There is something about the classic combination of fragrant basil, salty Parmesan, and lemon that make the flavors in a pesto dish absolutely sing. Pesto sauced zucchini noodles are complemented here with juicy chicken breast and baked tomatoes that flood your mouth with natural sweetness as they pop in your mouth.
Pesto pasta is the ultimate comfort food and always used to be what I turned to if I needed a quick meal after a long tiring day. Luckily with a few low carb twists it can still be enjoyed on a ketogenic diet. Here I have swapped pasta with spiralized zucchini, pine nuts are subbed with walnuts in the pesto and I have gone easy on the tomatoes but the serving is still more than enough to add the taste to this dish.
If you wanted a lighter version of this meal you could share one chicken breast between two servings and reserve half the pesto to use with another dish – there are lots of recipes to try, how about giving pesto keto crackers a go?
Once cooked it can be eaten hot or cold so this makes a great lunch to plate up in suitable container and take to work.
Yields 2 servings of keto pesto chicken pasta.
The Preparation
Chicken Pasta:
- 10 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 10 medium cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium zucchini
- fresh basil, for garnish
Chicken Pesto:
- 1 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup walnuts
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, Minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt, to taste
The Execution
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet, brush with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
2. Take the chicken out of the oven to add the tomatoes on the vine, again brushing with oil. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through.
3. Meanwhile prepare the pesto by blending together all the ingredients except the olive oil. Once a paste has formed slowly add the oil as the blender is running, stopping once the pesto is well combined and reaches the desired consistency.
4. To create your pasta spiralize the zucchini – or use a vegetable peeler to make zucchini ribbons.
5. In a skillet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, sauté the zucchini for 3 minutes or until softened. Take off the heat and stir through the pesto.
6. Assemble the dish by placing half the pesto zucchini in each bowl. Top with sliced chicken, baked tomatoes and a fresh basil garnish.
This makes a total of 2 servings of Pesto Chicken Pasta. Each serving comes out to be 785 calories, 58.7g fats, 8.4g net carbs, and 54.5g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 10 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast | 468 | 10.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 87.9 |
| 2 tablespoon olive oil | 239 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — salt and pepper | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 medium cherry tomatoes | 31 | 0.3 | 6.6 | 2 | 4.6 | 1.5 |
| 2 medium zucchini | 65 | 1.6 | 11.7 | 4.3 | 7.3 | 5 |
| — fresh basil | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 cup fresh basil | 6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| 1/4 cup walnuts | 170 | 17 | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 4 |
| 1 teaspoon fresh garlic | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.2 |
| 1 tablespoon lemon juice | 3 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| 1 teaspoon lemon zest | 1 | 0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese | 108 | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9.6 |
| 1/4 cup olive oil | 477 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 1571 | 117.5 | 25.7 | 8.9 | 16.8 | 109 |
| Per Serving (/2) | 785 | 58.7 | 12.8 | 4.4 | 8.4 | 54.5 |
Pesto Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
Chicken Pasta
- 10 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 10 medium cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium zucchini
- fresh basil for garnish
Chicken Pesto
- 1 cup fresh basil
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic Minced
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup olive oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or lightly oiled, brush with extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and cracked black pepper. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the oven to add the tomatoes on the vine, again brushing with oil. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pesto by blending together all the pesto ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor or blender. Once a paste has formed, slowly add the oil as the processor/blender is running. Stop once the pesto is well combined and reaches the desired consistency.
- To create your pasta, spiralize the zucchini. Alternately, you can use a vegetable peeler to make zucchini ribbons.
- In a skillet with a very small amount of olive oil (just enough to keep them moist and prevent sticking), sauté the zucchini for 3 minutes or until softened. Remove from heat and stir in the pesto until blended.
- Assemble the dish by placing an equal amount of the pesto zucchini per each chicken serving in a bowl. Top with sliced chicken, baked tomatoes, and a fresh basil garnish.
