Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread 

Hey garlic bread fans! This Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread is the recipe for you. It’s a total cheat recipe, as I like to call them; one where you rely on more shop-bought ingredients than the usual. This makes for an easier meal to rustle up, perfect for weeknights when you really need the help.

The cheat ingredients that you’ll use for this recipe are garlic bread, chicken mini fillets, a jar of red pesto and grated mozzarella & cheddar mix. Here’s a quick run down of what the recipe involves; first you’ll slice the garlic bread loaves down the middle, like a hotdog and bake them briefly while you fry up the chicken, red pepper (bell) and onion. Then you’ll toss that in the red pesto, making that your filling for the garlic bread. Finally, you’ll top the filling with the grated cheese and bake briefly. 

If you have a toddler, weaning baby or fussy eater and are wondering how to adapt this recipe for your family, see here >

The Stars of my Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread

The Garlic Bread

You want to buy a twin pack of garlic bread baguettes to make your Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread. The filling will stretch to 3 garlic loaves, but you can go for just 2 if that’s enough for your family. If you have filling left over, that can be frozen and reheated in the microwave and be eaten another time.

The Chicken

Go for mini fillets (or tenderloins US) to save prep time. The chicken goes a long way in this meal, just a 400g pack (14.11oz) will stretch to 3 garlic bread batons. 

The Pesto

You can use any red pesto, but my fave to use for this meal is Tesco’s Red Pepper Pesto Cremoso as I love the creaminess it has to it. 

The Vegetables 

You’ll need one red pepper (bell) and a small red onion for this Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread. You can use a yellow onion if that’s what you have. Make sure you slice the red peppers very thinly or they won’t soften enough during the frying process in the time stated in the recipe. You can slice the onion thicker as it will soften quicker than the red pepper.

The Cheese

I use a 250g bag (8.82oz) of grated mozzarella and cheddar mix, but you could use just grated mozzarella instead.  The 250g bag will stretch to 3 garlic bread batons, so if you decide to only cook 2 loaves, you’ll have some leftover to use for something else.

Prep Ahead

You can slice the red pepper and onion in advance of cooking, just refrigerate in an air-tight food container until ready to cook. That’s really all the prep work involved in this Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread recipe!

Feed a Crowd with my Cheesy Garlic Chicken Bread

You can so easliy double this recipe to make 4-6 stuffed garlic bread loaves which will feed 8-12 people. You’ll need to fry the chicken and vegetables in a saucepan and need 2-3 baking trays.

Kids Cook Too

You can get younger children to help with stuffing the garlic bread with the chicken filling and sprinkling over the cheddar. 

Storing My Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread

You can store any leftovers of this Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). You can also freeze them (I like to wrap them in foil) and defrost for 24 hours in the fridge. It’s best to reheat the stuffed garlic bread in the oven over the microwave so the bread crusts up instead of softening. Cook at 180ºc / 160ºc fan / 350ºf / gas4 for 12-14 minutes (garlic bread should be sliced in thirds). 

For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >

Diet Details

My Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread is nut and egg-free.

Adapting My Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread For Your Family

Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, which will help make it easier to eat together as a family.

Keeping Picky Eaters Happy

If you have a fussy eater who doesn’t like cooked red pepper, you can leave it out of their garlic bread serving when you come to fill it. Just give them veg on the side they will eat instead.

See more from me on fussy eaters here >

Making My Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread Suitable for Baby Weaning  

You’ll need to serve their portion de-constructed.  Set aside some of the chicken and vegetables once cooked instead of adding it into the garlic bread. For under 12 months because of the salt content in shop-bought pesto, you can toss theirs in just a small amount of the pesto - just enough to give it a colour OR you can choose to leave it plain.

The garlic butter on garlic bread is also salty, so you can serve them a plain roll instead. And give them a little of the grated cheese.

How to Serve to Babies & Toddlers 

For each age stage, you can give them a bread roll cut in half and some grated cheese.

6-7 months

You can serve them a chicken mini fillet, pepper and onion as is. 

7-12 months 

Slice a mini fillet into finger-width strips. Again, serve the pepper and onion as is. 

12 month + 

Chop up the chicken, peppers and onions into bitesize pieces.

I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals suitable for baby weaning, read here >

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Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread 

Just 5 minutes of prep work for this cheese-topped garlic bread stuffed with pesto-tossed chicken, red pepper and onion.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine British

Servings 4 - 6

Equipment

• Large baking tray
• Bread knife
• Large frying pan
• Cooking spoon

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 2-3 garlic bread baguettes
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 400 g chicken mini fillets (tenderloins US)
• 1 red pepper very thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion sliced
• 190 g jar red pesto I use Tesco’s Red Pepper Cremosa Pesto
• 250 g bag grated mozzarella & cheddar mix or just mozzarella

See notes for baby & toddler

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Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc/180ºc fan/400ºf/gas 6.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then add the chicken fillets and fry on one side for 3 minutes and then the other for another 3-4 minutes or until deep golden and cooked through.
• If the pan is now dry add a little more oil and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add the red pepper and the onion. Fry for 12 minutes or until the red pepper is soft, stirring often. Then add the chicken back in, remove from the heat and stir through the pesto.
• In the meantime, slice your garlic baguettes lengthways down the middle until you almost reach the bottom. Open them up a little and place on your largest baking tray (or use two trays). Bake for 7 minutes.
• Then fill the garlic bread with the chicken and pepper mix. Top with a good, even layer of the cheese. Return to the oven and bake for a further 5-6 minutes, until the cheese starts to turn golden-brown. To serve, cut the baguettes in half or thirds.

Baby & Toddler

Serve their portion de-constructed. Set aside some of the chicken and vegetables once cooked instead of adding it into the garlic bread. Because of the salt content in shop-bought pesto, you can toss theirs in just a small amount of the pesto - just to give it a colour or you can choose to leave it plain. The garlic butter on garlic bread is also salty, so you can serve them a plain roll instead and give them a little of the grated cheese. For each age stage, you can give them a bread roll cut in half.

6-7 months serve them a chicken mini fillet as is. The pepper and onion can be served as is.

7-12 months slice one mini fillet into finger-width strips. Again, serve the pepper and onion as is.

12 month + chop up the chicken, peppers and onions into bitesize pieces.

FUSSY EATERS

For fussy eaters who don’t like cooked red pepper, you can leave it out of their garlic bread section. Just give them a veg on the side they will eat instead.

STORAGE

Store any Cheesy Chicken Garlic Bread leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). You can also freeze them (I like to wrap them in foil) and defrost for 24 hours in the fridge. Reheat in the oven at 180ºc / 160ºc fan / 350ºf / gas 4 for 12-14 minutes (garlic bread should be sliced in thirds). Just make sure the chicken is steaming hot.

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