Oh, my gosh, are you drowning in weeknight dinners? I sure was! Every evening felt like a frantic race against the clock, trying to get something healthy and actually *tasty* on the table before everyone melted down. That’s when I perfected this absolute lifesaver: the Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights. Seriously, this isn’t just another bowl recipe; it’s a flavor explosion that comes together faster than ordering takeout.
The secret weapon here is grabbing that pre-made pesto—no judgment here, we’re busy! It pairs perfectly with chewy farro and tender chicken. I’ve relied on this exact recipe for Tuesday nights when I have back-to-back meetings. It feels gourmet, but I promise you, it’s so easy. You just cook two things and toss everything together. It’s my go-to rescue meal, and trust me, once you try the brightness of the pesto cutting through that hearty grain, you’ll never look back. You can check out my Irresistible Buffalo Chicken Salad Recipe if you need another quick fix, but for tonight, we’re making this bowl!
Why This Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights Works
Listen, when the evening hits and you realize you forgot to plan dinner, you need results, not fuss. This preparation method is designed for speed and maximum flavor payoff with minimal dirty dishes. It just hits right! We toss in some inspiration from my Easy Gluten-Free Dinner Quick Delicious Chicken Delight when I need to swap grains around, but for speed, farro is the way to go.
- It’s real food development! We’re talking less than 35 minutes total time for dinner tonight.
- You only dirty one pot for the grain and one skillet for the protein. Huge win for cleanup!
- Every single bite is packed with savory green goodness, chicken, and cheese.
Quick Prep and Cook Times
I’m telling you, our prep time is a snappy 10 minutes—that’s less time than scrolling through streaming options! Since the cooking time clocks in at just 25 minutes, you’re serving up a wholesome dinner before those hanger pangs set in. It’s built for your worst weeknight.
Flavorful Ingredients in Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
The trio of sharp Parmesan, earthy chicken, and bright basil pesto just sings in this bowl. It’s proof that you don’t need hours simmering sauces to get deep flavor. This Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights proves that simple ingredients, when combined with awesome pantry staples, really shine.
Essential Ingredients for Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
Okay, let’s talk about what you need to gather for this amazing weeknight winner. Because this dish relies on big, punchy flavors, we don’t need a huge ingredient list. Quality counts, especially with the pesto!
When you’re shopping, grab yourself 1 cup of pearled farro—this is the grain that gives us that fantastic chewy texture. You’ll also need 2 cups of chicken broth to cook it in instead of plain water; trust me, this step amps up the flavor before we even add the good stuff.
For the main protein, snag 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. But here’s my best tip for making this truly speedy: if you’re having a crazy day, skip cooking the chicken and just grab a ready-made rotisserie chicken instead—just pull the meat off the bone before you start! We need 1 tablespoon of olive oil for searing.
The flavor drivers are the rest: 1/2 cup of prepared basil pesto (get the good stuff with lots of pine nuts if you can!), 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved, and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper are just for seasoning the chicken, of course. This combination, featured in my Irresistible Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta (30 Min), always delivers!
Tips for Success with This Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
Look, I know we’re rushing, but a couple of little tricks can turn this fast meal into a truly brilliant one. Nobody wants dry, sad chicken sitting on top of their otherwise amazing bowl. We want juicy, tender bites every time, just like you get when you make my Irresistible Burger Bowls (30 Min Healthy Meal) recipe!
Perfectly Cooking the Farro
This is where you build your foundation. Don’t just boil your farro in water—that’s a waste of good flavor potential! You absolutely need to cook it in chicken broth. It soaks up that savory richness while it swells. Once it’s done and you drain off any extra liquid, spread it out on a baking sheet for just a minute. Letting the steam escape stops it from getting gummy fast while you cook the chicken.
Achieving Juicy Chicken in Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
My biggest, loudest piece of advice for any fast-cooked chicken breast? Rest it. Seriously, don’t slice it right when it comes out of that hot skillet! Those juices need time to redistribute back into the meat fibers. Tent that cooked chicken loosely with foil for five whole minutes. If you cut it early, all that yummy moisture just runs out onto your cutting board instead of staying in your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights. Patience pays off here, go toss your tomatoes in the bowl while you wait!
Step-by-Step Instructions for the Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
Alright, let’s get cooking! Even though this is a speedy meal, we need to handle things in order so nothing gets mushy or dries out. We basically have three main parts: cooking the grain, cooking the protein, and then the big toss. It sounds simple, and it really is, but timing is everything!
First step, and this starts right when you walk in the door: tackle the farro. Follow the package directions, but swap out plain water for your 2 cups of chicken broth. Let that simmer away until it’s tender. Once it’s done and you drain off any liquid it didn’t soak up and set it aside. It needs to cool slightly while you get the chicken ready. We want warm grain, not piping hot!
Next up is the chicken. Season those breasts generously with salt and pepper; don’t be shy with the seasoning! Put your skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in that tablespoon of olive oil. When that oil is shimmering—you’ll see it just start to move easily—carefully place the chicken in. Cook them for about 6 to 8 minutes on the first side. Flip them gently and cook the second side until your temperature probe hits 165°F internally. That’s the safety mark! Once they hit the temp, pull them out of the pan immediately and put them on a clean plate to rest for five minutes. Slice them up after that rest, okay?
Now for the fun part! Grab a big mixing bowl—this is where the cleanup stays minimal because we’re mixing everything here. Toss in your cooked farro, your newly sliced chicken, the bright basil pesto, those lovely halved cherry tomatoes, and the Parmesan cheese. Gently, gently fold everything together. You want the pesto to coat everything, but you don’t want to smash the farro grains.
Serve it right away, maybe piping hot, or let it cool down for lunch tomorrow. If you want another idea for combining simple ingredients, check out my Flavorful Mexican Chicken and Rice Recipe for a Fiesta, but for tonight, this pesto bowl is your champion. Enjoy!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions for Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
Part of what makes this recipe a lifesaver is how flexible it is when you’re staring into a half-empty fridge! The notes on the recipe card suggest you can totally swap out the farro if you need to. If you’re out of farro, honestly, don’t panic! Quinoa or even simple brown rice works great as a substitute, though you might need to adjust liquids slightly. I’ve got a ton of great ideas for using chicken thighs too, if you check out my 10 Irresistible Chicken Thighs Recipes for Flavor Lovers, but for this bowl, sticking to chicken breast works well.
And remember that rotisserie chicken trick? That’s the ultimate time-saver for this Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights. But if you’re making your own pesto or using a store-bought jar that seems a little tame, try adding walnuts instead of pine nuts for a deeper, earthier flavor in your mix. It gives the pesto a real richness while keeping everything fast!
Serving Suggestions for Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
So, you’ve got your bowls assembled, and they look good! But if you have an extra two minutes—seriously, just two!—you can elevate this Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights from fantastic to ‘I can’t believe I made this on a Tuesday.’ Since this recipe is all about speed and simplicity, we keep the additions light and bright.
My absolute favorite tiny addition is a quick squeeze of fresh lemon juice right over the top. That bit of acid really wakes up the basil flavor in the pesto. If you have some on hand, I always toss some extra toasted pine nuts over the top for crunch. It takes zero time since the skillet is already slightly warm and you can just toast them there for a minute.
If you want to sneak in some greens, forget cooking them; that ruins the ‘fast’ factor! Just stir a big handful of baby spinach right into the warm farro mixture. The residual heat will wilt it perfectly without making it soggy. It mixes in beautifully, just like I do when I whip up a big batch of greens for my Refreshing Strawberry Spinach Salad Recipe for Summer Fun. Don’t overthink it; just a little something extra makes the bowl feel intentional!
Storage and Reheating Instructions
One of the best parts of making this bowl is that I almost always make double, because let’s be honest, no one wants to cook on Wednesday either! Storing leftovers is easy, but you have to be a little smart about how you store it, especially because of that gorgeous pesto coating everything.
If you’re planning to eat the leftovers the next day, you can absolutely keep everything tossed together. Put it in an airtight container right away. My only warning is that the farro might soak up all the pesto overnight, which makes it a little less saucy come morning. If you want it perfect tomorrow, try storing the cooked farro, the sliced chicken, and the pesto/tomato mix in separate containers. Then, just toss them together in the morning with a tiny splash of olive oil or leftover broth.
When it comes time to reheat, the microwave is your best friend here for speed. It only takes about 60 to 90 seconds to warm through, depending on how much you saved. Make sure you add a tiny splash of water or extra chicken broth to the bowl before you microwave it, even if you tossed it all together. That steam helps rehydrate the farro and keeps the chicken from getting rubbery. I’ve learned this handy trick from making my Irresistible Slow Cooker Chicken and Broccoli Recipe—adding liquid helps everything steam beautifully, even when reheating!
I wouldn’t suggest freezing the bowl once it’s fully mixed. The texture of the cooked farro really changes when it thaws, and the tomatoes get kind of sad. If you want to prep ahead way further, cook the farro and the chicken separately, cool them completely, and freeze them in individual portions. Then, when you’re ready to eat, thaw them out and toss them with fresh pesto and tomatoes!
Frequently Asked Questions About the Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights
Is this Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights freezer-friendly?
Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend freezing the finished, tossed bowl. The farro tends to get a little gummy and the tomatoes just don’t hold up well after thawing. But here’s the smart prep trick: freeze the cooked chicken and the cooked farro separately in airtight containers! Then, when you thaw them, just mix in fresh pesto and fresh tomatoes. It keeps the texture much better!
What is the best way to make this Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights vegetarian?
It’s so easy to make this meatless! For the best protein swap in your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights, use a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas. You can toss those chickpeas right into the skillet for two minutes with a drizzle of oil just to warm them up before tossing them in the bowl. Or, if you have the extra 15 minutes, roasting up some hearty vegetables like butternut squash or mushrooms would be amazing in place of the chicken!
What other vegetables work well in this bowl?
Oh, veggies are always welcome! I love boosting the nutrition of my meals, so if you are looking for other additions, toss in some chopped roasted bell peppers or maybe some steamed/sautéed zucchini chunks. If you want something totally fresh, add a big handful of raw arugula or baby spinach right before serving. They combine perfectly with the pesto flavor profile. If you are looking for another quick fix, you should absolutely check out my Irresistible Buffalo Chicken Flatbread Recipe for a change of pace!
Share Your Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights Experience
Well, that’s it! We’ve done it again—we conquered the weeknight dinner monster with minimal effort and maximum payoff. I truly hope this simple method helps you reclaim your evenings just like it helped me. It’s my absolute favorite way to get a fast, green, cheesy meal on the table that feels way more special than it actually is.
Now, I desperately want to hear from you! Did you try it? Did you use rotisserie chicken or did you manage to cook the breasts fresh? Drop a comment below and let me know how this Delicious Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl Recipe For Busy Nights worked out for your family. If you loved it, please give it a rating! Seeing those stars light up really inspires me to share more of my favorite time-saving recipes, like my Irresistible Burger Bowls (30 Min Healthy Meal) for next time. Happy cooking, friends!
Print
Pesto Chicken Farro Bowl
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
A quick and flavorful bowl recipe featuring pesto, chicken, and farro, suitable for busy evenings.
Ingredients
- 1 cup pearled farro
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup prepared basil pesto
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the farro according to package directions using chicken broth instead of water. Drain any excess liquid and set aside.
- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chicken for 6-8 minutes per side, until fully cooked (internal temperature reaches 165°F). Remove chicken and let it rest for 5 minutes, then slice.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked farro, sliced chicken, pesto, cherry tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.
- Toss gently until all ingredients are coated with pesto.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can substitute quinoa or brown rice for farro if preferred.
- Use store-bought rotisserie chicken to save cooking time.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bowl
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 3
- Sodium: 450
- Fat: 20
- Saturated Fat: 6
- Unsaturated Fat: 14
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 35
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 35
- Cholesterol: 90
Keywords: pesto chicken, farro bowl, quick dinner, easy meal, weeknight recipe