Creamy Parmesan Pesto Chicken Skillet

Last month I was asked to speak on Simple Meals and do a cooking demo for a group of women in my church. And while I don’t consider Carlsbad Cravings necessarily “simple” (easy yes, simple no, as I love to add whatever seasonings/ ingredients will make my dishes the best ever, because you deserve it), I am no stranger to simple meals. After cooking multiple times a week, I love me some simple meals. My number 1, can’t-get-any-easier meal recommendation was and will always be Slow Cooker Meals. In fact, when someone says they can’t cook, I always tell them to start with the slow cooker. Dump. Run. Eat. My second simple meal suggestions is the rice cooker – you can add virtually anything to your rice cooker, especially if you have a steamer basket for veggies. If you don’t, you can still dump in black beans, tomatoes, corn, chicken, any spices to cook with the rice and then stir in any sauces when the rice/chicken is cooked at the end of cooking (I love Alfredo and peas) .

My third simple meal suggestion (and the one I demoed) is Skillet Chicken. One Skillet. Thirty Minutes. A million sauce variations. With the same basic cooking technique and by adding either pesto, Parmesan, mustard, balsamic, lemon, cilantro, sun-dried tomatoes, etc., to your sauce base of chicken broth and a little heavy cream/half and half (optional) you have opened the door to endless possibilities of one skillet chicken meals. But today we are drooling over one of my favorites – 30 Minute Creamy Parmesan Pesto Chicken Skillet!

As in all skillet chicken meals, you start with two large chicken breasts that you slice horizontally to create 4 fillets. With 4 thin fillets, you are guaranteed juicy, moist, tender chicken (when you follow cooking instructions below) and super quick cooking time! To make this Parmesan Pesto Chicken Skillet extra DE-LISH, I combined Parmesan, pesto, Dijon and a splash of honey and caked it all over the chicken. At this point you can prep your asparagus and mushrooms and then proceed to cook or you can let your chicken rest in the fridge and come back to it when you are ready to cook.

After you cook your chicken, you saute your mushrooms and shallots in a little olive oil/butter and remaining pesto from the chicken, then sprinkle in flour and garlic, cook for one minute then slowly stir in your chicken broth/cornstarch and heavy cream. The heavy cream is optional for extra silky creaminess but if you are trying to save calories then the sauce is still wonderfully flavorful without it….but its only ¼ cup so go for it. 🙂

I added asparagus and peas to my skillet for an extra taste of summer but you could also add bell peppers, zucchini, etc. and simmer in the sauce until tender crisp, then stir in your Parmesan and add your chicken back to the skillet…

Then serve over pasta, rice or potatoes – all vehicles to drink in the creamilicious sauce and tender Parmesan Pesto Chicken. Then eat. And awe.