Name: Creamy Pesto Chicken Recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 50 g Parmesan cheese (cut in quarters); 10 g garlic; 30 g basil (weight after stems removed); 50 g pinenuts, pepita and sunflower seed mix (alternatively you could just use pinenuts); 25 g oil; 1 TBS lemon juice; 650 g chicken thigh fillets (Cut into large cubes - each cube should weigh about 40g); 10 g garlic; 6 peppercorns; 1 TBS oil; 1 tsp thermomix stock paste (or massal vege stock cube); 1/4 tsp salt; 220 g Philadelphia light cream cheese (sour cream can be used if preferred); 120 g pesto paste (all the paste that was made in step one); 90 g water

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Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

A deliciously creamy pesto chicken recipe with a lovely lemon tang and fresh basil flavour. Best of all, it's on the table in just 30 minutes.

Landscape shot of creamy pesto chicken in a bowl on denim teatowel

There is something so comforting about eating a big bowl of creamy chicken. Ordinarily, cream dishes are made with cream and tend to be very calorific. Similarly, pesto is usually made with a significant amount of oil. If I had just combined the two dishes we would have had a calorie explosion!

I love taking a dish and giving it a healthier twist. Whilst this isn't a low-calorie dish I've trimmed it of excessive calories and saturated fat and added calcium and protein from cream cheese. So this is a meal you can happily serve regularly.

Creamy Pesto Chicken - 1 Dish 3 Serving Suggestions

For the Kids

I served my creamy pesto chicken with macaroni for the kids and it was a big hit. Any pasta would work well with the recipe.

Do you know how to "cook" pasta using just your Thermoserver and hot water. I will link my Youtube shortly.

Or you could cook e pasta on the stove which takes about 20 minutes. So if you put the pasta on at the start of making the dish everything will be ready to eat within 30 minutes.

For The Hubby

My hubby needs his carbohydrates and extra calories so I made him a jacket potato. Simply turn the oven on to 220 degrees Celsius and microwave a large potato (skin on) for 7 minutes. Place the potato on the oven racks and continue to cook until the creamy pesto chicken is ready. Place the potato in a bowl and cut in quarters. Pour the chicken over the top and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.

Calorie, Keto LCHF Conscious

I like to serve my creamy pesto chicken on a large dinner plate with a rocket and baby tomato salad. Most of my salad greens come from the garden so they're incredibly fresh.

3 Process Shots Creamy Chicken Pesto Sauce in stages

Weeknight Wonders

I'm going to start a new tag for weeknight wonders. These will be family-friendly recipes that take less than 30 minutes to get on the table. All the recipes on that tag will use minimal ingredients and pantry staples. You won't get any difficult to find ingredients or techniques.

I would appreciate any recipe suggestions. At the moment I'm developing a super tasty Chicken Cacciatore recipe! What else would you like to see on the website?

KETO Recipes!

I have more fabulous recipes if you're following a low-carb or keto diet. Try this Spicy Popcorn Chicken Salad next time you're craving KFC 🙂 The recipe is one of Megan's from Mad Creations. Megan has some fabulous Keto books and meal plans available.

Let’s Connect!

I share loads of great recipes on the page. Our community group page is a fabulous place to ask questions and share images of recipes you have made! It helps inspire others to cook new and interesting dishes.

If you would like more great Thermomix recipes, please follow the ThermoKitchen FB Page.

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Potrait shot black bowl with chicken in a creamy pesto sauce

Creamy Pesto Chicken Recipe

Julie Carlyle

This deliciously creamy pesto chicken has a lovely lemon tang and fresh basil flavour. Best of all it's on the table in just 30 minutes.

5 from 5 votes

Print Recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Course Main, Main Course, Main Dish

Cuisine Australian, Italian

Servings serves

Calories 650 kcal

Equipment

1 Thermomix

Ingredients

50 g Parmesan cheese cut in quarters

Pesto

10 g garlic
30 g basil weight after stems removed
50 g pinenuts, pepita and sunflower seed mix alternatively you could just use pinenuts
25 g oil
1 TBS lemon juice

Cooking Chicken

650 g chicken thigh fillets Cut into large cubes - each cube should weigh about 40g
10 g garlic
6 peppercorns
1 TBS oil
1 teaspoon thermomix stock paste or massal vege stock cube
¼ teaspoon salt
220 g Philadelphia light cream cheese sour cream can be used if preferred
120 g pesto paste all the paste that was made in step one
90 g water

Instructions

Place parmesan in TM Bowl. Grate 3 sec/Speed 9. Reserve in a small bowl for serving.
50 g Parmesan cheese

Pesto

Without cleaning the TM Bowl - Place garlic in TM. Grate 3 sec/Speed 9.
10 g garlic
Add basil, seeds, oil, lemon and salt to the garlic. Chop 5 sec/Speed 9.
30 g basil, 50 g pinenuts, pepita and sunflower seed mix, 25 g oil, 1 TBS lemon juice
Scrape down the bowl. Chop 5 sec/Speed 4. Reserve in a small bowl.

Preparing the Chicken

Without cleaning the TM Bowl. Add the garlic and peppercorns to TM Bowl. Chop 3 sec/Speed 9.
10 g garlic, 6 peppercorns
Add the diced chicken, oil, stock paste and salt. Cook 15 minutes/Varoma/Soft Spoon (Reverse Mode). Place TM Spatula in the MC hole instead of MC. (This helps agitate the chicken without you needing to be there.
650 g chicken thigh fillets, 1 TBS oil, 1 teaspoon thermomix stock paste, ¼ teaspoon salt
Add the reserved pesto, cream cheese and water (for a thinner sauce). Cook 5min/Varoma/Soft Spoon (Reverse Mode) TM Spatula In.
220 g Philadelphia light cream cheese, 120 g pesto paste, 90 g water
Serve immediately with the grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

NOTE: The pesto chicken should be served as soon as it's ready as the sauce will thicken slightly as it cools. If you do find the sauce thick, add 50mls of water and heat 3min/Varoma/Soft Spoon (Reverse).

To avid the chicken being shredded use large diced pieces of chicken and ensure that reverse mode is enabled.

Nutrition

Calories: 650kcalCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 31gFat: 54gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gMonounsaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 160mgSodium: 761mgPotassium: 483mgFiber: 1gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1227IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 253mgIron: 2mg

Keyword Chicken, Chicken Dish, healthy, Keto, Main Meal, Thermomix

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Thank you for stopping by,

Happy Cooking

j xx

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Comments

Julie says

January 04, 2023 at 8:00 pm

So fresh and delicious. Absolutely loved it xx

Joy Hollis says

March 02, 2022 at 11:57 am

So delicious thank you!

emee says

August 03, 2021 at 10:34 pm

what model thermomix is this made for/compatible with?

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  August 04, 2021 at 7:07 am
  
  Hi Emme
  The recipe is suitable for all machines, TM31, TM6 and TM6.
  Happy Cooking
  Julie
  
Kerrie says

August 15, 2019 at 10:22 pm

My family really enjoyed this dish only issue I had was that chicken shredded even though blades were set on reverse .. other than that was enjoyable Thank you

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  August 19, 2019 at 10:50 am
  
  Hi Kerrie
  I'm pleased you enjoyed the recipe. To stop the chicken from being too broken down by the blades cut the thigh fillets into bigger cubes. You should get just 6 cubes out of a large thigh fillet.
  I hope you try the recipe again 🙂
  Happy Cooking
  J
  
- Julie Carlyle says
  
  August 04, 2021 at 7:09 am
  
  Hi Kerrie
  Thank you for your feedback. Always use thigh fillets for Thermomix dishes. They hold together better for cooking. If you still find the meat shreds, cut the pieces bigger. I’m so pleased the family enjoyed the dish.
  Happy Cooking
  Julie
  
Amy says

July 03, 2019 at 11:21 pm

What temperature do you cook the chicken at?

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  July 04, 2019 at 7:23 am
  
  Hi Amy,
  The chicken is cooked at Varoma temperature in the TM Bowl. Varoma is the highest temperature setting on the Thermomix.
  Happy Cooking
  Julie
  
Barbara Storey says

July 02, 2019 at 4:46 am

Can you explain how the spatula goes in the MC hole. I would be worried it would get shredded. Thanks

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  July 03, 2019 at 2:55 am
  
  Hi Barbara,
  The spatula for the Thermomix has been designed so that it can’t hot the blades. It’s safe to use it in the MC hole if you want the mixture to be stirred as it cooks.
  Happy cooking
  J
  
Trish Pearman says

May 15, 2019 at 5:15 pm

This is seriously so easy and so delicious! I was also thinking some diced bacon would be great through it. Thank you for sharing:)

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  May 16, 2019 at 8:22 am
  
  Hi Trish
  I am so pleased you enjoyed my recipe! We also love it 🙂 I absolutely agree with you, bacon would take this to the next level!! Great idea 🙂
  Happy cooking
  J
  
Mimi says

March 17, 2019 at 8:38 pm

Hi! This recipe tastes amazing however I have found my chicken to be shredded. Is this normal?

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  March 18, 2019 at 3:04 pm
  
  Hi Mimi,
  That's really unfortunate 🙁 It doesn't usually shred the chicken. There are two possible reasons. Firstly, you need to engage reverse blade whilst the chicken is cooking. Secondly, the chicken needs to be diced on large chunks. Each chicken thigh fillet should be cut in only 5 pieces which would weigh about 20g+ per cube. I will details this is the instructions to help others.
  Thank you so much for coming back and letting me know!
  Your assistance in fine-tuning the recipes is very much appreciated.
  Julie
  
Jacqueline says

February 11, 2019 at 7:25 pm

Such an amazingly delicious meal.
I used a can of coconut cream instead of cream cheese and it was yummy.

Sammy says

April 13, 2018 at 7:11 pm

Delicious!! Might try adding fried bacon bits next time ?

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  April 15, 2018 at 2:43 pm
  
  Great idea with the bacon! So pleased you enjoyed the recipe ?
  Julie
  
Sue says

April 09, 2018 at 9:35 am

Maybe I missed something but how long did you cook your chicken for I didn’t see any instructions for that ?

- Julie Carlyle says
  
  April 09, 2018 at 9:46 am
  
  OMG! I can;t believe I forgot the instructions. Thanks for letting me know, it's all fixed now 🙂

30min Creamy Pesto Chicken Thermomix