Caprese Chicken Skillet
This caprese chicken skillet is topped with a honey balsamic reduction and fresh basil, the perfect way to use fresh summer tomatoes.
Caprese Chicken Skillet
The classic Italian combination of tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella is one of my favorites. This Caprese Chicken Skillet takes all the typical caprese salad ingredients and adds chicken, red onions, garlic and thyme to make a delicious yet simple summer dinner. For more caprese-inspired recipes, try my Chicken and Spiralized Zucchini Caprese, and French Bread Pizza Caprese.
This Caprese Chicken Skillet recipe is from my friend Erin’s beautiful new cookbook, The Well Plated Cookbook (affil link), featuring 130 fast, healthy recipes you will actually want to eat. Her book includes tips on storing and reheating leftovers and creative ways to turn them into an entirely new dish. When I saw the front cover of her book, which features this chicken caprese recipe, I knew I had to make it. I’m so glad I did, it was delicious!
LEFTOVER LOVE: To re-purpose leftovers you can turn them into a Caprese Chicken and Arugula Salad. Chop leftover chicken. Add to a mixing bowl with any remaining leftover tomatoes and mozzarella, and a few handfuls of arugula. Drizzle with a few splashes of olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.
What is chicken caprese?
Chicken caprese uses the ingredients in a caprese salad and cooks them in a skillet with chicken. It’s served warm, so the mozzarella gets nice and melty, and the tomatoes get even sweeter when cooked.
Chicken is cooked in a cast-iron skillet and then removed from the pan once done. Then the onions, garlic, and tomatoes are added and seasoned with thyme, salt, pepper, balsamic, and honey. After a few minutes, the chicken is put back in the pan with the mozzarella and drizzled with a balsamic honey reduction and sprinkled with fresh basil.
This recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are pounded to ensure even cooking. You can substitute them with bone-in chicken thighs if you prefer.
What to Serve with Caprese Chicken
This balsamic caprese chicken is very filling on its own, but if you’d like a side dish, here are some ideas.
- Crusty French bread
- Arugula Salad with Shaved Parmesan, olive oil, salt and pepper
- Zucchini Carpaccio
- Orzo with Tomato and Zucchini
- Wilted Baby Spinach
More Chicken and Tomato Recipes You’ll Love:
- Spaghetti with Sautéed Chicken and Grape Tomatoes
- Pollo in Potacchio (Braised Chicken with Tomatoes and Rosemary)
- Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes and Red Onions
- Grilled Pesto Chicken and Tomato Kebabs
- Chicken, Leeks, Tomatoes in White Wine Sauce
Caprese Chicken Skillet
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, divided
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon honey, divided
- 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (24 oz)
- 1¼ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 small red onion, diced (about 1 cup)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (about 4 teaspoons)
- 4 cups sliced tomatoes: halved cherry or grape tomatoes, (2 pints) or ½- inch- diced peak season plum or other garden tomatoes
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 4 ounces part- skim mozzarella pearls, (scant 1 cup) or 4 ounces block- style part- skim mozzarella cheese cut into bite-sized cubes
- ¼ cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine ½ cup of the balsamic vinegar and 1 tablespoon of the honey. Gently simmer over medium- low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced by a little more than half, about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and set aside.
- While the balsamic reduces, arrange the chicken on a cutting board and stretch a large sheet of plastic wrap over the top. Lightly pound the chicken breasts into an even ½- inch thickness. Discard the plastic, then sprinkle the chicken with ¾ teaspoon of the salt and ¼ teaspoon of the pepper, seasoning both sides.
- In a large, heavy- bottomed skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium- high heat. Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add the chicken breasts top- sides down, being careful of oil that may splatter. Let cook undisturbed for 4 minutes, or until lightly browned.
- Flip and cook an additional 3 minutes. Check for doneness. The chicken should reach 165 degrees F at the thickest part when tested with an instant- read thermometer, and when sliced, the juices should run clear.
- If it needs additional time, flip again and continue cooking for a few minutes on each side, until done. The total cooking time will vary depending upon the size of your chicken. Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.
- Without wiping out the pan, reduce the skillet heat to medium. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil, swirl to coat the pan, then add the red onion and let cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan as it cooks.
- Add the garlic and let cook 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes, thyme, and remaining 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Increase the heat back to medium high and cook until the tomatoes begin to soften, about 2 minutes.
- Return the chicken to the pan, nestling it into the tomatoes, and scatter the mozzarella throughout.
- Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let stand for 1 to 2 minutes to allow the mozzarella to become soft and melty.
- Uncover, drizzle the balsamic reduction over the top, and sprinkle with the fresh basil. Serve warm.
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Delicious. This recipe is worthy of a company dinner…
My wife and I made this for a quick lunch for four. Very easy and turned out to be a big hit. Our guests asked for the recipe… That says it all right there. I will say if you don’t want to spend the 15 minutes making the balsamic glaze you can use a good quality store bought balsamic glaze like Bertolli. We used your vinegar and honey combo.
Thanks for providing this delicious Mediterranean recipe from Italy.
Made this tonight and it was delicious! The flavors blend together and are so rich and satisfying. My husband loved it. Definitely a keeper!
I found this flavorful but too sweet. Will try again with less honey.
I was super excited to make this, but I must have done something wrong. I put the lid on to melt the cheese and picked it up 2 minutes later to see that my tomatoes had all burst and become mush. The chicken was floating in basically soup. I tried to eat it anyway, hoping it would still taste fine, but the texture of soggy tomato skins floating around in way too much liquid was…not great. The flavor of balsamic was also awfully overwhelming, and I normally love balsamic. The melted cheese was a non-factor, as it basically disappeared into the wet tomato mix.
I’m sure it’s me, since everyone else seems to have gotten great results. Maybe my heat was too high? (I have a gas stove; even the lowest setting on the smallest burner seems to be “surface of the sun.”) So I guess…based on all the positive reviews it seems worth a try, unless you have a stove that runs too hot!
Are you using the recipe calculator with ingredients or the nutritional info. Since some stuff is zero points, if you use the nutritional info you don’t get an accurate point count.
I used red peppers instead of tomatoes and cooked a bit longer as peppers take longer to cook. My husband is not a huge tomato fan. It came out delicious! Thanks for this great recipe.
Hi Gina, i have spent a long time trying to find healthy meal plans that contained food I actually wanted to eat, so am very happy I found yours. I live in New Zealand so follow the recipes 6 months behind to match the seasons here.
Please keep them coming!
Thanks Sharon!
Gina…I have all your cookbooks and even check out your website. I cook your recipes 80% of the time and my family has enjoyed 99% of them. They loved this one!
I’m so glad! Thank you!
This was really tasty except my mozzarella pearls melted into a big clump when I tossed them in and covered per the recipe. Next time I think I’ll just toss them in right before serving.
I adapted this recipe in that I used balsamic glaze at the end, rater than reducing balsamic vinegar. Saved time and I’m guessing the taste was nearly the same. I also had to turn the heat back on in order to get the pearls of mozzarella to melt in. But–yummy!
Yummy!!!!
Just made this for the first time tonight and it was a hit! Thanks so much!
When I added this using the WW calculator it calculated that is was 10 purple points. It was very delicious and worth the points whether it is 7 or 10!
ONE OF THE BEST!!! I have tried many of your recipes and love them all but these one is probably my favorite so far. I’ve used chicen thighs as well as chicen breast and it is so wonderful and lvoely on a cold day. Very delicious!!!
This dish is amazing! Will definitely be making it again!
What’s a good heavy-bottom pan? I usually use my stainless cookware, but I’d like to invest since I see this recommendation frequently..
Made mine in Calphalon fry pan – came out great!
A new favorite! This is SO GOOD. Been making it almost every week as a staple in our house!
This was really good! I used agave for the glaze and didn’t add any sweetener to the tomatoes. Served with gluten free spaghetti.
This is absolutely delicious and fits beautifully into my daily points!
I made this for dinner tonight. It was very good, sweet but a good balance. I added spinach. Used skinless boneless chicken thighs, seasoned them with garlic powder, thyme and salt. I served this with a mushroom risotto. My teen daughter raved about it! It’s in the rotation now!
I’ve tried this twice and love the flavor. First time I used chicken breasts and overcooked them. Second time I used bone-in thighs, but did not take the skin off. My kitchen is now a mess! Should I remove the skin before cooking? I’m chicken challenged, obviously 🙂
This recipe is the stuff your tomatoey, cheesy dreams are made of! To die for!
Absolutely delicious! Served with rice. Tomorrow’s leftovers will be stir fry!
Just perfect!
This was an up and down experience for me. I was so excited to try this recipe. I was unable to make it to serve right away, and last night when I made it, I was very doubtful. The balsamic smells so strong! But I reheated it tonight and man, it was delicious! I wish I could find mozzarella pearls, but slices melted wonderfully in the pan. Can wait for tomorrow’s left overs!
This is so delicious!! It as quick and easy to make made more of a mess to clean than some dishes but SO worth it. I will be saving this one to my favorites.
If you super duper LOVE basalmic vinegar, you will super duper LOVE this. We love Caprese Salad, so assumed this would be a yummy twist on that. Unfortunately it just didn’t do it for us. Followed the recipe exactly. It was tasty, if you love basalmic. We don’t love basalmic enough to love this. Hub and I agree this particular recipe is not a “make again”.
Great recipe! Followed it exactly. My whole family loved it! This will become part of the regular rotation.
This was sooo good I can’t wait to make it again! However, it took an hour to make … it took a while to pound the chicken, then chop the onion, peel and mince the garlic, and sliced the tomatoes. But it was yummy and it was a lot of food!
Made this today, and it was wonderful. The only changes I made was to add some broccoli and zucchini I had in the house which was a nice addition. Forgot, I also used chicken thighs as that is what I had and omitted pounding them as they are thin to start with
We made this tonight and it was AMAZING!!! We absolutely LOVE your recipes!! Thank you so much!!!
This recipe is delicious!!!! Here in Quebec, Canada, I couldn’t find the part-skim mozzarella pearls, only the regular ones. So I calculated an extra point on WW blue. However, I divided the recipe into 5 portions instead of 4 so I was able to get back to 7 points!! Next time, I will watch my balsamic reduction a bit more – I was lucky that I stopped the cooking in time before it burnt!!
My whole family loved this dish!!! It was so good, I immediately ordered your cookbook. So far I have made three recipes and every one has been delicious! Making another tomorrow!
Thanks Heather!
I used a premade balsamic reduction sauce, but otherwise followed the recipe. Delicious and rave reviews from my hubby! Quick, easy, healthy, and yummy – checks all the boxes for a keeper!
This recipe was SO good! I made it with my son and the entire family loved it. Instead of making the balsamic glaze at the start, we cheated and used the Trader Joe’s Balsamic Glaze. Thank you for creating such a wonderful recipe!
Delicious definitely make again
This turned out great! I added some fresh spinach to the tomatoes right at the end to add a little more bulk and it was wonderful. I will make this again!
Made this last night and it was delish. Used our own tomatoes
Delicious and easy to make! I will be making this again and again!
This is SO good. It took twice the time to get my balsamic to reduce, but I am at a higher altitude.
This is a perfectly savory and satisfying dish. The balsamic glaze is a superb pairing with the juicy tomatoes and soft red onions. The leftovers are great, too, as the chicken continues to soak in the flavor juices.
This was really good and easy to fix.
I wanted you to know that on the printed page when reducing or increasing serving size the amount in parenthesis stays the same whether it is for 1 serving or 4 servings, ie. for 1 serving 0.25 small red onion (diced(about 1 cup) and for 4 servings 1 small red onion (diced(about 1 cup). The same is true for all of the ingredients.
Winging it with the ingredients still made a fantastic taste. Thank you.
I am allergic to honey. Normally I switch honey out with maple syrup. Would that work in this recipe as well?
I am sure
Could you do agave? I would sub that over maple syrup…
OMG this recipe is awesome!!! So quick and easy and everyone loved it!!
Cannot say enough good things about this recipe! It’s easy, it’s tasty, it’s beautiful!!! We all are up it and let saying this is SO GOOD. I decided it’s definitely company worthy too 🙂
Wow, this one is a new favorite! So flavorful and fresh. The perfect summer Italian dish! It looked soooo beautiful when plated with a couple slices of crusty baguette too. I also love that for something so delicious, this was a relatively easy dish to make with minimal prep and clean up.
Thank you for another hit!
Another keeper! Super tasty and flavourful.
Delicious! I followed the recipe exactly and I really don’t have much that I would change except reducing the amount of tomatoes used by at least a half a cup. Aside from that it was perfect. Seasoning was spot on. This will be going into my regular recipe rotation.
Do you have to pound boneless, skinless chicken breast?
I mean thighs 😀
Delicious!
This was amazing and the leftovers tasted great the next day!
The only change I made was used bottled balsamic glaze to save time. Loved it❤️
This was SO good, and a great way to use garden tomatoes and basil! The flavors were incredible and the overall prep was easy. I had leftovers and look forward to trying the salad version tomorrow. Thanks for sharing such a great summertime recipe!
Can you use the Balsamic glaze already made in place of reducing it yourself? Can’t wait to try it either way. Thank you
sure
Super easy to make and delicious! My husband raved about this dish
This chicken caprese dish was my favorite. Best one I’ve made in a long time.
Just made the Caprese Chicken last night! Another big hit!! We loved it!! And I even forgot the salt and pepper!! Thank you!🙏🏼
FABULOUS! I felt like a chef when I served this. I didn’t splurge on the French crusty bread. Wish I had. to sop up the flavorful sauce. I served it with corn, fresh off the cob. This will become a summer staple.
This was absolutely delicious, however, by the time I went to drizzle on the balsamic reduction, it had hardened in the pot!! Argh. I warmed it up and it became soft again but still very very thick and it hardened again after it had been (barely) drizzled on the chicken. Did I do something wrong? I ended up only simmering it for 10 minutes because it seemed to reduce quickly. Did I not simmer long enough? Either way, it tasted awesome and looked beautiful and I’d make it again!
So good! And easy to make!! Definitely a keeper! Thanks!
We had this for dinner tonight. Flavor was good, but the cheese all melted 🤷🏻♀️
Halved the recipe for two. The balsamic reduction got hard on me but was easily fixed with a bit of water. Very tasty but I certainly didn’t make it in 35 minutes.
This recipe rocks! My boys all love it.. Served with crunchy bread and red wine..
I would love to know the brand of skillets you used (shown in the photos)..Need to buy one and would appreciate a helpful hint
This is one of the best dishes I have ever made! And I’m a great cook ( so they say). Fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden and creamy buffalo mozzarella from Trader Joe’s. Amazing. Thank you Gina.
So good. We ate ours over arugula. Another SkinnyTaste I’m adding to my favorites! Thanks!
Gina, THANK YOU so much for sharing this recipe and my book! You are an inspiration, and it means so much to me. xo
Can I use boneless/skinless chicken thighs rather than bone-in? LOVE your recipes and creative ways to use my many tomatoes!!
I’m confused about the amount of tomatoes and mozzarella as well. Would you mind clarifying please?
Thanks
Fixed, sorry for any confusion! 🙂
Thanks! Sounds wonderful!
Would a cast iron frying pan be sufficient or would it get too hot for this type of dish.
You use two kinds of tomatoes? What about just using a few of “other” tomatoes and a ton of cherries or all cherries? I have an over productive cherry tomato plant 🙄
I thought that too about the tomatoes and mozzarella. Looks like 2 portions of cheese or us it obe or the other?
I think that’s just a rogue bullet point :). It seems to be either the pearl style or the block.
There was a typo- fixed now!! 🙂