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Hi friends! Things are a little crazy right now with basically the whole world in some form of quarantine due to COVID-19. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy out there! I figure what you need recipe wise during this time of Coronavirus, are meals that you can make from freezer and pantry staples. This Pesto chicken and rice skillet is quick and easy, coming together for dinner in just 30 minutes. It holds up great for meal prep and can be easily made with pantry and freezer staples that you probably already have on hand! This recipe is also gluten-free, dairy-free and made with real food ingredients.
This post is in partnership with Primal Kitchen Foods. All opinions are my own. I am so grateful to be able to work with a company whose products I truly love and believe in! Thank you for your continued support of both myself and Primal Kitchen Foods!
Chicken and Rice Skillet Ingredients
Like I mentioned before, this pesto chicken and rice meal can be made with some basic pantry and freezer staples. Here is what you will need.
- 4 Chicken Breasts, (you can sub for chicken thighs if needed, just be sure to alter the cooking time accordingly)
- Rice
- Chopped Spinach (I used fresh by frozen works too! Just be sure it's thawed and drained of water)
- Cherry Tomatoes (You can sub a can of diced tomatoes drained of water)
- Chicken Broth (I love using bone broth to increase the protein content!)
- Seasoning and spices: dried basil, salt and pepper and minced garlic
- Primal Kitchen Foods Pesto Mayo
The Pesto Mayo is the star of the show! It makes for a delicious creamy base in this dish and gives the perfect pesto flavor. Primal Kitchen foods just keeps knocking it out of the park with their products and this no sugar added, paleo and keto friendly and Whole30 approved Pesto Mayo is no different. So good! I also plan on making a pasta salad with this come summer! (PS - Use code "BEAUTY10" on their website to save 10% off your order!)
Preparing your Chicken and Rice Skillet
The first step in preparing this pesto chicken and rice skillet, is to mix the seasonings, broth and mayo. I use a fork to mix this all together. It will be a tad clumpy but don't worry, the mayo will melt once it gets heated. Once this mixture is added to the warmed skillet you simply add in your rice, make sure its mixed well into the broth then add your chicken breasts on top. After everything start to boil, you cover and cook until your chicken is just about cooked through. Then you'll add in your spinach and tomatoes and cover for just a bit longer to the chicken is complete done. Easy peasy!
You can leave your chicken as is from here but I prefer to take a couple minutes to brown them on each side in some olive oil before serving. This gives your chicken a nice crisp on the outside and well, it just looks prettier. Totally optional step but I highly recommend taking the extra few minutes. After that you will have your delicious, creamy pesto chicken skillet!
This formula for a chicken and rice skillet can be made with so many different flavor profile and I am definitely excited to experiment!
Other Tasty Skillet Meals
Pesto Chicken and Rice Skillet (Gluten-Free, 30 Minute Meal)
- Prep Time: 5
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dishes
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This creamy pesto chicken and rice skillet is the perfect easy weeknight meal. You can make this simple chicken skillet recipe using items found in your pantry or freezer. Not only is it so simple to make but it's gluten-free and dairy-free, making it a healthy meal the whole family will love.!
Ingredients
- 1 -1.5 lb chicken breasts (4 breasts total. My chicken breasts were large so I cut them in half)
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2-3 cups chopped spinach (or 1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed)
- 1 cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (or 1 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained)
- ⅓ cup Pesto Mayo
- 1-2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pat chicken breasts dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Mix together pesto mayo, chicken broth, rice and seasonings in a mixing bowl.
- Add olive oil and minced garlic to a warmed skillet on medium-high heat and sauté for 1-2 minutes
- Add to mayo, broth and rice mixture to skillet
- Top with chicken breasts and bring to a boil
- Once boiling, move rice mixture around with a spatula to avoid sticking to the bottom of the skillet, cover and cook on low heat for 20 minutes or until chicken is almost completely cooked
- While chicken and rice are cooking, prepare your spinach and tomatoes
- Add chopped spinach and halved tomatoes to skillet, cover and cook for 3-5 more minutes
- Divide into 4 bowls and serve!
Notes
- *Nutrition facts are calculated for 1.5 lbs chicken breast
- *If using bone broth nutrition facts are as follows: cals: 530, fat: 21, carbs: 37, protein: 46
- *I recommend checking your skillet halfway though cooking to move rice around again to prevent sticking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ¼th of recipe
- Calories: 510
- Fat: 21
- Carbohydrates: 36
- Protein: 41
Eve says
Do you cook the rice before you add it to the skillet?
Morgan Long says
Hi! Can I freeze this? If so, when ready to thaw and reheat, what would you instruct us to do? Thank you!
Jen says
Hi! I haven't tried freezing it so I cant give you an accurate answer but I think you probably could! I typically just keep it in the fridge in meal prep containers and eat it during the week but if you try freezing lemme know how it works out!
Autumn Johnson says
Hi! We have a family of 6, so finding a skillet big enough can be hard. Have you ever don’t this with a Dutch oven and finished it off in the oven?
Manda says
Can you please remove the dairy free label? This recipe isn’t dairy free
Jen says
Hi this recipe is dairy-free. Can you tell me which ingredient may be causing some confusion?
Alana says
I made this recipe last night for my family and everyone loved it. It's so hard to find something that my gluten free husband can eat and the rest of the family can also enjoy. Thank you!
Jill says
What can I replace the pesto Mayo with? I can’t find it anywhere.
Jen says
Hey! Sorry for the delay. So you can use any mayo you'd like (if you don't care about it being dairy-free) and add pesto to it for a similar result. But if you do want dairy free, then you can find Primal Kitchen mayo online through the link I posted in the recipe or in lots of stores like Target, Sprouts or Whole Foods!
Amanda says
We hate gluten dairy and egg free here.... I omitted the pesto May and substituted straight gluten free pesto. I didn’t add any spices except salt and pepper to the chicken. The recipe came out great.
Ashley Mummert says
I made my own! I used a cup of fat free mayo and 3 tbsp of pesto and had some left over for sandwiches etc ?
Jen says
great idea!
Jane says
How did you get the chicken breasts browned? Did you brown them before adding to the rice mixture? If they are added raw they will basically just boil and won’t get the nice texture.
Jen says
Hey there! I browned them on a skillet after for a couple minutes to get the crispier texture. It's written into the blog post you may have just missed it 🙂
Ellen Schutte says
Can I please have more of the nutrition information? Saturated fat, soduim, added sugar and fiber.
Thanks,
Ellen
Jen says
Hey there! I don't have that info handy but you can get that by plugging in the ingredients into the My Fitness Pal app 🙂
Kat says
Lools like a great recipe. What is the cooling time for thighs instead of breasts? Thanks.
Jen says
Thanks! I havent tried it with thighs before so I can't say for sure because it depends on the thickness and bone in/out all that. But I would probably do a similar cooking time and use a thermometer to check on it until its at 160-165 degrees internal temp!
Kristin says
Excellent dish!
I highly encourage you all to try these mods.
-Basmati rice
-Chicken thighs (cook half way through while browning)
-Chicken bone broth
-fresh ground pink Himalayan salt
-fresh cracked mixed peppercorn pepper.
WOW! The depth of flavor the basmati rice alone gives is just great. The thighs are a DEFINITE must. Breast dry out too fast and are naturally bland. Thighs give that little bit extra flavor and moisture. *chefs kiss*
Julie says
This recipe was so flavorful and good! I printed it out and will be adding it to my dinner rotation. You were so right about stirring so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
The only thing I changed was that I substituted the Pesto Mayo with Barilla brand pesto sauce since our grocery didn't carry the Pesto Mayo.
Jen Lopez says
So happy you enjoyed it!! Thank you for leaving a review!
amanda says
love this recipe. I altered it a bit for our tastes. I toss the chicken in flour with a little salt and pepper and cook it in olive oil for 10 minutes first. then I follow the rest of the steps for cooking the rice... i omit the mayo and just use regular pesto due to egg allergies in the house. after the rice is done cooking in 20 minutes I add chicken tomatoes and spinach in for 5 minutes and everything turns out great
Jen Lopez says
Thank you so much for the review and sharing how you made the recipe work for you 🙂
Mysty says
Hubby and I loved it. No pesto mayo....We added 1 tsp of basil and 1 Tsp of Italian spices because we didn't have. I will be using the recipe to make other creamy rice dishes
Jen Lopez says
so glad you like it! thanks for the review!
Kari-Lyn says
Hi! Thanks for a great recipe. What would be a good replacement for the tomato?
Jen Lopez says
Hi! You can leave the tomato out completely if you'd like!
Jen Lopez says
hi! you can just leave that out completely if you don't like it!