Pesto & Goat Cheese Chicken

Pre low-sodium, we used to make a wonderful chicken stuffed with a goat cheese & pesto, wrapped with prosciutto, and baked to crispy perfection.  Like many of our salty favorites, I filed it away with a sigh and the thought of, “never again.”

A few months back I had an AHA! moment when I realized that if I skipped the salty prosciutto and used a lower sodium pesto it would a really delicious alternative. That left me with the task of finding a jarred pesto that was low enough.  Yes, I could make my own, but the beauty of this dish is its ease, so I really wanted to avoid the hassle of making my own.

There are many brands of jarred pesto out there, and many are very high in sodium (500 or 600 mg per serving).  However, there are a couple of lower sodium options out there.  Buitoni has a basil pesto that has 380 mg per serving, but the pesto that I use for this recipe is DeLallo Simply Pesto, which is 307 mg sodium per 1/4 cup serving. Bear in mind that this pesto option is not what I would call low in and of itself, but when used in moderation, they can still be diet-friendly.

This chicken is one of my favorite meals because it is so simple to put together and it’s delicious. It is easy enough to be a weeknight meal, and delicious enough to serve to company.

Pesto & Goat Cheese Chicken

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★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews

This is a delicious, easy, low sodium dish that goes great with a side of orzo and some steamed veggies.

SODIUM COUNT: 159.8 mg per serving; 639 mg in the whole batch

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

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• 3 ounces goat cheese ((The goat cheese I used had 40 mg sodium per ounce.))
• 1 Tbsp pesto ((The pesto I used was DeLallo, which is 307 mg per ¼ cup serving.))
• 4 6-oz chicken breasts (pounded to 1/4″ thickness)
• fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Prepare a baking sheet by spraying it with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the pesto and goat cheese. Set aside.
3. Place the chicken on the prepared baking sheet and top each breast with fresh ground black pepper.
4. Divide the goat cheese mixture evenly across each breast.
5. Place the chicken on the middle rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn the broiler to high. Leave the chicken on the middle rack under the broiler for another 7 minutes.

Notes

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION Yield: 4 servings
Sodium: 159.8 mg, Calories: 254.5, Total Fat: 7.4 g, Saturated Fat: 3.2 g, Cholesterol: 114.0 mg, Carbohydrates: 0.9 g, Fiber: 0.0 g, Sugar: 0.2 g, Protein: 43.2 g.