The final bits of fresh cream cheese that had crumbled in the fridge caught my eye, and although I hadn’t intended to prepare a creamy zucchini recipe, I knew the green cubes sizzling in the skillet would soon be enhanced. I generally have a hard time pretending to be so excited about squash, but I’m genuinely really happy with how this turned out.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 20 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 focaccia bread, quartered
- ½ cup prepared basil pesto
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken
- ½ cup diced green bell pepper
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat a panini grill.
- Slice each quarter of focaccia bread in half horizontally. Spread each half with pesto. Layer bottom halves with equal amounts chicken, bell pepper, onion, and cheese. Top with remaining focaccia halves, forming 4 sandwiches.
- Grill paninis 5 minutes in the preheated grill, or until focaccia bread is golden brown and cheese is melted.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 641 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 61 g |
| Cholesterol | 61 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 32 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 1076 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 29 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
We NEVER have leftovers with this recipe! It’s one of our kids’ favorites. ❤️
quick, easy and yummy
Really liked this sandwich. I sautédthe pepper and onions first and then built the panini. It needed something sweet on it however. Some sweet and hot pickles or some pepper jelly would be good or even some sweet and hot jalapeños from a jar.
I made this for my picky teens and didn’t change anything. They said I stepped up my game and LOVED it! We have already made it twice since!
This is the second time I have made it .. this time had to switch the bread to ciabatta bread though ( due to store being out of the other ! Still delicious! Served it with homemade French Onion soup.
Really Good I had some good stonehearth bread . The day before I had roasted some wilty peppers and onions. Used this with deli meats. So good.
Just okay, missing something! Won’t make again
My kids loved it It is a healthy dinner
Very good blend of flavors and overall great panini. I couldn’t find anywhere that had focaccia bread so I substituted it with ciabatta buns.
awesome recipe. sauteed the green pepper and red onion in a skillet a bit prior to assembling to minimize the crunch. Used grilled thin-sliced chicken breast instead of diced. Paired with a garden yellow squash for a beautiful meal
I did add somethings but basic recipe was great also. I added pepperoni with the chicken. I used a Sun-dried tomato pesto on some. I used sliced sourdough bread instead. I also grilled my onions and peppers (only had red available). I also added spinach. This is a great recipe to make or add items to make it your own. Delicious! See photo.
Very good. Used some rotisserie chicken. Added some cream cheese to the basil and heated with the chicken. Separately I sautéed a whole onion thinly sliced and added red and green peppers at the end just to soften them a little. Used Parmesan cheese because that’s what I had. Made this as a quesadilla and it was amazing. Thanks for the recipe!
Nice idea and very versatile. My picky eating family just went chicken and cheese but, I went full boat and we all enjoyed it. Thanks
Loved this, so simple and delicious. Made a veggie —version by replacing chicken with grilled eggplant and zucchini. Also carmelized the onion.
My first panini, it was awesome and we all loved it!
Used walnuts for the pesto. Colby jack cheese. Very Good!
No! It was wonderful!!
I know people hate it when you change recipes but I don’t think that these are huge changes. Don’t have a panini grill. Foccacia seemed to ‘bready’ to me so I used pita pockets. My roommate loves bell peppers, hates onions, I’m the opposite. We chopped the chicken pretty small, mixed in the pesto, rather than spreading it on the sandwich, mixed in the shredded cheese, used our veggie of choice, wrapped in foil and into the oven for 15 – 20 minutes. Soooo good. Made them again the next day only I left the onion off of mine and liked it even better. These are a great change. Will make again many times, I’m sure.
So amazing with homemade pesto straight from the garden. I substituted chicken for rabbit. Super delicious.
I had no idea Pesto was so amazing!
I used canned chicken and day-old bread and this was delicious! Thank you for sharing.