Easy baked chicken caprese

The end of summer and the beginning of the school year has been a busy season, with moving one of our children to college and settling everyone else for a good start. Mix in some sickness, lots of time spent building my business – things were a bit hectic for a bit. There was plenty of time when we had basic quick meals. And other times, I felt like making something a bit special, although still quick and easy. This recipe for Easy Baked Chicken Caprese was one of the latter. It took a few minutes to assemble and just over 20 minutes to bake.

I used this recipe as inspiration but changed some things up based on what I had on hand. The recipe says to use fresh tomatoes which I didn’t have enough of, so I used a can of diced tomatoes.

I also cut chicken breasts in three parts to make sure they cook fast. I found that this Easy Baked Chicken Caprese is very forgiving. You could easily use tenderloins instead of chicken breasts, and shredded mozzarella if you don’t have fresh. I also didn’t have pesto this time, but I expect it’s even better if you use it (I plan to next time).

Here is my adapted recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, cut into thirds
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon basil pesto (if you don’t have any, add 1 tsp of Italian seasoning or dried basil and oregano)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, partially drained* (or 2 cups cherry tomatoes) 
• 4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese or 1 cup shredded
• fresh basil (for garnish)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and grease a 9×13″ casserole dish.
2. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, oil, pesto, honey, cornstarch, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper.
3. Place chicken breasts in the dish.
4. Place the tomatoes in the baking dish over and around the chicken.
5. Distribute the cheese over the chicken.
6. Drizzle the balsamic mixture over the chicken and tomatoes.
7. Bake at 425 degrees F for about 20 minutes (the exact time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts), until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees F.
8. Move the dish to the top shelf of the oven and switch to “broil”. Broil for 1-2 minutes, just until the cheese starts to caramelize (don’t walk away, it can burn in no time).
9. Out of the oven, sprinkle with fresh chopped basil and serve.

Notes:

* You don’t want the chicken to swim in the tomatoes, but some of that liquid is necessary to keep the chicken from drying out in the oven.

This Easy Caprese Baked Chicken keeps well in the refrigerator for 3 days and makes great leftovers on top of a salad.

Here is one picture from a move-in day:

Go Roadrunners!

To mark the beginning of the school year, we had some Krispy Kreme donuts – a family tradition that we’ve had for several years now. We almost forgot this year, with all the goings on, and celebrated a week late.