For our family, delicious sandwich recipes aren’t just a great lunchtime option.

We love simple sandwich ideas for dinner, too, and these Chicken Pesto Sandwiches are perfect for evening mealtimes.

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They make fantastic summer sandwiches. You can even make them on your outside grill.

But they’re also delicious in the colder months, paired with a bowl of hot soup!

Our favorite soup recipes

Why You’ll Love these Chicken Pesto Sandwiches

They’re quick to put together. This is especially true if you cook the chicken breasts ahead of time, or use leftover chicken. It doesn’t take much more time than your typical ham-and-cheese melt.
They’re a light lunch option. I love lunch recipes that are hot, but not heavy. This sandwich has the lightness of a grilled chicken salad but are warm and hearty.
They pair well. There’s almost no side dish you can think of that wouldn’t work well with these chicken pesto sandwiches. It’s an incredibly versatile sandwich, so it’s great for gatherings.

Ingredients You’ll Need For These Pesto Chicken Sandwiches Recipe

Chicken Breasts – Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They’re super juicy! We’ll cut each breast in half for a thinner piece of chicken that cooks up faster. As a time saver, you can also used rotisserie chicken meat. Would rather use chicken tenderloins? No worries!
Italian Seasoning – You’ll use this, and salt + black pepper, to season your chicken breasts as you cook them. Simply season to taste.
Olive Oil – This is for cooking the chicken in your stovetop skillet. If you’d prefer, you can also cook your chicken on your outdoor grill, and then you can skip the oil.
Ciabatta Rolls – Ciabatta rolls are the perfect bread for this sandwich. They’re sturdy and flat and crisp up nicely. You can also top them generously and they won’t get soggy. Focaccia bread works well too. Do you have a favorite?
Mayonnaise – These chicken pesto sandwiches use two sauces – mayo and pesto. Any mayonnaise you have on hand is fine, or you can whip up your own. If you prefer, you can also use Greek yogurt.
Pesto Sauce – It wouldn’t be a pesto sandwich without creamy pesto sauce. You can purchase a jar of pesto at any grocery store, or make your own. I’ve shared a recipe below.

Ingredients for Chicken Pesto Sandwiches Sitting on Counter

Toppings For Tasty Sandwiches

In addition to the basics of the sandwich – the bread, chicken, and sauces – how about even more yummy toppings?

Here are some ideas to get you going.

Cheese – Try sliced fresh mozzarella cheese, crumbled feta cheese, fresh grated parmesan cheese, or slices of swiss cheese.
Greens – Fresh arugula or basil would taste great with this sandwich. Or, for a nice crunch, add a handful of alfalfa sprouts.
Veggies – Try fresh tomato slices or some red onion.
Bacon – Three cheers for bacon slices!

How To Make This Delicious Sandwich

Here’s how you put all of those ingredients together to make a perfect pesto sandwich.

Prep your chicken breasts by cutting them in half lengthwise, then seasoning them. Put oil in a skillet on medium-high heat, then cook both sides of the boneless skinless chicken breast halves until an instant read thermometer placed in the chicken registers 165 degrees F.
Sliced your ciabatta rolls in half, then assemble your sandwich. Spread mayo on one piece of bread and pesto on the other. On the mayo slice, place chicken, cheese, and other toppings on the sandwich. Top with the pesto side of the ciabatta roll.
Brush the roll lightly with olive oil, then place it back on the skillet. Cook the outside of each sandwich for a few minutes, to heat it through, and then melt the cheese.

Storing Leftover Chicken Pesto Sandwiches

Because of the mayo and pesto, and particularly if you add tomato, the sandwiches are likely to get a little soggy if you have some leftover.

Ciabatta bread, thankfully, doesn’t soak up much moisture, but there will most likely be some.

You can store leftover sandwiches in an airtight container, then place them in the fridge.

They’ll be good to eat for a few days.

You can use your best judgment here.

However, when it comes time to reheat them, you probably don’t want to microwave them.

If you want to crunch things up again, you can pop them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes, use a panini press, or warm up a skillet in the same manner you did when you first made them.

My Recipe For Fantastic Fresh Pesto

I’m a big fan of store-bought pesto, but something about homemade pesto sauce tastes just exquisite.

And if you have a food processor or blender, it’s super simple to make!

Many pesto recipes use a significant amount of olive oil, which is delicious but adds a lot of fat.

You can make an equally delicious pesto by swapping some of the oil out for lemon juice.

Lightly toast about a half cup of pine nuts in a skillet over medium heat.

Throw them into your food processor, along with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a garlic clove, a generous pinch of salt, a few cracks of black pepper, 2 cups of basil leaves, and a quarter cup of olive oil.

Blitz them until smooth!

The great thing about making your own pesto is that the pesto recipe is endlessly customizable.

Swap pine nuts out for walnuts or pistachios.

Need to avoid nuts? Use hemp seeds!

Try changing the herbs, using mint or cilantro instead of basil.

Add a sun-dried tomato or two.

Cooked Chicken Pesto Sandwiches - Sliced and Sitting on Tray

Top Tips For Perfect Sandwiches

You can use sourdough bread and French bread for this sandwiches – if you toast the bread first. These types of breads will want to soak up all the moisture from the sauces, chicken, and toppings – and nobody likes a sandwich with soggy bread. To help sourdough stand up to the task, brush both sides of each slice with olive oil, then toast it lightly in the skillet you’ve used for cooking the chicken.
If I’m going to be bringing the pesto chicken sandwiches somewhere, like out to a picnic, I like to maximize my space and use a panini press to do the final cooking of the sandwich. It presses the sandwich together tightly, so there’s less chance of the contents spilling out everywhere.
Chicken breast has a bad reputation for being a dry cut of meat, but it’s all in how you cook it. For this recipe, they key is to bring the chicken up to room temperature, pat them dry with a paper towel, then wait until the oil in the skillet is nice and hot before placing the chicken in the pan. You want to get a nice sear on the outside of the chicken, so the juiciness doesn’t escape.