One Pot Tuscan Chicken Pesto

One Pot Tuscan Pesto Chicken Skillet has Olives and Lemon for a tuscan inspired low carb chicken pesto skillet that is easy and so good! Keto diet ok.

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Tuscan Chicken Pesto

Ever since starting a low carb (mostly keto-ish) diet about a week ago, we've felt inspired and have had some good luck with recipes that have made us feel great, and work for our whole family – like this amazingly good pesto chicken skillet with tons of tuscan flavors, like olives, tomatoes, and lots of lemon!

That's not our usual feelings about a diet – especially one with pretty severe restrictions on carbs.

We were a little apprehensive to start a low carb diet again at first – but after a week and 15 pounds, we are thrilled to give this one a go.

And surprisingly, unlike other diets, we actually feel like we can make a lot of meals on keto that pair perfectly with carb options, so nobody in our house feels cheated.

This amazingly good and easy one pot chicken pesto skillet is a solid keto friendly pesto chicken skillet dinner – it is simple, great for people who are dieting, AND those who aren't.

This one pot tuscan chicken pesto skillet is good on its own, alongside roasted veggies, or over pasta or rice!

It's also good with roasted potatoes – this chicken pesto with olives is truly one you'll love to make over and over again!

Kitchen notes

Let your chicken fully cook before adding the pesto – a nice lovely browned chicken breast soaks up the pesto flavor so well!

If using a store-bought pesto, you might not love the color or appearance of the pesto. What can we say – while chicken pesto tastes good, it sure can look kind of gross. If you're plating this for a dinner party, use our top trick to getting pretty pesto – chop (or blend) a cup of fresh cilantro and mix it in for pretty, vibrant green pesto that is as good to look at as it is to eat!

If saving for leftovers (this dish reheats beautifully – thanks mostly to all of the oil in pesto, which helps keep the chicken from drying out), REMOVE THE LEMONS from the container you store this meal in.

This sounds funny, but the lemon pith can give off a seriously bitter flavor when stored with food for too long. squeeze out the juice and throw the rest away when storing!

Tuscan inspired flavors work beautifully with pesto – olives, tomatoes, lemon help it shine – but feel free to skip any of them according to your tastes (or what you might have on hand.)

This dinner is also excellent with some fresh shredded parmesan cheese on top!

If you love pesto, try this incredibly good roasted cauliflower with cilantro cashew pesto.

It is an absolute knockout, and the pesto is a vibrant green and full of flavor!

One Pot Tuscan Pesto Chicken Skillet with Olives and Lemon Recipe

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Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 chicken
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs dry white wine
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• ¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
• 1 lemon, sliced in half and then into wedges
• 1 cup pesto
• ¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

Method

1. In a large, heavy pan, heat oil until shimmery.
2. Generously salt and pepper chicken.
3. Add chicken to pan, and cook on medium high until its internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
4. Remove chicken from pan.
5. Deglaze pan with white wine, scraping up any browned bits.
6. Add tomatoes to pan, and let cook down and wine reduce, about 4 minutes.
7. Add olives to pan with pesto sauce.
8. Mix well.
9. Add chicken back to pan and top with lemon wedges and parmesan cheese.
10. Cook about 5 minutes, until pesto has slightly thickened and tomatoes have burst.
11. Serve over rice, pasta, cauliflower rice, or with roasted vegetables.