Raise your hand if you LOVE pesto.
Okay good, me too.
And if you love it as much as I do, then you’re in for a little treat because this pumpkin seed avocado pesto is just incredible — it’s packed with healthy fats, lean protein and herbs and might just be the best thing I’ve ever tossed with shredded or leftover grilled chicken.
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These avocado pesto chicken salad sandwiches are one of my new favorite meal prep lunches because of how easy they are. It’s simple:
- Take 20-25 minutes to bake chicken breasts.
- While the chicken is baking you’ll roast the pumpkin seeds AND then make the pesto in less than 10 minutes.
- Once the chicken is done, simply shred, toss with pesto, and pile into containers. Refrigerate in an airtight container.
- When ready to eat, pile it high on a slice of toasted bread, top with arugula, carrots (or tomato slices) and if you’d like, a little hot sauce. Enjoy!
- That’s over 40g of protein and right around 500 calories for a huge filling sandwich. (I’ve also included the nutrition info without the bread in the notes section of the recipe below!)
See? Easy and healthy is achievable!
And guess what? This sandwich isn’t the only way you can use this fabulous avocado pesto:
-If you happen to be vegetarian, simply use smashed chickpeas instead of baked chicken.
-Use with tuna instead of chicken.
-Enjoy on a lettuce wrap to keep it paleo.
-Toss it into whole grain or gluten free pasta. This chickpea pasta brand has recently become a fav of mine.
-Put it on an egg sandwich
-Toss with quinoa and roasted veggies.
-Toss with roasted sweet potatoes. OH MY YUMMM.
-Put it on toast and add a fried egg on top.
I know you’re going to love this easy meal prep lunch. Enjoy! xoxo.
More healthy lunch ideas to try:
High-Protein Black Bean Avocado Tuna Salad Sandwiches
Smashed Chickpea Avocado Salad Sandwich with Cranberries + Lemon
Crunchy Rainbow Thai Peanut Chicken Wraps
Farmer’s Market Spicy Tuna Wraps with Homemade Chipotle Greek Yogurt Ranch
Street Corn Pasta Salad with Cilantro Pesto & Goat Cheese
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Healthy Pesto Avocado Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (about 12 oz)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons raw pepitas (green pumpkin seeds)
- 1/2 ripe avocado
- 1 cup packed basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large carrots, shredded for crunch (can also sub tomato slices)
- 4 slices sprouted, whole grain, or gluten free bread
- 1 cup arugula
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a small baking sheet with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Add chicken breast and generously season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fully cooked. Shred chicken with two forks once done cooking and add to a large bowl; set aside.
- While chicken is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the pepitas and toast until just barely golden; stirring frequently so they don't burn. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Immediately transfer to the bowl of a food processor and add in avocado, basil, lemon juice, garlic, water and salt. Process until smooth, adding another tablespoon of water if necessary. Add pesto to bowl with the chicken and mix to combine.
- Toast bread, top one slice with half of pesto chicken mixture, half of shredded carrots, and as much arugula as you'd like. Top with remaining slice. Enjoy!
- Enjoy avocado pesto within 2-3 days.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and/or upload a photo to instagram and tag #ambitiouskitchen.
This recipe turned out great! Loved the idea of using avocado in pesto. I made my own whole grain bread for it. The only thing I didn’t add wash the carrots but I may add them tomorrow. I used shredded rotisserie chicken like other commenters, very easy lunch you can put together in the morning before work!!
So easy! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Also, self.com for not only healthy recipes but exercises for beginners and how to get my mind set in the right way to loose weight for good and not to yo- yo diet all of the time.
So delicious! So I wanted to do something simpler this week and decided to just buy a jar of store pesto. I made these into lettuce wraps (which my hubby referred to as “lettuce tacos” when he saw me making them lol) and added the chicken, store pesto, carrots and avocado. I also toasted pepitas in olive oil and added salt, pepper, and cayenne and it added a delicious crunch to the wraps! Both hubby and I love this recipe.
Perfect! Love the idea of using lettuce wraps. Delicious!
I love creating this dish with left over chicken!
My husband and I made this for our lunch for a few days. We did not eat it as a sandwich, we also used pine nuts, and also used pre-cooked chicken (you purchase from the freezer section). A lot of my coworkers had to try it and then asked for the recipe. It was VERY easy to make.
Perfect! Such a great, easy lunch. Glad everyone liked it!
I made this today! No basil, so I used spinach and rotisserie chicken (because I couldn’t wait) and it is so delish!
Delish! Rotisserie chicken is an awesome idea in a time-crunch.
Just whipped up a batch of this salad to bring to the beach tomorrow. Delicious!! The crunch of the carrots and the peppery bite of the arugula will finish it off perfectly.
This looks completely amazing. I’m obsessed with avocados and sandwiches. For sure making this soon!
This was so yummy! Thank you for a wonderful version of chicken salad. Very popular at my house.
Made it today for lunch but used tuna instead and put it on top of a salad!!! Yum.
Pesto and avo?!?! That combo sounds amazing!!! Love the ease of “salad” sandwiches too. And these photos are gorgeous!
You had me sold at pumpkin seed and avocado pesto! Just two of my fave ingredients EVER combined…
Chicken salad is usually deceivingly unhealthy… thanks for the fresh recipe! Everything looks perfect in it – arugula, pesto, pepitas. Looks like a good use for leftover chicken and would be great on sandwiches to take to work.
Yum. The bread looks yummy too!
Girl you are killing it with these sandwiches!!
This sounds delicious! I can’t wait to make his pesto!!! I have never thought to put avocado in my pesto – everything is always better with avocado!
Thanks for the recommendation for the pasts, I just ordered some from Amazon. Can’t wait to try it! 🙂
I love pesto! I’m thinking of tossing it with the gluten free noodles, also that lettuce wrap instead of bread is probably delicious! Yum!
YUM!!!
That sounds amazing! I will definitely be trying this 🙂
This has my mouth watering! Could you do some photos of the other ways you’ve used this pesto? I’d love to see the other options as lots of times I choose what to make based on the way it looks.