Healthy Pesto Chicken Bake with Quinoa & Vegetables

This pesto chicken bake recipe features juicy chicken breasts that are seasoned and brushed with basil pesto, then baked all together with fluffy quinoa, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and mozzarella cheese. The result is a tasty high-protein, high-fibre dump and bake dinner recipe that you'll want to make again and again!

Prep time: PT15M

Cook time: PT60M

Total time: PT75M

Rating

5 stars (1 reviews)

Keywords

chicken, Quinoa

Ingredients

1.5 lbs chicken breasts (boneless, skinless and sliced in half to create thinner breasts)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup basil pesto
1 1/4 cup dry quinoa
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 200g container bocconcini perles (drained of liquid)
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 medium zucchini (chopped)
grated parmesan cheese
olive oil (for drizzling (I like to use a spicy olive oil))

Cuisine

Gluten-Free

Steps

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Add the sliced chicken breasts to the bottom of the baking dish and season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, and red pepper flakes.
Add the basil pesto and spread it over top of the chicken breasts.
Pour in the dry quinoa, followed by the chicken broth. Ensure that the quinoa grains are covered by the broth.
Add the tomatoes and chopped zucchini followed by the bocconcini perles. Try to spread these out evenly in the baking dish without disrupting the quinoa under the chicken broth.
Cover tightly with foil, then bake in the oven, covered, at 375F for 40-45 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes. (Note: It's normal if not all of the liquid is absorbed when you remove the foil. It will continue to absorb in the last 15-20 minutes of cooking).
Dish out and serve topped with fresh parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of your favourite olive oil (I love a spicy olive oil over this one!).

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 483 kcal
Carbohydrates: 31 g
Protein: 42 g
Fat: 24 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Sodium: 531 mg
Sugar: 4 g
Unsaturated Fat: 2 g

Reviews

John Hutton on 2026-10-01 (5 stars):
Easy, tasty, high protein, I substituted broccoli pearls for crumbled feta