Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breast
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Caprese Chicken is an easy stuffed chicken breast recipe to make for dinner tonight. This high protein meal tastes fantastic, comes together in one pan, and is ready to serve in 30 minutes!
The flavors in this dinner are beyond delicious! Juicy chicken breasts are stuffed with mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil.
They bake in the oven and are then drizzled with a balsamic reduction for a perfectly light but high protein meal!
While this dish may look complicated, it’s not hard to make at all! Simply slice, stuff, sear, and bake! Everything comes together in an oven-safe skillet, so clean up is quick and easy.
If your family is busy like ours, you will appreciate that this dish comes together in 30 minutes or less, making it a great option for busy nights. Plus, it’s perfect for spring or summer because it doesn’t leave you feeling overly full.
Liz’s tips for making stuffed chicken breasts
- Be sure all of the breasts are roughly the same thickness. This helps to ensure even cooking. Typically, one end is thicker than the other, too.
- When creating the pocket for stuffing, avoid cutting all the way through. You want to use your knife to slice a large pocket horizontally in the center of the breast, but avoid cutting all the way through from side to side, or so far back that you slice the breast into two pieces.
- Sear each stuffed chicken breast before baking. It only takes a couple of minutes per side to sear them, and it helps to lock the juices inside the meat.
- Use an instant-read digital thermometer to check doneness of baked caprese chicken. Your meal will be safe to eat when the internal temperature in the thickest portion of the breast reaches 165°F.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil, butter, or ghee.
Chicken Breasts: It’s hard to substitute chicken breasts in this recipe. You might be able to do it with chicken thighs but they’re smaller and not as easy to stuff.
Fresh mozzarella cheese is the best choice, but you could use block or shredded mozzarella cheese if you must, but it will not melt as smoothly. This Apple and Brie Stuffed Chicken is great if you’re looking for a brie stuffed chicken recipe!
Roma tomatoes are a great choice for this dish because it has less moisture and seeds than other tomatoes and keep the dish from becoming too watery. Sun dried tomatoes can be a good substitute. Cherry tomatoes are a bit too soggy, but heirloom tomato slices might work!
Basil: Keep the fresh basil leaves tucked inside the chicken as best you can. Basil burns really quickly and will turn brown and crispy if it’s not tucked in the chicken. We don’t recommend using dried basil.
Balsamic Glaze: You can buy premade balsamic glaze at the grocery store in the same aisle as the vinegar if you want to take a shortcut.
How to Make Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breast
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button, below.
- Create pockets for stuffing. Trim any fat off the chicken, then slice a large pocket horizontally in the center of the breast, making sure not to cut all the way through. Season chicken all over with salt and pepper.
- Spread 1 tbsp of pesto evenly into the pocket of each breast.
- Fill with caprese ingredients. Stuff each chicken breast with mozzarella tomato, and leaves. Secure them with toothpicks so they stay closed.
- Make balsamic reduction. In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the balsamic, garlic and brown sugar. Bring to a boil then cook until it reduces by half. Set aside.
- Sear the chicken in an oven-safe skillet until the outside is golden brown.
- Bake at 375° for 8-12 minutes, until the internal temperature of the baked caprese chicken reaches 163℉. (It will continue cooking as it rests.)
Liz’s Pro Tip
For less dishes to wash, use an oven-safe skillet. This way, you can sear and bake in the same pan!
- Remove from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of the balsamic glaze and fresh basil for garnish.
We love this instant-read thermometer for checking the internal temperature to make sure your meat is cooked thoroughly!
What to Serve with Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Any healthy sides, pasta, rice, or just a crisp salad will taste fabulous with the stuffed chicken breast. Some of our favorites are:
- Grilled Vegetables
- Green Beans Almondine
- Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts
- Balsamic Mushrooms
- We also like to serve it with homemade bruschetta.
storage
Refrigerator: Place any leftover baked chicken caprese in an airtight container and store it in your fridge. It should keep well for about 3 days.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this dish. The tomatoes will become very watery as they thaw out.
Reheating: The best way to reheat baked stuffed chicken without the meal becoming dry is in a covered pan in the oven. We suggest adding about 1/4 cup of liquid (water or chicken stock) to promote steaming.
You can reheat it in the microwave, but if so, use 50% power to prevent the chicken from drying out and the cheese from getting hard.
Caprese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 small breasts
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Balsamic Reduction
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Filling
- 4 tablespoons basil pesto
- 8 slices roma tomatoes sliced thin-about 3/4 cup
- 4 slices fresh mozzarella cut in half -about 3/4 cup
- 1 bunch fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Trim chicken breasts and slice a large pocket horizontally in the center of the breast, making sure not to cut all the way through. Season chicken all over with salt and pepper.
- Make the balsamic reduction. In a small saucepan, over medium heat whisk together the balsamic, garlic and brown sugar. (Tip: You can buy already made balsamic glaze at the grocery store in the same aisle as the vinegars, if you want to take a shortcut. )
- Bring the balsamic mixture to a boil, and cook until it has reduced by half, until only a ¼ cup remains and the mixture is just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375℉. Prep the chicken. Place 1 tablespoon of pesto into the pocket of each breast and spread evenly. Stuff each chicken breast with 2 halves of the mozzarella, 2 slices of tomato and 1 to 2 basil leaves.
- Secure the chicken together with toothpicks to make sure the filling is secured.
- In a large oven safe skillet over medium heat, add enough olive oil to thinly coat the pan. Sear the chicken breasts until the outside is golden brown.
- Once the chicken has seared, bake in the oven until the chicken is fully cooked and the inside temperature reaches 165℉, about 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken. If you do not have a large oven safe skillet, you can transfer the chicken to a baking dish or sheet tray to finish baking in the oven.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve with a drizzle of the balsamic glaze and fresh basil for garnish.
Notes
-
- Be sure all of the breasts are roughly the same thickness. This helps to ensure even cooking.
-
- When creating the pocket for stuffing, avoid cutting all the way through. You want to use your knife to slice a large pocket horizontally in the center of the breast, but be sure not to cut all the way through from side to side, or so far back that you slice the breast into two pieces.
-
- Sear each stuffed chicken breast before baking. It only takes a couple of minutes per side to sear them, and it helps to lock the juices inside the meat.
-
- Use an instant-read digital thermometer to check doneness of baked caprese chicken. Your meal will be safe to eat when the internal temperature in the center of the breasts reaches 165°F.
Nutrition Facts
Other healthy chicken dinner recipes
Chicken recipes are our favorite! Check out these Healthy Chicken Recipes & see more of our best chicken recipes below. Click here to grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
This was REALLY good and really easy! My husband and kids loved it! I served it with a salad and some bruschetta and it was a perfect light, summer meal. The balsamic glaze was **chef’s kiss** Will definitely make again!
Made this for dinner tonight with pasta with pesto sauce. Husband and I enjoyed it! Good use of our bountiful basil.
So glad you enjoyed!
Loved this recipe, quick and easy!! Made it for a family dinner with a bunch of family members and everyone loved it!!! Will definitely add to my list of regular meals.
This sounds so good! Cannot wait to make it, probably next week💜💜