Pesto Chicken with Orzo Meal Prep Bowl Recipe

Pesto chicken and orzo bowls on a gray background with tomatoes.

5 from 1 vote

Pesto Chicken with Orzo Meal Prep Bowl Recipe

These equally portioned bowls make a delicious lunch or dinner and are packed with 50 grams of protein in each bowl. Prepping these bowls takes only a few minutes. You can walk away and let your oven do the work without any hands-on cooking!

Prep Time5

Cook Time35

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: meal prep

Servings:

Author: Amy Rains

Equipment

4 4-cup glass bowls (oven safe)

Ingredients

1.25 lbs Chicken breast* (see note below)
1 1/3 cups Orzo
1/2 cup Pesto** (see notes)
3/4 cup Cherry tomatoes
3 cups Chicken broth
4 tbsp Cottage cheese*** (optional, see notes)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 4x 4-cup glass bowl containers and place on a large baking sheet.
In each bowl, measure out 1/3 cup orzo pasta and place on the bottom.
Make sure the chicken breast is cut into bite sized pieces, and equally divide into each bowl (4 - 5 oz per bowl).
Measure out 1 - 2 tablespoons of pesto and place in each bowl
Toss in a handful of cherry tomatoes in each bowl and stir the mixture so the chicken, orzo, and tomatoes are well coated with pesto. Now measure out 3/4 cup chicken broth per bowl. Stir once more.
Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked to 165 degrees and orzo is al dente. Remove from oven and let sit for another 5-7 minutes, then stir in 1-2 tbsp cottage cheese (if using).
Cover with lids, refrigerate, and save for later use.

Notes

*Chicken breast: Use a package of 1 - 1.5 lbs of chicken breast and cut into bite sized pieces. You want to evenly divide among 4 bowls, this will equal between 4 - 6 oz of chicken per bowl. At 5oz of chicken, this recipe will have 50 grams of protein total.

**Pesto: you can use store bought pesto or make your own with my favorite recipe: 2 cups fresh basil leaves, 1/3 cups parmesan cheese, 2 cloves garlic, 1/3 cup olive oil or avocado oil, and sea salt and crushed black pepper. Combine into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

***Cottage cheese: I used whipped cottage cheese (low-fat) in this recipe for a more creamy texture, and it adds extra protein! To make whipped cottage cheese, place a container of cottage cheese in a food processor and blend until smooth (about 2 minutes). You can also use regular cottage cheese if you don't mind the lumpy texture.

Nutrition