Pesto sauce is great with so many things, and these pesto chicken zucchini noodles are right at the intersection of simple and delicious. The flavors are fresh and it comes together with minimal effort.
Start by using a spiralizer to turn your zucchini into noodles.
Next, make our lemon artichoke pesto sauce. It’s 100% paleo and packs a ton of flavor. We usually make the pesto sauce over the weekend, and then store it in the fridge in an airtight container if we know we are planning to use it in the upcoming week. You can also make a batch and then freeze it to have on hand for an even easier future weeknight dinner.
Get ready to cook by cutting up the veggies and chicken for the dish and setting them aside. Once everything is prepped, just cook up the onions, garlic and chicken and add in your zucchini noodles and other veggies and mix to combine. Mix everything up with the pesto and that’s all folks…plate your dinner and get to eating! All of your veggies and meat are in one simple dish.
If you try out this recipe, let us know what you think by leaving a comment below and adding a rating. Also, take a picture and tag it on Instagram #realsimplegood so we can check it out!
Pesto Chicken Zucchini Noodles
Ingredients
For the noodles:
- 2-4 zucchinis
For the pesto sauce:
- 1/2 cup of raw unsalted sunflower seeds, (omit for nut and seed free)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, - smashed with the side of a knife
- 1/2 can of artichoke hearts
- 1 lemon, - juice of
- 1-2 big handfuls of fresh basil
- 2-3 big handfuls of fresh spinach
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup of olive oil or avocado oil, - we use Chosen Foods from Amazon or Costco
For the rest of the dish:
- Fat of choice, (we used bacon fat but avocado oil would be good too)
- 3 cloves garlic, - minced
- 1/2 onion, - cut into thin slices
- 2 chicken breasts, - cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1-1/2 cups mushrooms, - sliced or cut however else you prefer
- 1-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, - halved (use more or less tomatoes to tailor the dish to your liking)
- 2-3 handfuls spinach
Instructions
For the noodles:
- Use your spiralizer to turn your zucchinis into noodles. Then set them aside.
For the pesto sauce:
- Add the sunflower seeds, garlic, artichoke hearts and lemon juice from one lemon to a food processor. Pulse until combined.
- Add the fresh basil and spinach.
- Stream the olive oil (or avocado oil) in while the food processor runs until the consistency is smooth.
To put the dish together:
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add your fat of choice and the garlic.
- When the garlic becomes fragrant, add the onions and cook until they soften and are almost translucent.
- Next, add the chicken and cook until it is done.
- Add the zucchini noodles to the pan and stir in the mushrooms and tomatoes.
- Next add your pesto (about a cup) and spinach and stir until everything is combined.
- Plate your dinner and get to eating!
This pesto recipe is a slam dunk! I used the leftovers to make a simple zoodle dish with pancetta , onion, mushrooms, and crumbled a hardboiled egg on top with a little fresh basil. 10 min tops for a one of the best tasting meals I’ve had all week. I tried to make more to store in the freezer but my husband ate it all as a dip before it got that far. Now I know what to put out with veggies and plantain chips as a paleo dip option. Love all the endless possibilities with this one. Well done Erica and Justin!
Yes!! We love dipping veggies and plantain chips in our pesto too!! So tasty! Glad you and your hubby are enjoying it as much as we do! You’ll have to share any other creative uses for it that you find! Thanks for visiting and trying our recipes.