Gluten Free Pistachio Crusted Quick Greek Chicken Recipe
If you are familiar with this blog, you will know by now that I love simple gluten-free recipes that look and taste anything but. This Gluten Free Pistachio Crusted Quick Greek Chicken recipe is one dinner that fits the bill, as well as using all “normal” (naturally gluten-free) ingredients. Oh, and it can be ready in under 30 minutes! Ok… how much do you love that?
People often think of quick cooking as using stove-top techniques such as stir fry and sautéing. Yep, those are quick but they also require you to stand over the stove and pay attention while you cook. My favorite technique to employ when I am feeling lazy is roasting; a little preparation and into the oven, unattended. Don’t you love it when your appliances do most of the work for you?
What makes this Tuesday-night-dinner Saturday-night-special is butterflying boneless skinless chicken breasts and stuffing them. Don’t get nervous, butterflying is easy-peasy. Just lay your chicken breast flat on a cutting board, place one hand on top of it and with the edge of a sharp knife parallel to the cutting board, begin cutting down the length of the side of the breast. Carefully slice the breast in half width-wise almost to the other edge. Then just open up the chicken breast like a book. Simple!
The stuffing of the breasts is Greek inspired, some defrosted frozen spinach, feta cheese, and lemon zest. The “sauce” or garnish is just some roasted cherry or grape tomatoes with olive oil and the crunchy topping, the piece de resistance, is chopped pistachios which toast (for fabulous flavor) while the chicken is roasting. I love using pistachios to add a healthy crunch and crisp to dishes, they make whatever recipe they are used in seem so elegant.
So there you have it – an easy, quick, elegant dinner with simple ingredients that will make you look like a cooking rock star!
Gluten Free Pistachio Crusted Quick Greek Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil - use divided
- 1 small onion - finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 (10 ounce package) frozen spinach - thawed
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 lemon - juiced and zest finely grated
- 4 ounces feta cheese - crumbled (omit for dairy free)
- 4 boneless - skinless chicken breasts
- ¾ cup pistachios - chopped
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes - halved
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté the onions until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Squeeze all the liquid from the spinach and add to the onions. Add 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, the oregano and the lemon zest. Raise the heat to high and cook until all the liquid is gone, about 1 minute. Take off the heat and let cool whole preparing the chicken.
- Butterfly the chicken breasts by laying each one flat on a cutting board, placing one hand on top and with the edge of a sharp knife parallel to the cutting board, begin cutting down the length of the side of the breast. Carefully slice the breast in half width-wise almost to the other edge. Open up the chicken breast like a book.
- Add the feta (if you are using it) to the spinach and stir to combine. Stuff each chicken breast with one forth of the stuffing, letting it overflow at the edges. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a rimmed baking dish and place the stuffed breasts on the baking dish, squeeze the lemon juice over and top with the chopped pistachios. Top the pistachios with a good pinch of salt and pepper and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Place the halved tomatoes on the other baking dish and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, add 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Toss to coat.
- Put both baking dishes in the oven and roast for 20 minutes or until the juices of the chicken run clear. Top the chicken breasts with the roasted tomatoes.
Nutrition
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Have you tried this recipe? Give it a star rating and let us know your thoughts in the Ratings & Reviews section below.
That is so nice with the pistachios. Stuffed chicken is always good.
I haven’t made stuffed chicken breasts in ages. The Greek flavors got my attention and the roasted tomatoes on top are inspired. This will be on my menu plan next week. You always come through with easy, yet gorgeous food. Off to top your Pumpkin Brulees with a coating of broiled sugar and have them for breakfast. I really should have let my youngest talk me into a torch.
Thanks so much for this recipe! It looks so gorgeous but still simple.
Oh, this dish looks fabulous, Carol! I just picked up some grape tomatoes yesterday … I think that’s a sign. ;-) Thanks so much for another wonderful recipe, dear. :-)
xo,
Shirley
I have Spinach, Sweet 100 tomatoes, and Oregano growing like wildfire in my veggie garden right now (and lemons are just dripping off of my neighbor’s tree)!! I think I will totally make this tonight since I actually also have all of the other ingredients too! What a simple recipe with the I-slaved-all-day-over-it type of look and feel!! LOVE IT, Carol!
xo
k
So beautiful and yet it sounds so simple. Thank you!
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I dont eat meat, but i can safely say that if i did, i would DEFINITELY be making this! it looks divine!
Thank Jess, maybe it would work with a nice picee of tofu instead of chicken if you eat tofu :)
That seems like A LOT of salt . feta cheese is already salty + ONE whiole teaspoon to the spinach and ONE teaspon to the tomatoes?!!?!?!? That cannot be right!
Hi Lisa, We do like food highly seasoned in our house and tomatoes and spiniach just cry out for salt but you can of course cut it bakc to suit your needs, I would start with a little and add to your liking. I think that the mistake most home cooks make is not seasoning their food enough but of course indiviudal taste is what counts.
This is in my oven right now! I’m dairy intolerant but rather than just do without the salty goodness of the feta, I replaced it with bacon! I can’t wait to give this a try!
Oh my – bacon sounds like a fab addition! Let me know!
A very special tasting recipe, thank you. Took me much longer than 30 mins though! Will buy shelled pistachios next time! and there will be a next time. I served it with roasted butternut squash and parsnips and roasted little potatoes in their skins, with steamed green beans. All my guests loved it!