Mayo-Marinated Pesto Chicken

My Mom made the best tuna sandwiches. What was her secret? It wasn’t the perfectly fresh slices of crusty rye bread, no caraway seeds please, pulled from the middle of the loaf. It wasn’t even the carefully diced little cubes of celery that speckled the tuna salad. It was the mayonnaise. Mom used only full-fat Hellman’s mayonnaise, and a very generous amount of it, (if we’re going to be completely honest here), hang the calories. A jar of half-fat mayonnaise never graced her refrigerator door.

Mayo-Marinated Pesto Chicken

Today’s recipe for pesto chicken is inspired by J. Kenji López-Alt’s recipe for mayo-marinated chicken with chimichurri published in the New York Times. According to food writer-scientist Kenji Lopez-Alt, mayonnaise improves Maillard browning which are the chemical reactions that take place when you sear foods. Along with the fat and water in mayonnaise, there is also egg protein. As the mayonnaise on the surface of the meat or chicken cooks, the water evaporates and leaves behind a thin layer of fat as well as a very, thin coating of egg protein. This extra source of protein and fat can increase browning in meats, especially on thinner cuts that don’t need to spend a long time on the grill. And there is no need to worry about the mayonnaise imparting its own flavor to the food. According to chef Meathead Goldwyn, founder of the popular website, AmazingRibs.com, the mayonnaise is a “white canvas you can flavor with almost anything.”

Feel free to make homemade pesto or even chimichurri in this recipe. I took a short cut and used ready-prepared pesto. After allowing the chicken to bathe in a two-ingredient marinade, I preheated my grill pan and we were enjoying crispy, golden pesto chicken, with a side of pasta pesto fifteen minutes later. And Mom, I hope that you won’t be too disappointed in me, but I used my favorite Hellman’s half- fat mayonnaise. Tradition only extends so far.

Assemble your ingredients (all 3 of them). Whisk together the mayonnaise and 1/4 cup of pesto in a large bowl. Reserve the remaining pesto.

Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper. Add the chicken cutlets to the pesto mixture and turn to coat. You can cook the cutlets immediately or transfer the chicken and pesto marinade to a sealed container and marinate for 4 to 24 hours.

Preheat a stove-top grill pan with the burners turned up to high heat. Spray the grill pan with cooking spray. Transfer the chicken cutlets to the grill pan. Lay them on the grill pan on a 45 degree angle. Using a pair of tongs, turn the cutlets 90 degrees after a couple of minutes. This is to make crosshatch grill marks… definitely not required. Flip the chicken cutlets over when the top side is cooked. Repeat until the chicken cutlets are just cooked through. For a delicious side dish, boil up 1/2 pound of spaghetti or linguine and add the rest of the pesto sauce from the jar to the cooked pasta. You can also add some mayonnaise to the remaining pesto and serve it as a dipping sauce on the side of the chicken.

Print Recipe

Mayo-Marinated Pesto Chicken

Meat, Chicken and Fish

By J. Kenji López-Alt, New York Times, adapted by me – Serves: 3-4

Prep Time: 5 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 minutes – Total Time: 20 minutes

Grilled chicken bathed in a mayonnaise and pesto marinade.

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breast cutlets sliced thin or pounded to about 1/4 inch thick (I used chicken scaloppini)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup store-bought mayonnaise (Hellman's), 1/2 fat is fine
• 1/4 cup prepared pesto (I used a 6.7 ounce jar of Schneider's prepared basil pesto. There will be pesto left over)

Instructions

1

Season the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper.

2

Combine the mayonnaise and pesto in a large bowl. Add the chicken cutlets to the marinade and coat them thoroughly with the mixture. You can refrigerate the the chicken cutlets in the marinade for 4-24 hours for extra flavor or you can grill them right away.

3

Preheat a stove top grill pan on high heat. Spray with cooking spray. Grill the chicken cutlets, turning and flipping them until cooked through and lightly charred, about 4-5 minutes.

Notes

Combine a tablespoon of the remaining pesto with an additional tablespoon of mayonnaise to make a dipping sauce to serve on the side of the chicken if desired. You can also add the remaining pesto to cooked pasta for a delicious accompaniment to the grilled chicken.