Spinach Pesto Chicken Recipe for Phase 2 of the HCG Diet

Spinach Pesto Chicken Recipe

This Spinach pesto chicken recipe is one of my personal favorites.  I LOVE garlic, and when the flavors of garlic and fresh basil come together I’m in heaven.  It’s no secret that one of my recommendations for staying on track with the hCG diet is to doll up your recipes with loads of spices.  Enjoying your meals and really amping up the flavor can keep you satisfied.
Chicken with Spinach Pesto
Ingredients:
  • 100 grams chicken breast
  • 1 cup packed spinach
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos
  • 7 leaves fresh basil, rolled and minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a small saucepan, cook chicken with  1/4 cup chicken broth until liquid is absorbed and chicken is lightly brown. Set chicken aside and deglaze pan with remaining 1/4 cup chicken broth. Add spinach and fresh basil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Puree spinach with garlic, lemon juice, Bragg’s and spices. Add sauce to chicken, simmer 1-2 minutes and serve.

I hope you enjoy this new recipe from my new HCG Diet Gourmet Cookbook Volume 2 150 More recipes for the HCG Phase. Enjoy!

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15 Responses to Spinach Pesto Chicken Recipe for Phase 2 of the HCG Diet

  1. Stephanie April 16, 2012 at 10:23 pm #

    Hi Tammy!! I want to try this tomorrow for lunch, but I was worried about the chicken broth, isn’t that made from chicken fat? I couldn’t find it on the Simmon’s protocol. Also is the broth 1/4 of cup or 1/2 of cup? Thanks SO much for your help!

    ~Sephanie

    • Tammy April 17, 2012 at 2:51 pm #

      Hi Stephanie! Feel free to substitute half water if you want to cut the sodium for commercial broths. Broth usually has very little fat if you prepare it correctly. Commercial broths have a gram or less and that is fine. A better option is to make your own (no bone broth for P2). Always refrigerate it first and then you can easily skim off the fat.

  2. Josh Thomas April 24, 2012 at 4:12 pm #

    A great recipe!

    • Tammy April 25, 2012 at 2:27 pm #

      Thanks Josh!

  3. Gennay September 10, 2012 at 8:17 pm #

    so how many calories is this? 🙂

  4. Tracie April 24, 2013 at 9:33 am #

    I LIVE for pesto sauce! This may be my hcg game changer. Thankd

  5. Karen September 18, 2013 at 10:34 pm #

    what is the best brand/type of chicken broth to buy to use with your recipes?

    • HCGCookbook October 18, 2013 at 5:25 am #

      Well…. Best is to make your own using chicken breast, herbs, peppercorns, and salt for Phase 2 or by making mineral rich bone broth using chicken bones, vegetables, and scraps for Phase 3. When I’m in a rush, I grab Imagine or other organic broth but they are not as natural and pure.

  6. Audra February 1, 2017 at 5:48 pm #

    So is it 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup and do you split that in half?. Half for the chicken and half for the spinach?

    • Tammy February 1, 2017 at 8:43 pm #

      It’s a total of 1/2 cup of chicken broth. 1/4 cup to cook the chicken and 1/4 cup to deglaze the pan and steam the spinach. Thanks for pointing this out! Tammy

      • Audra February 2, 2017 at 12:19 am #

        Thank you!

  7. Tiffany April 7, 2018 at 4:03 am #

    This looks great but is the for phase 2 of the 500 calorie diet with the HCG shots? Thank you!

    • Tammy February 21, 2019 at 11:29 pm #

      It is for Phase 2. Dr. Simeons allows spinach on P2 along with various spices. Many of my recipes do include a small amount of onions as a “spice” and most dieters have no problem losing while including them.

  8. Crystal April 12, 2020 at 1:39 am #

    I was desperate for an HCG compliant dinner that I could be excited about. I made this, but used Halibut as the protein instead of chicken (I still used chicken broth because I didn’t have vegetable or fish broth)… this is the absolute best meal I’ve had in the 3 weeks I’ve been on P2! I’ll definitely also try it with the chicken, but the halibut was incredible!

    • Jon Duvall May 21, 2020 at 1:22 am #

      Oh yum! That sounds amazing. What a tasty substitution.

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