Delicious Pesto Chicken bowls with lemon chicken, and an amazing avocado and corn salsa. This easy dinner recipe is made with great ingredients and whips together quickly!
Why You’ll Love Pesto Chicken
- Delicious and Healthy: Fresh pesto and grilled corn create a flavorful, nutritious dish.
- Quick and Easy: Ready in minutes with simple ingredients and preparation.
- Diet-Friendly: Adaptable for vegetarian, dairy-free, and various proteins.
- Unique Salsa: Avocado-Corn Salsa adds a special twist.
- Quality Focus: Emphasizes fresh, high-quality ingredients for superior taste.
How To Make Pesto Chicken
- Pesto couscous: Couscous is fast and easy to make. In fact, it can be ready in about 10 minutes, which is a nice break from other grains that take 20+ minutes. To infuse the couscous with plenty of flavor, we stir in some pesto and a little bit of lemon juice.
- Chicken: The chicken is made with a 1-ingredient marinade (yes, really!) and then sprinkled with lemon pepper seasoning before cooking. (More on the chicken prep below.)
- Avocado-Corn Salsa: This salsa simple and is the highlight of this dinner. It doesn’t require a lot of chopping which is a nice departure from most salsa recipes.
- Assemble: Pesto couscous goes first, chicken next, plenty of the avocado corn salsa, and finish it all off with a nice big scoop of pesto!
Quick Tip
Canned beans are usually drained and rinsed to reduce sodium. The exceptions are chili, ranch beans, and refried beans, which should be used as is.
Quick Tips
- Fresh Pesto: The pesto you use is key. Skip jarred pesto and choose fresh basil pesto from your store. (I like Buitoni® basil pesto—not sponsored). While store-bought pesto makes this dish quick and easy, you can also make your own.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: These are another essential ingredient. Choose julienne-cut, oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes for quicker salsa prep. The oil will be used in the salsa too.
- Grill the Corn: Grilling the corn adds incredible flavor!
- To grill: Peel back the husks and remove the silk. Rub vegetable oil on the corn and season with salt and pepper. Grill at 400°F, rotating every 3-4 minutes until charred. Let cool, then slice off the cob. This can also be done on a grill pan.
- (Alternatively, sauté the corn: Use drained or thawed corn kernels. Sauté in a preheated large cast-iron skillet over high heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly charred. Let cool completely before adding.)
Dietary Modifications
- Vegetarian: We’ve made this meal without meat countless times. Simply leave out the chicken and serve the pesto couscous with salsa on top plus more pesto! It’s surprisingly filling just like that and the beans provide the protein. Plus, it’s even quicker to make vegetarian (20-minute prep time or less!).
- Dairy free: This meal is naturally dairy-free (as long as the buttermilk marinade is not used) and the pesto is cheese free.
- Change up the protein: Grilled steak would also be delicious in this meal. You can also use thighs in place of breasts for this Pesto Chicken meal.
Variations On Pesto Chicken
- Change up the salsa: Try this Mango Salsa in place of the corn and white bean salsa.
- Don’t want beans? Try this corn and avocado salsa instead.
- Different base: Use quinoa (how to cook quinoa guide here) in place of the couscous.
More On The Chicken
- Marinate: Use the marinade recipe below or my famous grilled chicken marinade.
- For the QUICKEST marinade ever: submerge (halved and pounded to even thickness) chicken breasts into buttermilk for 30 minutes or up to 8 hours. Remove, pat dry, and proceed with the recipe!
- If you don’t have buttermilk, but do have regular milk, you can even make your own DIY buttermilk.
- For the lemon pepper seasoning, use your favorite blend (I like McCormick’s® lemon & pepper seasoning best or Mrs. Dash’s®.) You can even make your own if you like.
Similar Chicken Dinners
- Cuban Mojo Chicken with a citrus salsa
- Chicken Taco Bowls with an avocado-corn salsa
- Bruschetta Chicken
- Cilantro Lime Chicken with a mango salsa
- Pesto Chicken Tortellini made in one pot
Pesto Chicken with Corn and Bean Salsa
Pesto Chicken Bowls pair zesty lemon chicken with a fresh avocado-corn salsa for a quick, flavorful dinner made with simple, wholesome ingredients!
Equipment
- Grill or grill pan or regular pan
- Small pot
Ingredients
Chicken (see note 1)
Bean and Corn Salsa
- 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
- 1 (15-ounce) can fire-roasted corn or 2 ears fresh corn, see note 2
- 1 large avocado pitted, peeled, and chopped
- 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil plus 2 teaspoons oil from the jar, julienne cut, see note 3
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
- 1 large lemon
Bowls
- 2 cups couscous
- 2 cups chicken stock or veggie stock; water also works
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 (7-ounce) container basil pesto sauce store-bought or homemade
- 2 large lemons plus wedges for serving if desired
- Fresh basil optional, for topping
Instructions
- Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to form 4 chicken cutlets. Cover with plastic wrap and pound (use the bottom of a frying pan or meat mallet) to get the halves into even pieces (not super thin, just equal thickness throughout). If marinating, place the chicken in a large plastic bag or similar container and cover with buttermilk. Refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 8 hours. When done marinating, remove from buttermilk, drain, and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt.
- Grill/Grill Pan: Preheat grill to about 400°F (grill pan to medium-high heat). Make sure your grill grates or ridges of grill pan are clean and greased. To grease, dredge a paper towel in vegetable oil and, holding it with tongs, rub it all over the grate. Evenly sprinkle both sides of the chicken generously with lemon pepper seasoning. Grill the chicken until cooked through (about 4–6 minutes per side, depending on the heat of the grill and thickness of chicken) Chicken should be 165°F at its thickest part. Tent with foil and rest 5–10 minutes. Slice thinly or cut into small pieces.Skillet: In a shallow bowl, whisk together flour and lemon pepper seasoning. Heat the butter and oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken breasts in the flour mixture, turning to coat evenly. Place chicken in the pan and cook 5–6 minutes per side or until done (add more oil if needed). Remove chicken from the pan, place on a plate, tent with foil, and rest 5–10 minutes. Slice thinly or chop into small pieces.
- Combine drained and rinsed white beans, drained corn (or corn cut from the cob) chopped avocado, julienned sun-dried tomatoes, 2 teaspoons of the oil from the tomatoes, chopped basil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. (I add about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.)
- Meanwhile, pour the stock in a small pot. Add the butter and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from heat. Stir in couscous and cover the pot with a lid. After about 2–3 minutes, the liquid should be absorbed; fluff with a fork. Stir in 1/3 cup pesto, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and about 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper (again to personal preference).
- Fill 4 bowls with even amounts of pesto couscous. Arrange cooked chicken on top and add generous amounts of the salsa to the side. If desired, add a wedge of lemon to each bowl. Spoon the remaining pesto evenly over the bowls. Enjoy immediately.
Recipe Notes
Note 1: You can marinate the chicken in buttermilk or forgo a marinade entirely. Also, the flour and butter will only be used if you’re cooking the chicken in a skillet. If grilling/using a grill pan, the flour and butter are not necessary.
Note 2: To grill corn on the cob, peel back husks and remove silk. Rub vegetable oil on all sides of the corn and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place on heated grill (400°F) and rotate every 3–4 minutes or until charred. Remove, let cool, and slice off the cob. You can also use this method for a grill pan.
Note 3: I buy the julienne-cut sun-dried tomatoes to save some chopping time, and they’re perfect for the salsa.
Nutrition
Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 92g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 467mg | Potassium: 1463mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 591IU | Vitamin C: 40mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey there! I just wanted to ask for some clarification on the lemon. The salsa says 1 lemon = 3 tablespoons then the couscous says 2 lemons= 2 table spoons. Was the salsa supposed to say 3 teaspoons? Just want to make sure I follow it how you intended.
For the 2 lemons– 1 lemon gets used for the 2 tablespoons in the couscous and the other used as wedges for serving :). 3 tablespoons lemon juice in salsa
Made this tonight and both my husband and I though it was DELICIOUS! A definite keeper and repeater. Thank you for sharing it 😊
So thrilled to hear this! Thanks Kris! 🙂
This dish was absolutely delicious! It had a TON of FLAVOR. Would make again! I used rice instead of couscous and it turned out really good.
Yay! Love hearing that! Thanks so much for the comment!
Simply needed to report back that I made this for supper today, and my better half and I thought it was tasty. I adored the kind of the chicken, and only every last bit of it together. It would seem that the couscous you utilized was the more modest stuff. I surmise I didn’t accepting exactly the same thing, yet I wouldn’t fret the bigger balls.
So glad it was a hit! Thank you 🙂
This was so delicious! I will be adding it to my summer dish go-to list. I also like the vegetarian option since my parents are vegetarians. It’s a great option for a mixed group. Thank you!
I am so happy you guys are loving this recipe! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Such a great recipe. Really only takes about 20 mins to throw together but tastes like you have spent ages making it. Probably more of a summer dish, but will still continue making it through the autumn! Thanks so much for creating this.
Yay!! So happy you enjoyed this meal and will continue to throughout the autumn! 🙂 I will be too haha! Thanks Anna!
This looks delicious and I’ll be adding this to my Pinterest board! Although it’s noted above that the recipe is “naturally dairy free”, it’s truly only DF if you skip the buttermilk (listed as optional to be fair) and if you make the pesto yourself. All store bought pestos I’ve found have grated Parmesan in them. Just a heads up if you have a child with anaphylaxis to milk as I do. Should work great for us with some simple modifications 🙂
Thanks so much for the heads-up, I’ve added those notes in 🙂 Appreciate your help!
This was AMAZING!! I don’t usually comment on recipes, but this one was an all around hit for me and my husband. It was so good!!! I kinda messed up the chicken breading, I forgot to dab off the buttermilk so the flour/lemon pepper fell off a bit. But it was still tasty, and I know for next time.
Ahh I’m sooo glad you enjoyed this! It’s one of my all-time favorite dishes! Thanks so much for your comment Alana! 🙂
Pesto chicken is one of my favorites to cook and to eat. This recipe makes me crave and I want to cook it now but no time. I will cook this on weekend. Thanks for this delicious recipe.
Pesto and chicken is the best combo! I’m excited for you to try it! Enjoy! 🙂
Chelsea, this dish looks so beautiful and delicious, and I’m planning on making it for dinner next week, but I have a question. Have you ever tried whole wheat couscous, and what do you think of it? When I was looking at the variety of couscous options at the store, I saw the whole wheat bag, and it has a lot more fiber than the regular, but if it would add an unpleasant texture or flavor, I’d rather not use it. Have you tried whole wheat couscous? If you have time, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!
Just wanted to report back that I made this for dinner today, and my husband and I thought it was delicious. I loved the flavor of the chicken, and just all of it together. It looks like the couscous you used was the smaller stuff. I guess I did not buy the same thing, but I did not mind the larger balls. I also had some extra black beans leftover, and tossed those into the salsa as well. I wish I could’ve found the basil pesto that you recommended in the grocery stores in my town, but all I could find was the jarred stuff, so that’s what I used. I just didn’t want this meal more expensive by buying 2 basil plants to make my own, but I’d love to try it with homemade pesto sometime. It’s definitely worth making again. Thanks!
Hey Kristin!! I’m SO sorry I missed your earlier comment! I actually haven’t ever tried whole wheat couscous; if you do give it a try I’d love to hear what you think 🙂 Thank you so much for trying this recipe (and so many others!) I always look forward to your reviews! 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed this dish and yes, sometime in the summer if you have basil I do think it would be so good with homemade pesto 🙂 Here’s a picture of the exact couscous I used: https://www.amazon.com/RiceSelect-Couscous-Original-26-5-oz/dp/B017UMMLWU/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=rice+select+couscous&qid=1556677599&s=gateway&sr=8-11