This post is all about how to make delicious Pesto Chicken Sandwiches for dinner.

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Published November 27, 2023
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Perfectly grilled chicken topped with melted mozzarella on a toasted ciabatta roll is the epitome of sandwich excellence. Pesto is a fresh and spreadable sauce that you can find at most grocery stores, or you can also make it from scratch.

Pesto is made with quite simple ingredients, but when blended, form a fresh and delicious spreadable sauce. Pesto is made up of basil, garlic, lemon juice, oil, parmesan cheese and seasoned with salt and pepper. This highly versatile sauce is great on sandwiches, pasta and even eggs on toast.

Italian Seasoning Blend

Did you know some Italian Seasoning Blends available at grocery stores contain milk, wheat and soy?

I know, it’s absolutely insane.

Personally, needing to be Gluten Free and Dairy Free, these ingredient additives to prevent caking seem ridiculous. To get away from these silly ingredients, you can also make your own seasoning blends at home.

Italian Seasoning Blend typically contain garlic powder, basil, oregano, parsley flakes, thyme, rosemary and pepper.

To make your own Italian Seasoning, measure and then add the ingredients into a jar and mix well.
Italian Seasoning Blend can then be stored in a cool and dry place for up to 6 months.

Italian Seasoning Ingredients

3 tablespoons dried basil
3 tablespoons oregano
3 tablespoons parsley flakes
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

There you have it! Italian Seasoning Blend WITHOUT milk, wheat OR soy! You can also do this with just about any seasoning blend that you need to avoid any ingredient. Make your own and stock your spice cabinet with single ingredient spices and herbs to have the flexibility to make your own spice blends.

To Pesto or Not to Pesto

Making Pesto from scratch is as easy as wash, measure, dump, process. Literally.

Washing basil is the hardest part of making Pesto!

To make your own Pesto, with only 8 ingredients, you need a mortar and pestle or a Food Processor. Using a Food Processor is my recommended way, because it literally gets the job done in under 5 minutes.

For homemade Pesto, you need only 8 ingredients. Basil, garlic cloves, lemon juice, oil, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese shreds, and pine nuts. That is it! Once you have all your items measured, add them to a Food Processor and process until smooth. You then have yourself a homemade Pesto, perfect for pasta or sandwiches.

For this Pesto Chicken Sandwiches recipe, you can choose to use store-bought Pesto, or homemade Pesto. We had both for a delicious taste test. Below are two bowls of Pesto, one is store-bought and the other is homemade. Which do you think is which?

I will let you in on a little secret, the Pesto on the right is homemade, while the Pesto on the left is store-bought. Can you see the difference? Pesto should be fresh looking, vibrant and green, and this store-bought brand is dull and almost brownish in color.

In the blind taste test, all my guys at home, Tyler, Samuel and Matthew, claimed the left tasted great, but they could tell the right was fresher and homemade. Without all of the preservatives and sitting on the shelf for who knows how long, fresher is always best.

However, if you cannot make your own, the store-bought variety of jarred Pesto is a great buy.

Pesto Chicken Sandwiches Recipe

Pesto Chicken Sandwiches Ingredients

1 Tbsp Oil
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
Salt/Pepper to taste
4 Ciabatta Rolls
4 Tbsp Mayo
1/3 cup Pesto
Mozzarella Cheese Slices
4 Roma Tomatoes sliced thin, optional

Directions

1. On a cutting board, cut the chicken into 4 evenly sliced cutlets. You can also use chicken tenderloins. However, if you use tenderloins, be aware that pounding them too thin can cause them to fall apart.

2. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the chicken breasts. Plastic wrap helps to prevent any splatters while pounding the chicken thin. You can also place the chicken inside of a plastic bag prior to pounding them thin.

3. Using a mallet or tenderizer, pound the chicken thin, around 1/4-inch thick.

4. Sprinkle the chicken cutlets with Italian Seasoning, Salt and Pepper on both sides, then transfer to a plate to rest.

5. Place a large heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat, then add Oil and heat. A ribbed cast iron skillet works the best with this recipe as it gives the chicken great grill lines.

6. Fry the chicken in the hot pan for 3-5 minutes, then flip and fry for 3-5 minutes.

7. Transfer the cooked chicken to a pan and set aside.

8. Keeping the skillet over medium heat, fry the Ciabatta Rolls, inside down. You may need to use a serrated bread knife to cut the rolls, as they do not often come fully pre-cut.

9. Using a basting brush, cover all the tops and bottoms with oil. You can use whichever oil you desire, avocado oil. olive oil, or coconut oil.

10. Flip over the rolls and spread Mayo on each side.

11. On each roll, spread 1 tablespoon Pesto.

12. Place 1 Chicken Cutlet on each roll bottom.

13. Lay 1 slice of Mozzarella Cheese on each chicken.

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14. If desired, lay 1 slice of tomato on each piece of cheese. We did not have good tomatoes to use, so this step was skipped.

15. Lay the toasted top roll onto the cheese and let cook for 2 minutes.

16. Use two spatulas to flip each Pesto Chicken Sandwich over and toast for 2 more minutes.

17. Remove the Pesto Chicken Sandwiches from the skillet and transfer to a platter.

Pesto Chicken Sandwiches for Dinner Tonight

For dinner, with these tasty Pesto Chicken Sandwiches, we also had Gluten Free Orzo Pasta and Baked Sweet Potatoes. Dinner was packed with flavor and SO amazingly delicious. Stay tuned for my recipe for a Gluten free AND Dairy Free Orzo Pasta, a perfect side dish that everyone will love!

For my full recipe on how you can make these Baked Sweet Potatoes, click HERE or the link below.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

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This post was all about how to make a simple and fantastically delicious Pesto Chicken Sandwich for dinner.
~Monica

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