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Baked Caprese chicken is nothing less than delicious and delightful! It’s fancy enough for company but simple enough for a quick and easy weeknight dinner that your family will go crazy for!
Tender and juicy seasoned chicken that is baked in a balsamic reduction with fresh mozzarella, basil, and tomato not only sounds divine but it tastes heavenly! If you are looking for some super easy, kid-friendly recipes, be sure to try this Parmesan Chicken or Herb Chicken.
What is Baked Caprese Chicken?
There’s something about “Caprese” dishes that sound fancy. Commonly made with fresh tomato, basil, and mozzarella, you have some superstar flavors that pair with almost anything! Caprese chicken (or chicken Caprese) is an Italian-inspired chicken dish made with the following ingredients: tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, herbs, olive oil, and vinegar. It’s an easy Italian dish that can be cooked in a variety of ways but one of the simplest ways is to bake it! This Caprese chicken recipe is sure to become a new family favorite!
Having new and easy recipes in my back pocket to whip out on busy nights is my secret weapon. They keep our dinner menu constantly changing and never boring! This is definitely one of those recipes that I love to have everything on hand on the regular. I can throw it together quickly but it looks like I’ve spent all day in the kitchen! It’s an impressive dish that even the most beginner of cooks can make. Try it on its own or add in some pasta and vegetables and you will have yourself a meal to remember!
Ingredients for Chicken Caprese
Easy and fresh are exactly what I love about this dish! You can even use a few of the ingredients from your garden if you have those on hand making this a complete labor of love! See the recipe card below for exact measurements.
- Chicken breasts: Boneless, skinless chicken breast work the best for this dish.
- Balsamic vinegar: Used as a delicious glaze on top!
- Honey: Adds a touch of natural sweeteness to counter the vinegar.
- Garlic: Mince up your garlic clove. If you don’t have any that are fresh, use the minced garlic from your fridge. 1/2 tsp equals about 1 clove of garlic.
- Olive oil: I like olive oil because of the taste but if you only have vegetable oil, you can use that instead!
- Italian seasoning: Try making this homemade italian seasoning. It will definitely elevate this recipe to the next level!
- Salt: Brings out all of the natural flavors of the ingredients.
- Pepper: Just use a dash of pepper, this recipe doesn’t need any heat.
- Cherry tomatoes: This part is easy, you will just be using these whole! No chopping or slicing needed!
- Large tomatoes: Slice up the tomatoes so they can go on top of the chicken.
- Mozerella cheese: Most fresh mozerella comes pre-sliced. if it doesn’t, slice up into thin pieces.
- Basil: Garnish with fresh basil on top! It brings on a fresh flavor!
How to Make Caprese Chicken
From start to finish, this recipe takes only about 10 minutes to prepare. After that, all you have to do is bake it for 35 minutes and you will be done! Simple AND easy!
- Preheat and prepare: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the chicken to a 9×13 inch pan.
- Whisk: In a small bowl whisk the balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Pour: Pour over the chicken and add cherry tomatoes to the side of the chicken. Place the tomato slices on the top.
- Bake: Bake for about 20-25 minutes or internal temperature is 165 degrees. Add cheese the last 5 minutes to melt.
- Garnish: Sprinkle with fresh chopped basil if desired.
Tips for Getting Your Chicken Just Right
Making sure that you know the basics of cooking chicken is essential to having your recipes turn out as best as they can! Here are a few tips on how to make the most amazing baked Caprese chicken possible!
- Dry chicken: When people bake chicken, the number one compaint I hear is that it came out dry. To avoid this, you want to cook chicken at a higher temperature. This recipe calls for an oven temperature of 400 degrees. Make sure to follow that exactly and it will allow your chicken to sweat and create natural juices that give you that juicy, baked Caprese chicken!
- Let it rest: If you want your meat to retain that juice that you worked so hard for while baking, you need to let your meat rest after you take it out of the oven. Don’t cut into it for about 10 minutes after cooking. Resting allows the chicken to soak in all of the juices and not dry out!
- How do I know when the chicken is done? You definitely don’t want to be eating undercooked chicken. You can use an internal meat thermometer to check if your chicken is cooked all the way through. Chicken that is done when it reaches 165 degrees.
Variation Ideas
If you are looking for a way to add a little bit more to this Caprese chicken, go ahead and try a couple of these ways to make this meal your own! Get creative, your family will love it!
- Pasta: Add this dish to some pasta. It will really envelope that Italian culture and you will love how it fills you right up!
- Make it a meal: I especially love to have some sides with this chicken that really complement this as the main dish. I think that these potatoes and this salad are fantastic is doing just tha!
- Open faced sandwich: Try toasting some french bread and putting this on top! An open faced sandwich is a delicious way to make this meal an informal lunch option!
How to Store Baked Caprese Chicken
This dish is so mouthwatering and amazing, I’m not sure that you will have anything leftover! But if you do, here are some ways that you can store it until next time!
- Refrigerate: Store this in an airtight container (glass with a lid or a ziplock). You can store it in your fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Wait until your chicken has completely cooled. Take off the fresh cheese and tomatoes (these won’t freeze well with the chicken) Place the chicken in a ziplock bag and seal it tight! The chicken can stay frozen in the freezer for up to 3 months. Make sure to write the date on your bag so you know how long its good for!
- Reheat: To reheat your chicken, let it thaw in the fridge overnight. Once thawed, you can then place it in a casserole dish and add the fresh mozerella cheese, tomato and basil. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
More Chicken Recipes You'll Love
Chicken is an absolute staple in our home so the more recipes that I have on hand that involve chicken, the better! Here are a few tried and true chicken recipes that I know that your family will love! Add them to your weekly meal planning and I know that your family and friends will keep coming back for more! Enjoy!
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Baked Caprese Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoons italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 large tomatoes sliced
- 4 slices mozerella cheese
- chopped basil for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add the chicken to a 9×13 inch pan.
- In a small bowl whisk the balsamic vinegar, honey, garlic, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Pour over the chicken and add cherry tomatoes to the side of the chicken. Place the tomato slices on the top.
- Bake for about 20-25 minutes or internal temperature is 165 degrees. Add cheese for the last 5 minutes to melt.
- Garnish with fresh chopped basil if desired.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was fantastic! Hubby loved it 👍
My family enjoyed this recipe but I was not expecting the sauce to be so runny. I followed the recipe directions exact. the only thing I did not measure out was the cherry tomatoes. I likely added more than required by design. also, I cut the cherry tomatoes in half, do you think this make the sauce very runny?
I don’t think the ‘pour over’ ingredients are supposed to be a thick sauce – there really isn’t a thickener present in the recipe wothout an extra step. If you want it thicker, there are a few things you can do:
1) make/use a balsamic reduction. Balsamic vinegar has natural sugars in it and will thicken when you reduce it by simmering the vinegar. It will also become stronger/more concentrated and a little sweeter this way. Basically put balsamic vinegar in a pot, bring to a simmer, and wait till it reduces by 1/4 to 1/3 – or desired consistency. It will thicken as it cools.
2) Simmer all ingredients in the “pour over” together. The additional sugar from the honey will help thicken into more of a sauce as its simmered. This will take less time and you won’t have to reduce the pour over nearly as far. 5 -10 minutes should be more than enough. Again, it will thicken. As it cools.
3) if you don’t want to add an extra step, add a little cornstarch to the slurry (pour over) when you mix the ingredients. I think a 1/2 teaspoon should work. You can always add more if needed.
I hope this helps!
The recipe look delicious. My family prefers thighs. Would I need to adjust anything to sub thighs in the recipe?
They might need a few extra minutes to bake since they are thicker than chicken breasts. Just watch the time and make sure the internal temperature is 165 degrees Fahrenheit before you eat the chicken.
I prepared and cooked this recipe exactly as given, but it did not turn out very good. There was a lot of water that cooked off. I can only think that the tomatoes released a lot of juice. If I make it again I will cook the chicken first then place the tomatoes and broil, add the cheese and basil and cook for 5 minutes at 400 degrees
Can I make this with tilapia?
Try this recipe instead! Baked Tilapia and Roasted Veggies
I literally NEVER leave reviews but holy cow was this the best recipe I’ve had in awhile. I cut my chicken super thin and used the broiler at the end to get the cheese extra melty. This will be a weekly dish in my house for sure. Feels like it came straight from a restaurant!
I made this once for my family and once for company. RAVE REVIEWS!!!! Such simplicity to make a signature dish. It will be my go to recipe!
It’s SO delicious!! I’m happy to hear that you loved it too!!
I love the combination of flavors. My husband does not like vinegar so I will move his chicken on the edge in foil to separate the sauce from his chicken. You do not mention if you use thin or thicker chicken breast and the pictures do not show the thickness. Thank you.
I found this recipe while trying to find a recipe to use the beautiful tomato and fresh mozzarella I had on hand. I had also just bought an absolutely Devine fig infused balsamic vinegar made by Lucinni. The only thing I had to change was the addition of the honey because I didn’t have any on hand, but the smooth taste of the Lucinni balsamic vinegar I bought made the omission unnoticeable. My Family devoured every bite of the dish! I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone and I will very definitely be making this dish again and again, adding it as a favorite in my recipe keeper. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’ll also be trying more of your published recipes.
Oh, that makes me so happy! I have some good ones coming up so I’d love for you to keep following along! Thanks so much for your comment!
I found this recipe while trying to find a recipe to use the beautiful tomato and fresh mozzarella I had on hand. I had also just bought an absolutely Devine fig infused balsamic vinegar made by Lucinni. The only thing I had to change was the addition of the honey because I didn’t have any on hand, but the smooth taste of the Lucinni balsamic vinegar I bought made the omission unnoticeable. My Family devoured every bite of the dish! I would definitely recommend this recipe to anyone and I will very definitely be making this dish again and again, adding it ass a favorite in my recipe keeper. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I’ll also be trying more of your published recipes.
I’m always looking for new ways to cook chicken because it’s one of the few foods my toddler will eat without complaints. This recipe was a hit for everyone. The toddler devoured half a breast by himself before asking for “more cheese”.
This recipe is one of my all-time favorites and anytime I can get a kid to love it too then I call that a win! Thanks for sharing!
Just made this tonight! Very good!!
Love Your Web page and made many of your receipes! 😊💥
Yay! I’m so glad that you love them, thanks for following along!
What a delicious dish! I made this a while ago & it was a huge hit w/my family. As always, I doubled the recipe (allowing for seconds & leftovers) since there are 7 of us. My 4 little ones loved this too – they each scarfed down 1/2 of a breast. We all love veggies here, so I served this chicken dish with steamed broccoli w/lemon, & a huge copycat Olive Garden salad. This recipe is now in my “Special Recipes” file, since it’s also definately worth serving to dinner guests. Thanks you.
Excellent! Paired it with pesto pasta. Yummy! Totally worth having to go out and buy a cast iron skillet. Will make again!
Made this tonight for my husband as he enjoys a good Caprese salad. And both he and I enjoyed this meal very much. Tasty and easy to make! Made it along with some spinach linguine. Yummy!