Crushed pistachios, creamy tangy goat cheese and crunchy panko breadcrumbs create a craveable crust on baked chicken breasts! The crust seals in the juices of the chicken, keeping them moist and tender.
That crust though!!!!!
This recipe turned out to be even easier than I had originally planned – love when that happens! My first idea was to stuff a chicken breast with goat cheese and then dredge it in eggs + breadcrumbs to create a crust… which sounds great but a little time consuming. Then it dawned on me that I could just use the sticky goat cheese to “glue” a crust onto the breasts and could skip the messy dredging process altogether! I love making my life (and in turn, yours) simpler, haha!
Pistachios are such a delicious nut — they remind me of cashews with a little more savoriness. They’re creamy and have the prettiest tint of green that pops in the crunchy crust!
Combined with panko breadcrumbs, the chopped nuts bring so much texture to the chicken breasts! Add in the creamy, tangy goat cheese crumbles and you’ve got yourself a crust. The nutty crust seals in the juices of the chicken, keeping them super moist and tender.
Here’s how I made these Pistachio + Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken breasts:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels.
- Flip breasts over and season with kosher salt + pepper.
- In a food processor, pulse the shelled pistachio nuts to crush.
- Add goat cheese crumbles and pulse 2-3 times to combine.
- In a shallow bowl, combine pistachios, goat cheese crumbles and panko breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper.
- Flip chicken breasts over to “pretty side”. Using fingers, press half of mixture onto chicken breast to adhere then repeat for second breast.
- Place carefully onto a sheet pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes!
Don’t worry if you don’t have a food processor! You can achieve the same chopped texture with a chef’s knife. Combine nuts, goat cheese crumbles and breadcrumbs altogether well before pressing into chicken.
This recipe will impress any guest yet will take you MINUTES to make with very little effort — what’s better than relaxing when you’re hosting!? I served our chicken breasts with roasted brussels sprouts (tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper, roasted cut-side down on sheet pan for same time as chicken!) and sautéed balsamic mushrooms. Can’t wait to make this one again!
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Pistachio + Goat Cheese Crusted Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts of equal size
- ⅓ cup shelled pistachio nuts
- ⅓ cup panko breadcrumbs can buy GF if needed
- ⅔ cup goat cheese crumbles
- kosher salt and pepper
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- Pat chicken breasts with paper towel to dry. Flip over so "pretty side" is down and season with salt and pepper.
- In a food processor, place unshelled pistachio nuts and pulse to crush – you want them to be to be small and similar in size to the panko breadcrumbs.
- Once nuts have been chopped, add in goat cheese crumbles to food processor bowl. Pulse 2-3 times to combine, then place mixture into a shallow bowl.
- Add panko breadcrumbs to shallow bowl and use fork to stir together.
- Flip chicken breasts over so seasoned side is down. Press half of panko mixture onto one chicken breast so it adheres, then repeat with second breast. Try to create an even layer over top of the entire breast.
- Carefully place chicken breasts onto sheet pan greased with cooking spray. If any crumbs fall off, press back onto chicken breasts.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reads 165 degrees! Most normal sized breasts will cook in 20 — if breasts seem smaller, take out at 18 minutes and test temperature. If they're larger, keep in for 21 minutes then test!
- Let breasts rest for ~5 minutes before slicing!