This grilled pesto chicken tops a griddled breast with melted swiss and a drizzle of sun-dried tomato puree, a five-minute low carb dinner at about 4 grams of net carbs. It is my grilled riff on a caprese, and it turns a plain breast into something that tastes like a restaurant plate.
I love to barbecue, or should I say I love it when my husband barbecues, but right now with moving our place is too packed with boxes to even find my BBQ. So today for this recipe I used my Cuisinart Griddler. By all means feel free to use your BBQ, but I have to tell you that this little Griddler finished this recipe in just five minutes flat! This is a super easy recipe that will dress up any boring grilled chicken breast.
Grilled pesto chicken, my riff on caprese
The flavor here is built on pesto, swiss, and concentrated sun-dried tomato rather than the fresh mozzarella, tomato, and basil of a true caprese. I started from that Italian classic and grilled it onto a chicken breast: pesto stands in for the basil, swiss for the mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato puree for the fresh tomato. The result is a hot main instead of a side salad, and the pesto and melting cheese give a lean breast the fat and flavor it usually lacks.
Net carbs and juicy chicken
At about 4 grams of net carbs, the only carbs worth counting are the pesto and the sun-dried tomato. Two things keep the chicken from drying out: pound the breast flat so it cooks fast and evenly, and pull it the moment it hits 165 degrees F, the USDA mark for poultry. The pesto and cheese melting on top add the fat a lean breast is missing, which is the same reason a salad needs fat to satisfy. For more of these flavors, my pesto chicken salad and queso fresco caprese work the same Italian angle, and a homemade pesto ties them together. It is one of the chicken mains in my low carb salads guide.
Sources
USDA FoodData Central, nutrient references for chicken, cheese, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes; poultry safe temperature.
Sugarfreechic test kitchen, low-carb dinner notes.
