Baked Pecan-Crusted Chicken
with lemony arugula / basil tomato pasta
Toasted, crushed pecans form a crunchy, naturally gluten-free crust for baked chicken tenders. Serve them with simple lemon arugula and a late summer pasta salad.
Ingredients
- Pecan halves - 3/4 cup, chopped
- Chicken breast tenders (sub boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced) - 1 lb
- Mustard, Dijon - 1 Tbsp
- Honey - 1 Tbsp
- Arugula, baby (sub baby spinach) - 3 oz
- Oil, olive - 2 tsp
- Lemon juice - 2 tsp
- Pasta, uncooked and gluten-free (sub any pasta shape) - 3/4 cup
- Basil - 1/4 oz, chiffonade
- Tomatoes, medium - 1, diced
- Oil, olive - 1 Tbsp
- Vinegar, balsamic - 2 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Cook pasta - Double if making Thursday's meal. Bring large stock pot with salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, tender but not soggy. Drain. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Pecans - Chop pecans in a food processor or by hand until they form fine crumbs. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Basil / Tomatoes - Prep as directed and combine. (Can be done up to 2 days ahead)
- Chicken breasts - Slice chicken into strips (if not already sliced). Season with some salt and pepper and tenderize with a fork. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
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Make
- Heat oven to 375F / 190C degrees.
- While oven heats, toss pasta (remember to reserve half if doubled for Thursday) with basil, tomatoes, oil (the portion for pasta) and vinegar. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Combine mustard and honey.
- Brush sheet pan with some oil.
- Rub chicken strips with mustard-honey mixture and then coat in pecans. Spread chicken out onto sheet pan.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and pecan crust is toasted.
- While chicken bakes, toss arugula in olive oil (the portion for chicken) and lemon juice.
- Arrange chicken on serving plates and top with arugula.
- Serve with pasta on the side and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
42 reviews
Such a simple and wonderful salad! Have made it twice since first trying this meal. Love baby arugula!
0 HelpfulThis was one of those meals that wasn't great, but wasn't bad. The chicken needed a little more kick than what it had, but I found drizzling some lemon juice on it was helpful in that department. But the lemony arugula was far too plain. In the future, I would probably add something like sprouts, Parmesan shavings, and/or a seed/nut to give it some more texture. That being said, the basil tomato orzo salad was really good and my favorite part of the meal.
0 Helpful