Pesto Grilled Chicken

My herb pot yielded its first batch of basil large enough for making pesto. Needless to say, I already have one batch in the fridge and a small container stashed in the freezer for later this winter. As my husband pointed out, never doubt how much Kelsey loves homemade pesto! The kick off the pesto party this summer I made up an easy summer recipe for pesto grilled chicken. It is perfect for a quick weekend meal and comes together in nearly an instant.

The first step is, obviously, making the pesto. However, if you don’t make it at home don’t sweat it, just buy some good pesto at the store. To marinate the chicken I pounded it fairly thin so it was almost paillard-like and pricked it a few times with a fork. Then, I slathered it up in the rich green sauce and left it to marinate all afternoon. I also reserved about ½ cup of the sauce for warming and drizzling over the chicken post-grilling to give it one last punch of flavor.

We loved the sweet garlic basic flavor that infused the meat as it grilled. The little drizzle of sauce over the chicken once it was done was a nice touch, too. I served it with some grilled vegetables and noodles. It was the perfect easy grilling meal to kick off the season!