Pesto Chicken Sandwich

this recipe

Holy new pesto creation..This pesto chicken sandwich blew my mind. The flavor combination between the pesto, mozzarella and fire roasted peppers is AMAZING and ultimately makes this another must try recipe!

This could be my new favorite recipe. I can’t even explain how good it was. My husband thought it was too fancy, but he’s not a fan of pesto. Therefore, his opinion matters zero. I still love him though. The fire roasted red peppers really made these paninis extra yummy. I had just bought this new pan, and I was so excited to try it out and let me just say, it delivered. If you don’t have ridges on your pan or a panini press, don’t worry about it. Just use a regular pan and it will still be just as good. It’s just that extra touch that makes it a little prettier. If you go with a regular pan, call it a toasty instead of a panini, so you don’t get publicly criticized.

Time to make: About 30 minutes, plus 10 minutes longer if you make my homemade basil pesto recipe (see below for link)

Servings: 4 sandwiches (I only have two showing in the photo, but this recipe is for four full sandwiches) It will feed the whole fam.

Ingredients for Pesto Chicken Sandwiches:

• 8 slices of good bread (the kind they make in the grocery store* the good kind* I used an Italian round loaf, which turned out marvelous)
• 2 chicken breast ( I carefully sliced each breast in half lengthwise to create 2 skinny chicken breast, which made 4 chicken breasts total)
• 8 thin slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup of roughly chopped fire roasted red peppers from the jar
• 8 tablespoons of pesto sauce (I have a really great recipe for basil pesto or you can use store bought too) Link to recipe below.
• 8 tablespoons of butter (I like salted here, but you go with whatever feels right)
• a dash of salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• A skillet or grill pan
• Panini press (optional: I don’t have one, so I didn’t use it)

How to Make Pesto Chicken Sandwiches:

Alright, here we go:

1. Pat dry your chicken breast with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Into medium sized skillet over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Once heated, place chicken into skillet and cook about 4 minutes on each side until cooked entirely.

Just a note: I used the same grilling skillet the whole time. You can use two pans if you would like. It speeds the process up a bit.

*I love this grill pan and I will link it below. It makes the perfect grill marks. No one will even know it was cooked on the stove top.

2. When the chicken is fully cooked, remove chicken from the pan onto a plate. Turn off heat on stovetop. Wipe the pan clean once it cools enough.

Assemble the sandwiches!

It sounds really serious, but it’s not. I’m never really that serious, which is probably why my kids and dog never listen to me. It's a struggle.

3. Add 2 tablespoons of pesto to each sandwich. I just spread it on one side of each sandwich.

4. Now two slices of fresh mozzarella, a few roasted red peppers & one of the thin chicken breasts onto each sandwich.

5. Close her up! Get the panini press ready or the skillet, like I did.

6. Heat your pan back to medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter. This is important *Make sure if you are using a skillet like this, that the butter gets between each crevice. Otherwise, it cooks a little funny.

7. Add your sandwiches, then press onto the top of the sandwich with a flat lid or one of those smash burger things. Oh, I am totally buying one of those next..

8. Flip these puppies after three to four minutes on each side. Make sure to add one tbs of butter in the flip transition. When in doubt, you need more butter.

Ta-DA!!! Onto the next batch!

I am telling you..everyone is going to love these. I serve the sandwiches with a little extra pesto to dip the panini in!

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In love with Pesto? Try my homemade pesto recipe or pesto tortellini..