- 2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pesto and parmesan cheese for toppings
Instructions
Pesto Chicken
- In a medium sized bowl, combine the chicken breasts, pesto, salt, and pepper tossing together until the chicken is coated in the pesto.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Grill or sautè the chicken for about 3-4 minutes per side depending on the thickness of your chicken. Remove the chicken from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
Zucchini Noodles
- Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with cooking spray. Add in the spiralized zucchini along with some salt and pepper to taste.
- Toss everything together and heat through for about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and divide into two bowls.
- Top the noodles with the sliced chicken, more pesto, and shredded parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Alternative Pasta Dinners:
Spicy Tomato Garlic Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash
Spaghetti Squash with Feta and Herb
I found your recipe on a freezer meal list as well 😂 https://theeverymom.com/freezer-meals-to-make-before-baby/
You’re number one!
This recipe sounds delicious but made me laugh that you don’t recommend using it as a freezer meal. I can’t wait to give it a try when I have zucchini coming out of my ears this summer ;)
Saw this in a freezer meal prep list… Can you just freeze in a casserole dish? Do you have reheating instructions?
Thanks!
Hi Jennifer,
I’ve never tried to freeze this dish (unaware of the freezer meal list you’re finding it on), so I’m actually not sure how it will hold up or reheat. I’d be hesitant to try it since the zucchini noodles are already cooked and might turn out mushy when defrosted and reheated. You might check out this article regarding ways to freeze zucchini. https://www.backyardgardenlover.com/how-to-freeze-zucchini/
I love the sound of this dish. I just bought a spiralizer recently {late to the game!} so I am going to try this out soon. Pesto is also one of my favorite sauces for a dish like this–great idea!
Thanks Julia! I love adding pesto to chicken and vegetable dishes!
This looks so good and I have everything I need to make it. Love when that happens!
Thanks Sharon! I love when I have everything too, one less trip to the grocery store!