Chicken Pesto Bake

Chicken Thighs smothered in marinara, fresh mozzarella, and a dollop of pesto. Served alongside bright, pesto pasta.

If you are looking for an easy, weeknight, crowd-pleasing meal, this is it. Chicken thighs & pasta, what more do you need?

Ingredients

2-3 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless

1/2 jar of your favorite marinara (I buy Rao’s at Costco)

1/2 C pesto sauce, store-bought or your own

1 C fresh mozzarella, diced into small cubes

1 clamshell baby spinach (make sure it’s washed)

12 oz. pasta (for some reason, gluten-free pasta comes in 12 oz. boxes. I don’t know why; it’s annoying. If you have a pound of pasta in a box, do that and simply use more pesto)

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 375

In a baking dish add the chicken thighs and season with salt & pepper on both sides

Top each piece of chicken with marinara, maybe a tbsp or two

Once all pieces have sauce on them, spread it out a bit

Sprinkle the cheese over each piece of chicken

Add a little dollop of pesto on each piece and then pop it in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes

Meanwhile, make your pasta! I did this closer to when the chicken would be done

I steamed the entire clamshell of spinach, and as you can see, it’s not a lot!

Squeeze out as much water as you can (paper towels or dish towels)

Add it to a blender or food processor with about 1/2 C of pesto sauce

Give it a good blitz so it’s all combined, scraping down the sides a couple of times

Cook pasta according to package directions. 

Save about 1/3 C pasta water

Add pesto to a large bowl, drain the pasta, add a couple of tbsp of pasta water to the pesto, and toss the pasta

Make sure it is well coated, adding more pasta water as needed

Once the chicken is cooked, put a couple of thighs in a bowl and some pasta, and you have dinner.