This deliciously Caprese Chicken combines savory baked chicken with the unbeatable flavor ingredients in a Caprese Salad.
About Caprese Chicken
I absolutely love Caprese Salad for so many reasons.
It’s beautiful.
It’s fresh and delicious.
And it’s so blasted easy.
The ingredients are a perfect flavor combination and when you pair it with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, the results are spectacular.
But when you add in baked chicken turning the dish into something new like this Caprese Chicken, well, it just doesn’t get better.
Plus this dish is gorgeous.
I love a dish that’s easy to make and luscious to eat.
And I have to say this Caprese Chicken recipe is certainly in my Top 10 Favorites with it’s savory baked chicken, melting cheese, pesto and roasted tomatoes.
Ah, yeah.
So let’s make it.
Ingredients for Caprese Chicken
- Olive oil: The healthy way to coat vegetables and chicken
- Garlic salt: The extra garlic is great in this recipe
- Pepper: For an extra kick of flavor
- Tomatoes: High in Vitamin C
- Chicken Breast: The Star of the Show
- Pesto: Store bought or my favorite, Rosie Daley’s Pesto
- Mozzarella Cheese: In all its creamy, melting deliciousness
- Baby Spinach: So healthy, with abundant Vitamins A, C and K
- Arugula: For it’s peppery deliciousness
- Balsamic Glaze: Trader Joe’s is a great source for flavor and price
- Basil leaves: For a finishing garnish of fresh flavor
How to Make Caprese Chicken
First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
For the prep: Rinse the baby spinach and arugula in a colander and set aside.
Slice the tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese in about 1/4” -1/2” slices.
Finally, slice the chicken breast lengthwise making 2 fillets about 1/2” thick.
Then add olive oil to a baking pan and add garlic salt and pepper to the oil and evenly coat the mixture over the bottom of the pan.
I really love using Jane’s Chunky Mixed Up Garlic Seasoning.as well as Jane’s Mixed Up Steakhouse Seasoning.
Both of those spices are absolutely packed with flavor.
Next, add the tomato slices one at time, turning each over to coat both sides.
Scoot the tomatoes to the edges of the dish and add the breasts in the center, again turning once to coat both sides.
Then add the dish to your preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Turn the chicken breasts over and spread about a Tsp of prepared Pesto to each chicken breast fillet and top with Mozzarella slices.
Return the dish to the oven and bake another 8-9 minutes to finish the chicken and melt the cheese.
Insert a food thermometer into the chicken. At this point it should register 165 degrees.
Finally, arrange the mixed greens on each plate and top with the chicken.
Spoon the tomatoes and pan juices evenly over each plate and finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and basil ribbons.
I
Notes
You can certainly use prepared pesto, but I really like the Rosie Daley’s Pesto recipe that you can find on this site.
Instead of being overly oily and full of fat, this recipe replaces most of the oil with fresh lemon juice. It just makes the pesto taste fresher.
I used Trader Giotto’s Balsamic Glaze from Trade Joe’s.
It’s rich and has great flavor.
But you certainly can make your own glaze by adding a Tbsp or so (to your taste) of brown sugar to 1 cup of balsamic vinegar and letting it simmer for about 20 minutes until it’s reduced by half.
I also used the Campari tomatoes. These small to medium sized tomatoes are fabulous because of their great flavor.
Also, I always leave fresh tomatoes in a bowl on the counter and never refrigerate them because they seem to lose flavor once refrigerated.
Caprese Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Baby Spinach
- 1 Cup Arugula
- 1 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1/4 Tsp Garlic salt
- 1/4 Tsp Pepper
- 3 Oz Mozzarella Cheese Sliced
- 4 Medium Tomatoes Sliced
- 1 Large Chicken Breast
- 2 Tsp Pesto
- 2 Tsp Balsamic glaze
- 3 Basil leaves Sliced thin into ribbons
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Rinse spinach and arugula in colander and set aside.
- Cut chicken breast lengthwise into 2 fillets and set aside.
- Add olive oil to baking dish and spread to lightly coat dish. Sprinkle garlic salt and cracked pepper evenly over dish. Add the tomato slices one at a time, turning each over to coat both sides. Push them to the edges of the dish.
- Then add the chicken fillets in the middle turning to coat each side. Place baking dish in oven and bake 25 minutes.
- Turn the chicken over and spoon Pesto over each fillet. Add sliced mozzarella on top of the Pesto.
- Bake an additioal 8-9 minutes to finish the fillets and melt the cheese.
- Arrange a bed of the spinach and arugula on each serving plate and top each with a chicken fillet. Spoon tomatoes and pan juices over each salad.
- Finish with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and a sprinkle of basil ribbons.
Nutrition
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So glad I clicked on you Mediterranean Lemon Chicken recipe. It brought me to your website. I can’t wait to cook.you have opened a whole new world for me in my kitchen.
Thanks James, hope you continue to follow. Subscribe and I’ll send you lots more recipes. In the meantime watch for my articles on food and healing.