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Pesto Hasselback Chicken

Name: Pesto Hasselback Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 2
Ingredients: 2 medium chicken breasts; 2 tablespoons pesto; 3-4 oz. low-moisture mozzarella; Salt and pepper

6 Ratings

6 Reviews

Prep 10 min
Total 45 min
Servings 2

A fun way to make delicious baked chicken!

By Macheesmo

Updated September 20, 2016

Ingredients

2 medium chicken breasts
2 tablespoons pesto
3-4 oz. low-moisture mozzarella
Salt and pepper

Steps

1

Preheat oven to 350° F.
2

Using a sharp paring knife, make slits in the chicken breast, being careful not to cut all the way through. Make a cut about every 1/4 inch all the way down each chicken breast.
3

Using a small spoon, spread some pesto down each cut and insert a small, thin slice of mozzarella cheese.
4

When both chicken breasts are done, bake them at 350° F for 30 minutes. The chicken should register 165° F when it’s cooked through.
5

Serve hasselback chicken with salad or a side of your choice!

This recipe is easily doubled.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Calories: 410

Calories from Fat: 200

Total Fat: 22g; 34%

Saturated Fat: 8g; 40%

Trans Fat: 0g

Cholesterol: 130mg; 44%

Sodium: 510mg; 21%

Potassium: 380mg; 11%

Total Carbohydrate: 4g; 1%

Dietary Fiber: 0g; 0%

Sugars: 1g

Protein: 48g

% Daily Value*:

Vitamin A: 8%; 8%

Vitamin C: 0%; 0%

Calcium: 35%; 35%

Iron: 10%; 10%

Exchanges:

0 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 5 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 1/2 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choice

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Never have a boring chicken breast again!

I find chicken breasts to be pretty boring, if I’m being honest. They don’t have a lot of flavor or texture, so I’m always trying to find fun ways to make them more interesting.

This method, hasselback chicken, is way up there in my methods of jazzing up chicken. By making slits down the chicken breast and stuffing them with pesto and mozzarella, you turn a normal dish into something pretty darn special.

While the finished hasselback chicken looks pretty awesome, it’s surprisingly easy to make. Just use a sharp paring knife to cut some slits down each chicken breast. Make them pretty deep, but be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken.

Then use a small spoon to stuff each slit with some pesto! You can go heavy on the pesto here. It adds a lot of flavor.

You didn’t think I’d forget the cheese, did you? Use a low-moisture mozzarella for this recipe. Slice the cheese very thin and stuff a small strip into each slit.

Bake these masterpieces for 30 minutes at 350ºF. That should be plenty of time to finish the chicken, but I always recommend using a meat thermometer to test meat. It should hit 165ºF in the thickest part of the chicken.

Serve it up and happy hasselbacking!

Nick wants to change his last name to Hasselback! Check out his blog, Macheesmo, and follow him on his Tablespoon profile.