15 Quick and Easy Dinners Loaded With Pesto

Dianne

Want a quick and easy pick-me-up for pasta, chicken, fish, eggs, and so much more? Reach for the pesto. This thick, intensely flavored paste — typically made of basil, olive oil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts — makes ordinary recipes sing out with joy. Keep unopened ready-made pesto in your pantry, or homemade pesto in your freezer, and great meals are just minutes away. Here are our 15 favorite recipes that call for this nutty, herby sauce.

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Teena's Spicy Pesto Chicken and Pasta

LynnInHK

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"Killer pasta — took it to a friend's barbeque, and was kinda embarrassed that it took center stage over everything she had prepared for her party. This recipe needs no adjusting, it's perfect." —J. Shelby

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Pesto Zoodles

Molly

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"Perfect meal for those busy nights when you need something healthy, filling, and quick." —Buckwheat Queen

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Spinach Pesto Chicken Breasts

Life Tastes Good

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Four ingredients are all you'll need to make this quick and easy chicken dinner. It's easily customizable, too: Many reviewers used this as a base recipe and added their own touches with ingredients like garlic, onion, mushrooms, wine, tomatoes, and so on.

How to Make Pesto Sauce

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Pesto-Stuffed Grilled Portobellos

France C

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"This was so delicious! Near the end, I sprinkled with the grated Italian cheeses. Mouthwatering!" —AppleKrisp

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Goat Cheese Arugula Pizza - No Red Sauce!

Kimber

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"This pizza is absolutely delicious! It's so easy and quick to prepare, but you feel like you're eating gourmet when you eat it." —annabarnes

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Poached Eggs Caprese

bd.weld

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Breakfast for dinner gets an upgrade thanks to pesto, poached eggs, mozzarella cheese, and tomato slices atop toasted English muffins. And it all comes together in about 20 minutes.

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Pesto Pasta Caprese Salad

Buckwheat Queen

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"Super simple, yet hugely popular at my house. During a season of hot weather, I make a huge batch of this in the morning and it lasted for days, and still tastes wonderful." —PAMFENWAY

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Creamy Pesto Shrimp

Dianne

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This 5-star recipe is ready in 30 minutes but tastes like fine dining. Jill says, "OH MY GOSH I can NOT say enough about this recipe!! It was AWESOME and soo easy!"

Fresh Takes on Traditional Homemade Pesto

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Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Allrecipes Magazine

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"I first had this sandwich at a small restaurant and immediately went home to duplicate the recipe. I've been making my grilled cheese sandwiches this way ever since!" —RASSA2

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Scallops with Pesto Cream Sauce

Allrecipes Magazine

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"It''s a wonderful surprise when you find a recipe that's this easy and tastes like you might find it at a fine French restaurant." —DanaV

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Egg Pesto Breakfast Wrap

Linda T

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"This was great! I had some leftover pesto that I needed to use up. I didn't have the tomato or artichoke, which I'm sure would be delicious, but even without them this wrap was a winner!" —Yancando

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Pesto Shrimp Sandwich

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"I followed the recipe as written using homemade pesto. This is a delicious sandwich. I loved it and I will definitely make it again!" —Pam Ziegler Lutz

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Pesto Chicken

SouthernBelle

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"I never really cook and yet this turned out great! It was easy and very delicious. For the pesto sauce, I used the recipe for 15-Year-Old Pesto Sauce, and it worked out really well." —lauramg

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Smoked Salmon Pesto Pasta

BETHANYWEATHERSBY

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"Decided to add a sprinkling of lemon juice and a couple of dashes of Tabasco," writes home cook rua. "We also replaced the water with white wine, and that turned out to be the perfect combination. Will definitely be making again."

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Pesto Polenta Lasagna

Cattack

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"Very smart base recipe! Polenta works wonderfully as a substitute for noodles and makes the meal lighter and lets the other ingredients used stand with their own flavors." —Maezystar

See our entire collection of Pesto Recipes here.

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15 Quick and Easy Dinners Loaded With Pesto

1 of 15

Teena's Spicy Pesto Chicken and Pasta

1 of 15

2 of 15

Pesto Zoodles

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Spinach Pesto Chicken Breasts

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Pesto-Stuffed Grilled Portobellos

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Goat Cheese Arugula Pizza - No Red Sauce!

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Poached Eggs Caprese

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Pesto Pasta Caprese Salad

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Creamy Pesto Shrimp

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Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

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Scallops with Pesto Cream Sauce

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Egg Pesto Breakfast Wrap

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Pesto Shrimp Sandwich

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Pesto Chicken

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Smoked Salmon Pesto Pasta

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Pesto Polenta Lasagna

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