This easy cheesy Caprese Chicken is so over-the-top delicious! In only 45 minutes, you will have perfectly cooked chicken breasts and a sauce so tasty that you’ll want to put on everything.
Doesn’t that look amazing? Delicious melty cheese over baked chicken breast, surrounded by roasted cherry tomatoes and topped with fresh basil. Finally, drizzle some balsamic reduction over it for a little extra sweetness. I can’t believe there’s only 263 calories per serving of this amazing dinner!
What Is Caprese Chicken?
Caprese is traditionally an Italian salad made with fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. Sometimes you might see a drizzle of balsamic vinegar taking this classic dish over the top! It’s so simple, yet so delicious. While this recipe isn’t traditionally Italian, the caprese flavors overtop a juicy chicken breast were to die for.
How to Make Caprese Chicken
Start off by preheating your oven to 400F. Season the chicken breasts generously with the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. The cheese and basil will be added later, so we want to make sure these chicken breasts are nice and flavorful on their own. Drizzle olive oil to coat the bottom of your baking dish and add the chicken breasts.
Next, you’ll add the cherry tomatoes to the dish. Spread them around the chicken evenly. We cut them in half, but you can definitely leave them whole if you like! Now your chicken is ready for the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or until 165F at the thickest part of the breast if you have a meat thermometer handy.
It’s time for the fun part! Take the baking dish out of the oven and top those chicken breasts with about 1/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Feel free to add more if you’d like, I won’t tell anyone! Instead of mozzarella you can use gouda, mild cheddar, provolone, havarti, gruyere, or other mild melty cheese that you like.
Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle that beautiful fresh basil over the chicken, a drizzle of balsamic glaze, and serve!
What to Serve Caprese Chicken With
After this chicken came out of the oven, I saw all those gorgeous juices that I could just not bring myself to waste. All the flavors from the chicken, tomatoes, and cheese mixed into that sauce is seriously SO delicious. I made a big pot of spaghetti to serve it over for lunch. It was incredible!
You could serve it over regular or cauliflower rice, mashed potatoes, polenta, or grab a good loaf of bread and soak up everything left in the pan. But whatever you do, don’t let that glorious sauce go to waste!
Love This Easy Recipe? Try These!
- Lemon Chicken Piccata
- Skillet Braised Greek Chicken Thighs
- Chicken Pesto Caprese Pasta
- Baked Chicken Breast
- Crispy Chicken Cutlets
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Caprese Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or to taste
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 cup mozarella cheese shredded
- 2-3 tablespoon fresh basil chiffonade*
- Balsamic glaze to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F.
- Generously season your chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning on both sides. Drizzle the olive oil to coat the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add the chicken and cherry tomatoes. Disperse the tomatoes evenly around the chicken.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until the breasts reach an internal temperature of 165F in the thickest part. Take the baking dish out of the oven, and put about 1/3 cup of the mozzarella over each chicken breast. Return the dish to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the basil over the chicken. Serve the chicken with a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Instead of mozzarella you can use gouda, mild cheddar, provolone, havarti, gruyere, or other mild melty cheese that you like. You can add or subtract the amount of cheese to suit your preference.
- You can leave the cherry tomatoes whole if you like. You can also use any type of tomato that you prefer, cut into bite sized pieces.
- This recipe can be used for chicken thighs as well.
- You can serve these over pasta, chicken, rice, etc. to use up the sauce in the pan.
- * To chiffonade basil, stack the leaves flat on top of each other. Roll them tightly lengthwise, and slice the roll thinly crosswise.
I was looking for an easy meal to use up the many cherry tomatoes that my garden is still producing. I also have basil in the herb garden so this was perfect! I wrapped the initial ingredients in grill foil as I don’t like to heat up the house by using the oven. After confirming the cooking temperature I added the cheese & let it melt before transferring to a serving plate and adding fresh basil! Delicious!
This is absolutely delish and simple. The balsamic glaze takes more time but definitely worth the effort. It keeps in frig for a long time.
Glad you enjoyed it!
My Mom used to male this all the time! Back then, we lived in a rural community, and cherry tomatoes were hard to find unless you grew them yourself, so she used regular tomatoes cut up. But her secret was marinating the chicken in italian herbed buttermilk for the whole day! Oh, my.. so juicy and good.
That sounds amazing! So happy you like this recipe!
Very simple to make and packs a good deal of flavor. Plus, it’s keto friendly if you limit your serving of cherry tomatoes to one cup or less.
This looks absolutely amazing!
I made this last night and it was delicious! I love simple recipes that taste so good. Thank you Jo.
I made this last night & my husband loved it. He said make it again !!!!!! I sure will, very easy & quick. Thanks
I made this recipe last night for myself as I am a widower.It was so good that I wish I still had someone to cook for.You were absolutely right about the leftover juice.Goes well with crusty bread with unsalted butter as a soaker upper.
Thanks,will make it again.
Thanks, Peter! So happy you enjoyed this recipe. Thanks for letting me know!
I ‘accidentally’ fell onto your site a few weeks ago — and it has been a MAINSTAY ever since!
Great recipes, easy to follow, non-complicated ingredients, and super results. Great discovery on MY part!
Thanks!
I love hearing this Fred!! Let me know which recipes you try and how they turn out for you!
I am from South Africa, and enjoyed your recipes.. This capres chicken recipe is super easy and quick to make but above all very delicious! Thank you, Jo!
Hi there! Thanks so much for commenting and I’m so happy you enjoyed this chicken recipe!
This recipe is a keeper! So simple and delicious. I served it with a balsamic glaze drizzle and a side of polenta.
An easy to make, pretty and delicious recipe that my husband really enjoyed. Served over orzo with green beans on the side. Balsamic glaze is simple to make if your grocery doesn’t have it. Just reduce balsamic vinegar by simmering it until syrupy.
The times given in the recipe header are incorrect, but the times in the body of the recipe are right. Thanks for a good recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the heads up, fixed the recipe. 😉
I have your cookbook and enjoy immensely.
The Caprese chicken is unbelievable. Simple, easy and so good.
How to make balsamic glaze and do what with the other 2/3c cheese?
1/3 cup over each breast, there are 3 breasts, so 1 cup in total. The glaze we use is store-bought in the same aisle as the vinegars!
Jo is the best ever! another fast, easy & delicious meal.