This simple One Pan Chicken Pesto with Asparagus and Tomatoes are so easy to make that it became one of my favorite dish to prepare. I love one pan dish, it makes my life easier especially in busy days. Less clean up and more time to do other chores. Chicken is my kind of protein that I always have in my freezer, I find it very versatile and there’s unlimited dishes that you can make from it. You can grill it, baked it, steam it, roast it, pan seared it, fry it and more. This dish is one of my favorite way to use it, all the good stuff I love in one simple and easy to prepare dish.

This is how easy it is to make

First thing first, the chicken. Cut it up into bite size or strips I’ll leave that up to you. You can even have it thinly sliced or cook the full chicken breast without cutting it, it will take a little bit more time but still not that long. Just make sure to check the chicken is cooked all the way through m, ok?  Before you season the chicken, take a paper towel and pat it dry so that the spices sticks better. Then you can season the chicken with spices, I just used whatever I have in my kitchen, you can replace some of this with what spices you like, it’s not a strict recipe. An addition of curry powder seems to be a nice one too, or fresh basil. Sprinkle the spices just to coat the chicken, then set aside for 15 minutes. You can prepare it ahead of time and leave it overnight to marinade. Then fry the chicken in a hot pan, hot pan is very important when cooking this chicken to avoid it from sticking (although I like using non-stick  pan for easier cooking) and it gave a nice seared on the chicken. If you have a non-stick pan, use it otherwise make sure that the pan is really hot. Sprinkle a bit of water, if it splatter then the pan is hot and ready for use. Now the oil, I like to used as little oil as possible so that the chicken could have a more seared appearance and it’s kind of “healtish” to use less oil. You can also use the sun-dried tomato oil for additional flavor. While doing the pan seared, leave the chicken alone, don’t keep on flipping and turning it. That is one secret to a nice pan seared chicken, hot pan and no flipping. Give each side of the chicken time to cook, about 5 minutes each side in medium heat, this applies for cube or chicken strips. If you are cooking the entire chicken breast, it may take longer, just check  the color of the chicken, it should not be translucent. That’s for the chicken, now we start with adding the veggies. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for another 1-2 minutes with the chicken, this time you can mix it. Next, add in the asparagus and cook for 3 minutes. I like mine half-cooked so and crunchy but if you like it well cook you can extend the cooking. Season to taste and adjust as needed, then turn off the heat and add the tomatoes. I like my tomatoes still hard but If you like your tomatoes soft and cooked, you can extend the cooking for another 2-3 minutes. Add the pesto and mix until combined. I like adding the pesto at the end so that it doesn’t get brown, but you can also add it before adding the sun-dried tomatoes. That will coat the chicken better, either way it’s good. That’s it! Easy, right?

This dish is not only easy to make, it’s also full and packed with flavor and texture. Lot’s of crunch from asparagus, sweet juice from tomatoes and nice spiced pan seared chicken. You can eat it on its own or with a bread but I like serving it with rice, my favorite Pesto Rice. Now, it’s time to talk about the Pesto.

I used my Homemade Spinach Pesto for this recipe, I even used it to make my Pesto Rice. Hey, it’s so good! You can use store-bought, but it’s really easy to make a pesto from home so if you have a time, try to make it from scratch. If you don’t like pesto, or do not have time to buy or make it, don’t worry because this recipe will work even if without pesto. But if you have them, might as well put it to use. My homemade pesto is very easy to make, and I even have a tip there how to make the bright color last longer. Check it  out, click on this link Homemade Spinach Pesto. Now that we have everything that we need, let’s get started!

Ingredients: