Who has extra pesto sauce in the fridge? I always do. And I always have left over mozzarella, too. So one night, I was pretty pressed for time. I decided to stuff some chicken with these two ingredients I seem to always have on hand. Then I coated the chicken with potato flakes for something a little different, and they turned out great! AND they were easy.
Depending on how thick your chicken is, you won’t need the full 45 min. My chicken was the slowest cooking chicken on the planet it seemed that night! Baking is the slowest part of the dish, really. The rest was a slam dunk.
And every Diva needs a slam dunk once in a while. Right?
Crunchy Pesto Cheese Filled Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
4 breasts, cleaned & trimmed
2 cups dried mashed potato flakes
1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. milk or half and half
1 cup pesto sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella
Dried parsley for garnish on top
Toothpicks
Directions
Heat oven to 375˚.
Butterfly breasts and flatten out. Spread each inside with about 1/4 cup pesto sauce. Sprinkle 1/2 Tbsp. mozzarella along the inside center of the butterflied breasts. Close and cinch with toothpicks along the outer edge of each.
Mix the milk with the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Spread the mayo all over the outside of the chicken.In another bowl, press the potato flakes all over the outside. Place in a nonstick-sprayed 13 x 9 pan. Bake breasts for about 45 minutes, until the center measures about 175 degrees. If the chicken isn’t golden enough, put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Serve breasts hot.
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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