This Easy One Pan Italian Chicken takes boneless skinless chicken breasts and turns them into something gorgeous and packed with flavor.
A delicious weeknight dinner that is all cooked in one skillet, these chicken breasts are perfect for the whole family.
Healthy, quick and easy. That is pretty much the perfect dinner solution!
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Chicken Breasts packed with flavor
I love easy meals! On busy weeknights when I need dinner on the table quickly these Easy One Pan Italian Chicken Breasts are perfect!
The chicken is cooked in the skillet with plenty of garlic, some lemon, chicken broth, and briny capers. This keeps the chicken nice and juicy and also gives it so much flavor.
The quick topping of tomatoes, onions, and olives add a great freshness and wonderful pop of healthy color. Plus it means there is no need to add a side salad, as the salad is right there in the pan! Add some creamy ricotta to the top and serve with some fresh bread for an easy dinner!
Why use Chicken Breasts Fillets
If you are an S&S regular then you will be sick of me telling you how to fillet a chicken breast 😉
But I just love filleting chicken breasts because:
A) It turns two chicken breasts into dinner for four. Thus saving money. BUDGET WINNER!
B) It helps to keep the chicken breasts moist and juicy. CHICKEN WINNER!
C) It means the chicken cooks evenly and more quickly. TIME WINNER!
What is not to love, filleting chicken breasts is good for your sanity on a busy weeknight. I know it might seem like an extra step, but it helps with the final dish, saves money and means the chicken is tender and juicy!
TOP TIP: If you buy your chicken breasts in bulk and freeze them for using later, try filleting them before you freeze them. They will defrost more quickly and half the prep is already done for you!
You can use your chicken fillets in this Easy One Pan Italian Chicken Breasts or also in my Grilled Sweet Cajun Chicken, or this Baked Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and also in this family favorite, Creamy Chicken and Bacon Pasta.
How to fillet chicken breasts
To do this you lay the chicken flat on a chopping board and use a large knife to cut horizontally through the chicken breast.
By keeping the knife flat and parallel to the chopping board you will be left with two chicken fillets.
Making the fresh tomato topping
The fresh topping on this Italian chicken recipe is what really makes it sing. I want to call it a salsa but that doesn't really describe it fully. This is sort of a salad topping. I'm lost for the word! But whatever we call it, it is delicious! (If you have a suggestion for what to call it, drop me a comment below!)
Tomatoes, olives, red onion, and parsley are all chopped up and then dressed with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
This is left to mingle whilst the chicken is cooked. What happens is the salt draws out some of the juice from the tomatoes, this mixes with the olive oil and you get a delicious mixture at the bottom of the bowl. Please make sure that gets in with your chicken. It is the flavor bomb!!! (If you want to sneak a little bit of bread and mop a little bit up, I won't tell anyone....I mean cooks perks 😉 )
Recipe Adaptions
Can I use chicken thighs
YES!!! This is wonderful with chicken thighs. They take longer to cook so you need to allow extra time, but you can follow the recipe in exactly the same way, just cook the chicken thighs for 25-30 minutes until cooked through and golden.
Can you leave out the olives?
You sure can, it will change the dish, but if your family aren't fans of olive then, by all means, leave them out.
Only like black olives? Just use the black ones.
Can only find green olives? Just use green olives.
Can I change the parsley?
If you haven't got parsley or aren't a fan, then you can use fresh basil in this recipe instead.
Swapping the red onion
Red onion tends to be a little milder than the traditional brown onion. But you can use brown onion instead, just chop it very finely and use a little less.
Otherwise, you can use green onion or sweet white onion.
Haven't got ricotta?
Leave it off, or add some grated parmesan or some mini mozzarella balls.
What to serve with Italian Chicken Breasts
The beauty of this dish is the salad is already part of the dish! So you really just need to add some bread and you can call it dinner. We like these Mini Milk Bread Rolls as they are soft and delicious. But crusty bread is gorgeous here too.
If you want something more substantial then why not try serving this Italian chicken with:
- Easy Skillet Garlic Green Beans
- No Cream Italian Herb Pasta
- Hedgehog Roasted Rosemary Potatoes
- Tomato Orzo Salad
- Simple Perfect Risotto
Enjoy x
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Easy One Pan Italian Chicken Breasts Recipe
Ingredients
For the topping
- 1 large tomato
- ½ red onion
- ⅓ cup olives - see note 1
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the chicken
- 2 large chicken breasts
- salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ stick butter
- 3 garlic cloves
- ¼ cup drained capers
- 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup chicken broth
To finish
- ¼ cup creamy ricotta
- flat-leaf parsley
- black pepper
Instructions
Start by mixing up the topping
- Finely chop the tomato and red onion and place in a non-metallic bowl.
- Slice the olives and add them to the bowl.
- Add in the parsley, extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle over the salt.
- Stir gently and set to one side.
To fillet the chicken
- Lay your chicken breasts flat on a chopping board.
- Use a large sharp knife to cut sideways through the breast, keep the knife parallel to the chopping board and continue to cut through the chicken breast until you have two fillets.
- Repeat with the second chicken breast.
To cook
- Heat a large skillet or shallow casserole over high heat.
- Add in the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- Season the chicken on both sides with salt then fry for 2 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan, and tent the plate with foil.
- Reduce the heat to medium then add the remaining butter to the pan.
- Add the sliced garlic, capers, and zest of the lemon.
- Stir gently then add the chicken broth to the pan.
- Turn the heat up and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Return the chicken (and any juices that have collecteto the pan along with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.
- Heat for a minute then remove the pan from the heat.
- Top with the tomato mixture, pouring over the juice from the bowl.
- Dot the top of your chicken with spoonfuls of the ricotta, and serve with black pepper and a little extra parsley.
Notes
- You can use any olives that you like here. I like to use a mixture of black olives and pimento-stuffed olives. If I can find them the almond stuffed olives are amazing too!
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