Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet is the easiest recipe you can prepare for dinner and it’s low-carb, gluten-free, and one-pan, which is great to clean up!
If you visit my blog often you should know that I love ONE-PAN recipes. My site contains lots of wholesome, gluten-free, low-carb, paleo-friendly, and one-pan recipes such as this Ground Turkey Sweet Potato Skillet, Shrimp Vegetable Skillet, 3-Ingredient Tilapia Skillet, and Ground Turkey Cabbage Skillet among many other skillet recipes. But I didn’t have a single chicken skillet recipe with my favorite sauce in the world, which is PESTO! Oh Yes! I add pesto to pretty much everything I cook like soups, meatballs, pasta, beans, and the list goes on and on!
So, a few days ago I was on a mission to correct this omission by creating the easiest Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet ever, yet tasty and perfect for a weeknight meal. I always believe that simplicity in cooking and baking is what makes any recipe turn out great. For me, the good quality ingredients are what bring the recipe to another level, like this homemade Homemade Basil Pesto.
I know many chefs and foodies think that the more ingredients you add to a recipe, the better the dish will taste. But not for me! Simplicity is the key to my cooking. So, this Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet is simple and tasty just like all the one-pan meals should be. AMAZING! It’s so simple that I bet you have all the ingredients in your pantry to make this recipe right now.
I adapted this Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet from one of the most popular recipes on my site, this Asparagus Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet. Both are made with sweet potato and chicken and they are gluten-free, low-carb, paleo-friendly, and one-pan. They both need only 25 minutes to be ready on the table and you can serve it with rice, quinoa, or on its own.
If you’re a fan of pesto like I am, you should also try my Pesto Shrimp Tomato Salad Recipe, Pesto Chicken Salad Recipe, Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp, and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Shrimp Asparagus Skillet!
Sweet Potato Pesto Chicken Skillet
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Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp homemade pesto or any other store-bought pesto of your preference.
- ½ cup red onion chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3 cups sweet potato diced
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 5 slices of mozzarella cheese or any other cheese of your preference
- 1 tbsp green onions for garnishing
Instructions
- On a plastic board, cut the chicken into small pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a cast iron skillet.
- Add the chicken and cook for a few minutes (it’s about 5-7 minutes) or until cook through. Don’t forget to stir well.
- Remove chicken from the skillet and place in a bowl.
- Add pesto into the bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside.
- In the same skillet add onions and cook turn translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add sweet potato and chicken broth. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the sweet potato is tender.
- Add chicken back and add mozzarella cheese. Put the lid on the skillet for 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and garnish with green onions.
Tips
- If you do not plan on peeling the sweet potatoes, you must scrub the sweet potatoes thoroughly. You can just peel it to make things easier.
- Make sure to dice the sweet potatoes uniformly, so they cook evenly. Make sure they're small, too, so they cook through.
- Use low sodium chicken broth when possible to control the salt levels in the dish.
- To store: Store the sweet potato pesto chicken in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- To reheat: Reheat the dish in the microwave until heated through.
- To freeze: Freeze for up to 3 months in a freezer-safe bag or container.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.
Rachel says
Holy yum! Totally making this soon. Great recipe and suspect little one will like it too!
Debra says
Did you put the chicken back in before adding cheese? Photos look like it but I missed it in insteuctions
Chris W. says
Unfortunately this just didn’t turn out that well. The sweet potatoes didn’t cook through all the way, even after cooking them in the skillet for 10+ minutes – long enough that the onions/garlic crisped up and got over-blackened. Would not recommend this recipe in its current incarnation – the taste just doesn’t come together in the end.
Olivia Ribas says
I am surprised to heat that since my sweet potato cooks in less than 10 minutes. Do you think the heat was very high?
Sydney Smith says
DELICIOUS!
Olivia Ribas says
Thank you 😉
Page says
Haven’t made this yet, looks interesting. You forgot to add the chicken back to the pan. Also, I would remove the onions and garlic to the bowl with the chicken while cooking the potatoes to avoid burning the garlic and making it bitter. When the potatoes are cooked, adding more broth as necessary, add the chicken/onion mixture back to the pan and then add the cheese and finish the recipe. Love the simplicity of the ingredients. Add more broth and it will make a lovely soup.
Olivia Ribas says
Happy you liked it!
Jessica P says
Is there another potato I can use? Sweet potato isn’t popular here lol
Olivia Ribas says
You can use regular potato instead.
Carole says
Sounds great, but when do you put everything together? You have cooking the chicken and removing into a bowl, then cooking the rest of the ingredients but don’t say when to add the chicken pesto mixture back in with the rest. Thanks.
Olivia Ribas says
I just fixed it on the recipe card!