Weekday dinners are headaches to plan! Anyone agree? Finding something that everyone wants to eat, that is semi-healthy and nutritious, and won’t take you hours to make is a serious struggle!
Here’s one of my go-to weekday dinners. It’s fast and easy to make, has your protein/veg/starch included, and is a definite crowd-pleaser! Whether you call them subs, sandwiches, sammies, hoagies or grinders (like me!), these pesto chicken sandwiches are the perfect weekday dinner – or lunch too!
My STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO below will help guide you through the recipe. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for recipe videos every week!
Makes: 4 sandwich subs
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 45 minutes
The Ingredients
1 ½ pounds chicken cutlets*
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, to marinade chicken
~10 ounces (1 pint) cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 small sweet onion, thinly sliced (if you have a mandolin to slice, use it!)
½ cup pesto (jarred or homemade)
8 slices provolone cheese
4 crusty hoagie/grinder rolls
Cracked black pepper
Optional: thicker balsamic glaze, to drizzle over subs
*Watch the step-by-step recipe video below for more details on how to turn chicken breasts into cutlets if you can’t find cutlets in the grocery store!
The Steps
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To marinate chicken cutlets: In a large Ziploc bag, marinate chicken cutlets in 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar by sealing bag and massaging chicken in balsamic for 1-2 minutes. You can marinate chicken in the fridge for a few hours or overnight if you like more intensely flavored chicken!
To bake chicken cutlets: Open the bag up and place cutlets on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake chicken for 13-16 minutes until the thickest part of the cutlets register at least 165 degrees. Remove chicken from oven, but leave oven preheated to 400 degrees.
Cut chicken cutlets in half lengthwise.
Assembly is totally up to you! Here’s how I like to assemble my subs:
Slice sub rolls open and add a single layer of cheese to each roll (about 2 slices of cheese each). Melt cheese on rolls in the oven for 3 minutes.
Add 3 halves of chicken to each sub on top of the cheese. Then add a sprinkle of onion, a few cherry tomato halves, and 1-2 tablespoons of pesto per sub in small dollops. Add a crack of black pepper and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. Dinner (or lunch!) is served!
The Steps with Video
My STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO below will help guide you through the recipe. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for recipe videos every week!
