Servings: 4 Prep: 10 min Cook: 10 min Total: 20 min
This rapid-fire, one pot dinner takes just a few minutes to cook and is full of everything one needs to sustain life! It’s got plenty of good fats, protein and a nice selection of nutrients from the various herbs and vegetables. I know dairy is a problem for some, but for those that love cream, or even PESTO cream, you’ll LOVE this dish!
It started as a response as a desire to cut pasta out, completely. I wanted something that tasted like pasta and had all the “stuff” I’d put into a pasta, but … sans pasta! The goal was to see if I’d really miss it. I wanted to know if I could really live in a world with just stir fried veggies, floating in a thick and opulent cream sauce, with parmesan, basil, garlic and bacon! Not only does it turn out that I can, but I invited various family members over the evening I made this dish (along with about 10 others). They all unanimously agreed that THIS was the winner that evenings.
It’s tough to go wrong when everything on your plate is coated with cheese, cream and bacon! Even with all the green things! Yum.
Creamy Pesto Chicken Primavera
Print RateIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups cream heavy whipping
- 1 cup basil pesto
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lbs boneless chicken cut into strips
- 1/4 large bunch broccoli including stalks, cut into florets
- 2 each small green zucchini cut into half moons
- 1 bunch asparagus cut into about 1-1/2 inch sticks
- 1/2 cup real bacon bits
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated
- 16 leaves fresh basil whole or hand torn
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Note: This is done quickly and with a very hot pan. Have everything ready to go and then ... just sauté it up hot, then eat! I might also suggest splitting all your ingredients into two halves and either doing this in 2 hot pans at the same time, or in 2 quick batches. It goes quick and will help keep things hot and moving.
- In a bowl, mix together your pesto and cream. Set aside.
- Olive oil burns quickly when it's added to a hot pan, so instead, we're going to toss our chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. This will help keep it from burning.
- Heat a large sauté pan over high heat.
- Sprinkle your chicken around the bottom of the hot pan and let it sear and get nice and golden on one side. Do not crowd the pan. Drizzle any extra oil from the chicken bowl into the pan.
- Add your broccoli and toss together with the chicken. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 minute.
- Add your zucchini to the pan and toss. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for about 1 minute.
- Add your asparagus to the pan and toss. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Cook for about 2 minutes.
- Add your bacon bits to the pan and cook for about 1 minute.
- Pour your pesto cream sauce into the pan and swirl all the ingredients together. When the cream sauce begins to noticeably thicken, about 1 to 2 minutes, dust the pan with your grated parmesan cheese and toss or stir the ingredients together.
- Serve! Top with fresh basil leaves.
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
Made this dish tonight, without the chicken, as a side dish to steak. Didn’t have asparagus so used green beans instead, and instead of slicing the zucchini I used my brand new spiralizer to make zucchini pasta. This is an absolute winner and I now can’t wait to make it with the chicken. Thank you so much for a scrumptious dish.
But this is a 1000+ calorie dinner. Please tell me how it’s possible to eat that, and other dinners like this and still lose weight…
I want to make this, but that is a scary amount of calories….
—Reply posted by DJ on 1/26/2015
Hi KER, since this question was posted, the system I used added a “reply” option. You may not have seen the reply I initially gave. Here it is, again, “Hi KJ, yep! It’s essentially cream with cheese and cream, with a side of oil … and some veggies and chicken. It’s a calorically dense meal. A few thoughts … 1, you can always eat a bit less. The fat in this one is incredibly satiating. You won’t be hungry for a long time after this one. It’s more in line with ketogenic thinking. 2, I don’t know that I’d eat this if I were focused heavily on weight loss. I think it’s acceptable as a splurge or a maintenance meal, but … even though low-carber can enjoy many more calories than with the standard American diet, this is still pushing it. Most everyone cheats every once in a while. I’d say that this one, eaten in all its glory … is a bit of a splurge. To understand why you get more calories as a low-carber, give this blog post a read, starting about halfway down. I go a bit into how the different metabolic pathways work. I hope this helps!” Beyond that, you can always just completely leave the cream out. You can always cut down on the other calorie dense ingredients. I display all the information for you to determine which are the heavy hitters. Just cut back on those and you should be fine. Could you use yoghurt, instead? I don’t think so. I think the yoghurt would curdle and/or break and wouldn’t work quite right. In any event, I hope I’ve said something useful, here. Thanks!
—Reply posted by KER on 1/26/2015
I agree this sounds good, but too many calories! What alternatives to the heavy cream can be used? Would plain yogurt work?
Hi KJ, yep! It’s essentially cream with cheese and cream, with a side of oil … and some veggies and chicken. It’s a calorically dense meal. A few thoughts … 1, you can always eat a bit less. The fat in this one is incredibly satiating. You won’t be hungry for a long time after this one. It’s more in line with ketogenic thinking. 2, I don’t know that I’d eat this if I were focused heavily on weight loss. I think it’s acceptable as a splurge or a maintenance meal, but … even though low-carber can enjoy many more calories than with the standard American diet, this is still pushing it. Most everyone cheats every once in a while. I’d say that this one, eaten in all its glory … is a bit of a splurge. To understand why you get more calories as a low-carber, <a href="https://www.djfoodie.com/Blog/2014/01/16/Nutrition-Facts-Seen-through-a-Peanut-Butter-Lens">give this blog post a read</a>, starting about halfway down. I go a bit into how the different metabolic pathways work. I hope this helps!
Amazing. Thanks for replying, really appreciate it!!
Sure thing, KJ! I hope it helped! đ
Sounds yummy. I’d leave the zucchini out for us, but other than that it’s on my next menu.
The zucchini makes up a lot of the bulk of the dish, plus it’s just healthy. Maybe replace it with some eggplant, perhaps? It’s not required, but you’d be losing one of the bigger players. No matter what, though … it’s going to be tasty! đ
I made this for dinner tonight. It was amazing! So delicious!! Awesome that it’s only about 10.2 grams of net carbs per serving. Us low-carb folks know that it’s the net carbs that matter, not calories. Plenty of heathy fats, protein and fiber in this too! Thanks dj, I love your blog!! Keep rockin’ the awesome low carb recipes!!!
—Reply posted by DJ on 4/4/2015
Excellent, Lorraine. I’m glad you enjoyed it. I plan to! đ
I loved this recipe. I made the homemade pesto from this recipe as well. Both were awesome. It is a quick meal and makes a lot of food. I used the 2 pan method DJ talks about as I just didnât have a sautĂ© pan big enough to make it in one. Didnât particularly notice whether I divided equally between the 2 pans as I combined everything in one pan at the end to combine before I plated it. Everyone in my family as amazed at how quickly it came together and at how good it tasted for a âlow carbâ meal. It plates beautifully and made me feel like I was a 4 star chef. Thanks DJ for making âlow carbâ a gourmet meal.