{Easy Dinner Recipe} Italian Chicken Bake (2024)

This is one of my family’s favorite easy weeknight recipes! The Italian Chicken Bake comes together in minutes with only 4 ingredients and rich, delicious flavors! An easy, healthy, and gluten free dinner recipe.

******* BREAKING NEWS: I have been so overwhelmed at the response to this post and all the people who have told me that they LOVE this recipe because it is so easy & delicious so I decided to start an Instagram account (like today) dedicated to bringing you simple recipes that can be made quickly with only a few ingredients! I would love for you follow me there! Find me on IG as @easyfamilyrecipes*******

I try to make dinner most nights. We try to sit around the table and make dinner a special time for our family. It kind of ruins the mood though when one, two, or everyone doesn’t really like the meal and we end up just arguing and trying to bribe the kids to eat. Yup, nothing ruins a nice family meal quicker than that. Since my kids are still little I am still trying lots of different types of recipes and filing them away as winners and well… those I will not be making again.

A few weeks back I made this Easy Fajita Chicken Bake that I have had in my recipe book for years. The kids loved it! I think the simple and delicious flavors made for a great family meal. The best part for me was that not only did everyone clean their plates, but the meal was so SIMPLE to put together. With two (soon to be three) little ones demanding to “help” me each night while I make dinner, the simpler and easier the better. I need things with a few easy steps that have small room for error since my attention is going a million different directions.

After the success of the fajita chicken bake I started thinking about other ways I could adapt this recipe to make more dinners that are easy to prep and gobbled up by everyone. I came up with a few ideas and this Italian Chicken Bake was one of them. No… not just one of them but an incredibly amazing weeknight dinner that might even be better than our old go to. The chicken was tender the flavors were bold in the best way, and everything came together so perfectly it was like a little ray of heaven shining down on our dinner plate.

This recipe only has 4 ingredients if you can believe it! The prep is so minimal it almost feels like cheating. and then the taste… well, you will just have to take my word for it. Savor every bite!

To make this takes minutes. Trim your chicken breast and lay them in a glass baking dish. Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of prepared pesto (I like the Kirkland brand at Costco, but it all works!) Slice 1-2 roma tomatoes into 1/2″ thick slices and lay them on top of the pesto. Sprinkle mozzarella (or Italian blend cheese) over the whole thing. I like to use the Frigo mozzarella and just grate a bit for the top, but to make it even easier just use pregrated. Bake at 400˚F for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.

It really is that easy! While the chicken is baking I make a pot of rice or pasta and just serve the chicken breast right over top. With the tomatoes baked right on top, there are already some veggies in the meal so you can be done right there. If you want a little more though, you can throw together a quick salad or steam some broccoli. Both are simple and go really well with the chicken.

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