Ninja Foodi Pesto Chicken is a very easy, delicious way to make dinner in minutes and all in one dish!
I decided to adapt this recipe a bit from my Instant Pot Pesto Chicken and share it again because it’s just so easy and delicious to make.
Making chicken in the Ninja Foodi is the perfect way to make a great dinner and in minutes depending on how you prepare it. This particular take on it gives a great garlic flavor to the chicken.
For this recipe, it can be done with either Boneless Chicken Breast or Boneless Chicken Thighs. I prefer chicken thighs, even for this recipe too.
Here are more great Ninja Foodi Accessories too!
What is Pesto Sauce?
Pesto is actually a very green sauce that originated in Italy. It is a crushed sauce, basically, you are crushing the ingredients.
Typically Pesto Sauce is made of basil, pine nuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. It’s very easy to make with mostly pantry ingredients.
I’ve also seen it made without pine nuts replacing it with other nuts, which is a great option too such as this Homemade Pesto.
It’s a wonderful garlic-infused sauce that is delicious topped over chicken or pasta.
Do you need to use homemade pesto for Ninja Foodi Pesto Chicken?
This is completely up to you, Pesto is very easy to make so you can use this recipe for Homemade Pesto or this one without pine nuts too.
If you prefer though, you can also buy a jar at the store already made as well, it’s completely up to you. This recipe will work the same with store-bought or homemade.
What temperature should the chicken be?
It’s a good idea to keep a quick test thermometer on hand as well so that you can easily be sure that the chicken is at least 165 degrees.
We prefer it though to be about 175 degrees. This will need to be checked before serving as sometimes I’ve seen it not get hot enough in one Ninja Foodi and be just fine in another.
Quick Tip:
Another tip, if you want to sear it first use the saute function, you can do that as well for about 3 minutes on each side, this will make it more browned on the outside.
Now let’s enjoy this Ninja Foodi Pesto Chicken!
Ninja Foodi Pesto Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- 1 Bunch of Asparagus Trimmed
- 1 Cup Grape Tomatoes Halved
- 1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
- 6 oz Pesto Sauce or Homemade Pesto Sauce
Instructions
- Spray the bottom of the pot with olive oil cooking spray.
- Place the chicken on the bottom of the pot or use the wire rack.
- Add the veggies around and on top of the chicken to fit.
- Pour the chicken broth over the entire dish to add some liquid to the pot.
- Evenly pour the pesto sauce over the chicken.
- Lock the lid in place and set the nozzle to "seal."
- Press the pressure function to manual pressure on high for 25 minutes.
- Once it goes off, quickly release the steam by moving the nozzle to "vent", release all steam.
- Check the chicken to be sure it's fully cooked.
- Serve.
Notes
- This can be made with the wire rack and the chicken and veggies around it on the wire rack if you prefer. We typically place it just in the bottom of the pot, but it's totally up to you.
- The veggies are going to come out VERY soft, so if you like them crispy, you may want to air crisp them instead after the chicken is cooked.
- If you prefer you can also sear the chicken in the bottom of the pot with the saute function before pressure cooking to get it browned a bit on the outside.
Nutrition
did you make this recipe?
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