[VIDEO] One Pan Pesto Chicken with Asparagus and Tomato

By SweetnSpicyLiving on March 11, 2018 • ( 2 Comments )

This simple One Pan Chicken Pesto with Asparagus and Tomato 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 and enjoy our cooking.

Chicken with Asparagus and Tomato with Pesto Rice at SweetnSpicyLiving.com

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.

Chicken Breast or Chicken Thigh, your choice

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, ok? If you want a more forgiving juicy cut of chicken, use boneless chicken breast. You will probably use 2 -3 pieces depending n the size.

Chicken with Asparagus and Tomato at SweetnSpicyLiving.com 6

Next, we are cooking the chicken first. Add oil in a heated pan. Tip, if you are using stainless steel pan, make sure the pan is really hot. Do you want to know how to test it, watch this short video where I show how I cook fried egg in staninless pan without sticking. Cook the chicken pieces just enought o brown them. Is using chicken breast be more mindful of the cooking time so as not to end up with a dry chicken pieces. if you noticed, I did not season the chicken prior to cooking. This was intentional and something that I picked up through the years of cooking. Seasoning the chicken and cooking it in high heat will easily burn the spices and will leave most of the spices stuck to the pan. We will season the dish later once we cook the vegetables.

One Pan Chicken Pesto with Asparagus and Tomato at SweetNSPicyLiving.com

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 2-3 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. Once the chcien is cook, remove it from the pan. Do not wash the pan, we will use the same pan to cook the veggies.

Everything happens in one pan

Now we are ready to cook the aromatics and veggies in the same pan where we cook the chicken. Simply saute the onion and garlic until the onion is transluscent. Then you can add the sundried tomato and asparagus and cook for few minutes, about 1- 2 minutes for a medium cook asparagus. Add back cooked chicken, followed by fresh cherry tomato, seasoning and spices, and pesto. You can make this recipe without a pesto if you do not have it on hand. Add some fresh Basil, this is optonal but I love the freshness that it adds so add some if you have Basil on hand.

Homemade or Store-bought Pesto

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:

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic – minced
half small Onion – chopped
1 skinless Chicken Breast or thigh, sliced into cubes
1/4 teaspoon fine Salt
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon Paprika
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon granulated Sugar
3 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil, chopped
1 tablespoon spinach pesto (Homemade or store-bought)
fresh Basil
400g Fresh Asparagus – ends trimmed and remaining cut into small pieces
1 cup (200g) Cherry Tomato yellow/red or mixed of both, halved

Instructions:

Cook the chicken: In a heated pan, add oil and cook the chicken pieces until nicely browned. Leave the chicken cooking for 1 -2 minutes without touching it. Flip and cook the other side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Cook the aromatics and veggie. In the same pan, saute the onion and garlic. Add the sundried tomato and asparagus and cook for few minutes, about 1- 2 minutes for a medium cook asparagus. Add back cooked chicken, followed by fresh cherry tomato, seasoning and spices, and pesto. Stir and cook another minute and makes ure the pesto is fully mix in.
Add fresh Basil (optional)

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