Chicken Caprese

Chicken Caprese is as good as it sounds–a combo of Caprese Salad flavors all stuffed and cooked with chicken breast. So you have the best of both worlds –best of Caprese, and best Chicken recipe! This weeknight dinner wonder will be your favorite potluck, leftover lunch, summer dinner, fancy Italian mood dinner! Video and step by step on preparing the chicken caprese recipe below!

Here’s a secret, we LOVE Caprese and everything about it! Caprese Salad being the classic Italian favorite salad recipe, and then made my famous Caprese Skewers. Caprese Pizza and I can’t tell you how many more delicious ways you can enjoy Caprese Salad flavors into a meal!

 

Chicken Caprese

We love this Caprese chicken because:

• It’s an easy winner winner chicken dinner!
• It has all the flavors of Italy!
• The chicken breasts are so JUICY!!
• Since the chicken is seared, it has an amazing golden crust!
• The caprese chicken has oozing cheese which is so kid friendly!
• The flavor of basil shines throughout the chicken, thanks to fresh basil and Basil Pesto.
• It’s a 30 minute meal start to finish!
• Chicken caprese could be served as is for a terrific dinner! or with a side of a salad, rice or pasta. I would serve this with my Burrata Pasta for an Italian meal experience that’s nothing short of five stars!

Caprese Chicken Ingredients

There’s nothing fancy about these ingredients, yet this recipe is utterly fancy and delicious! You know how they say the simplest pleasures in life are the best–this one of them!!

Note about the basil, since I love growing basil in my garden and enjoy it abundantly all summer long I use fresh basil a lot. However all winter I rely on my homemade basil pesto and it’s a LIFE SAVER!! Can’t urge you enough to make it!

• Chicken breasts. It’s best to use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe since it cooks faster and easier to handle and stuff with cheese, basil and tomatoes.

• Cheese. Fresh Mozzarella is the essential to make the classic caprese salad , and even with those Caprese Skewers. You can use semi fresh mozzarella too.

• Tomatoes. Another essential flavor, I use fresh sliced tomatoes.
• Basil. Lots and lots of basil or Basil Pesto if you can’t have fresh, or even better, use a combo! My homemade basil pesto post has a video and detailed steps and tricks to making, string and using basil pesto.

Now let’s make it!

Make Caprese Chicken Recipe

There are a few steps here that I wanted to share in step by step along with the video to make it a seriously foolproof chicken recipe that you can enjoy on repeat!!

The first step is preparing the chicken, then comes the assembly and finally cooking/baking chicken caprese. 

Prepare The Chicken

Use a super sharp knife here. It’s KEY to slicing the chicken breast in half evenly and smoothly without going al the way through. You’ll be holding the top of the chicken breast with one hand to secure it in place and secure the knife with other hand. Now slowly slice through the chicken to create a butterflied chicken breast.

Your chicken will look like this, as if it’s mirror imaged. Make sure not to cut all the way through. 

If you know me I am ALL for seasoning!! No bland food happening anytime here! So I use the simplest blend of salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder/granulated powder. This goes on both sides of the chicken.

Now that the chicken is ready, it’s time to assemble.

Assemble Caprese Chicken

Now that the chicken is prepared, you’ll need to assemble the caprese flavors. A hefty layer of mozzarella cheese, tomato slices and fresh basil leaves. 

Fold over the other half of the butterflied chicken breast to cover the Caprese filling entirely inside. Don’t worry about it if it looks like it’s not sealed, it will be sealed with toothpicks.

Cooking/Baking Chicken Caprese

You can use olive oil or butter here, I preferred the butter for cooking while I loved the olive oil for drizzling when serving. Use a heavy skillet that’s oven safe and place the chicken top side down. Sear for 8 minutes until golden. It won’t cook through yet.

Flip the chicken after 7-8 minutes when it’s golden and well seared on one side. The chicken will continue cooking in the oven so we’re trying to achieve a good crust only!

The chicken will now bake in a 375 degree oven for another 15 minutes max until an internal temperature reached 170 degrees. Remove the skillet from the oven and place them on a serving board.

The perfect garnish is

• A good drizzle of QUALITY olive oil ( I love Moroccan olive oil-Mina)
• Dollops of basil pesto
• Sliced baby tomatoes
• Fresh basil chopped
• Chilli flakes (optional)

Chicken Caprese Recipe TIPS

• Use chicken breasts–boneless and skinless as they cook faster.
• Fresh mozzarella is the best to use here, but semi fresh can work just as well.
• Sweet summer tomatoes–any variety as long as they’re the same size and thinly sliced would work.
• if you don’t have fresh basil on hand, use Basil Pesto.
• Seasoning the chicken before stuffing or searing is KEY to tasty chicken rather than bland.
• Don’t over stuff the chicken breasts as that will make them harder to secure
• Make sure to use toothpicks on a diagonal to secure the filling inside.
• You can sear the chicken in butter or olive oil.
• Flip the chicken when golden and then continue cooking in the oven.
• The chicken will not cook through on the stove top, so make sure to finish cooking it in the oven.
• A final drizzle of olive oil, basil pesto, tomatoes and more basil when cooked, takes the meal to another level!

What is caprese chicken made of?

A classic Italian dish made with chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and cooked.

What do you serve with caprese?

Salad, sandwich, pasta, beans, rice, croutons and anything you like!

What can I substitute for basil in Caprese salad?

I love basil pesto if basil is unavailable. However if you want to swap the herb completely then I would suggest oregano like this Tomato Salad.

Why is caprese called caprese?

It’s believed that the salad came from the Italian island of Capri and hence the name.

Variations

Chicken Caprese Sandwich

Make the recipe as is, and then cut the chicken and make it into a sandwich with a spread of basil mayo or garlic aioli. So GOOD!

Chicken Caprese Salad

My favorite way to make this is either by making my crowd pleasing Caprese Salad and then slicing this chicken caprese recipe and arranging it with the salad.

Or by making the chicken recipe only and adding it over a bed of arugula/greens, adding more tomatoes and bocconcini cheese.  And finally dressing it with a fresh basil vinaigrette which you can find in my Italian Panzanella Salad With Basil Dressing.