🍅🧀🌿 Grilled Chicken Caprese is an EASY, restaurant-worthy dish with juicy chicken that’s topped with melted mozzarella cheese, grilled tomatoes, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze for mouthwatering Caprese flavors that taste like you’re in Italy🇮🇹! High protein, ready in 30 minutes, make it on an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan.
Easy Grilled Chicken Caprese Recipe
- Fast and EASY. I’m all about simple, quick, and easy – especially busy weeknights or carefree summer evenings. This easy chicken caprese recipe is on the table in 30 minutes from start to finish which is perfect for my level of dinner motivation.
- High protein and gluten-free. This Caprese chicken recipe clocks in at 50 grams of protein per serving for 455 calories. These are insane stats! It’s naturally gluten-free, which many Italian and Mediterranean-inspired recipes are, and this one is no exception. If you want to cook more high protein recipes, make sure to check out my High Protein book!
- Incredible Caprese flavors. Melted mozzarella, grilled tomatoes, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze turn simple grilled chicken into a flavor-packed masterpiece.
- Indoor or outdoor. Feel free to use an indoor grill pan, which is perfect year-round cooking or for those without an outdoor grill. If you have one, your outdoor gas grill works like a champ and makes this recipe so quick and easy. 10-12 minutes tops!
- Want a stovetop Caprese chicken recipe? My Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Chicken is a one-skillet recipe with those same amazing Caprese flavors, no grill required. Check the various recipe variations on the Caprese theme below the recipe card including oven baked and skillet options.
Ingredients in Chicken Caprese Recipe
Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts that I halve lengthwise into thinner cutlets so they cook quickly is what I do but you can use your favorite cut of chicken breast, including boneless chicken thighs.
Seasonings: Olive oil, kosher salt, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper add flavor.
Caprese Topping: Ripe tomatoes (use your favorite), sliced fresh mozzarella (the kind that’s sold in water in a little tub not shredded in a bag), fresh basil, and balsamic glaze. Store-bought glaze works perfectly and I highly recommend the Trader Joe’s version if you have one in your area.
Tip – Make sure you select balsamic glaze which is thicker and very lightly sweetened versus balsamic vinegar, which is well, vinegar. It’s not sweet, not thick, and not what you want to use.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Grilled Caprese Chicken
- Prep the chicken. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, brush both sides with olive oil, and season it with the spices.
- Preheat the grill pan OR outdoor grill. Heat an indoor grill pan over medium-high heat or high heat until hot and lightly smoking. You want a strong sear right away. Heat your outdoor grill to medium.
- Grill the chicken + Cheese. Cook chicken for about 3 minutes per side, or as needed depending on how thick it is. In the last minute, lay fresh mozzarella cheese slices on the tops of each chicken breast, and cover with grill lid or foil tent to melt. Cook chicken to an internal temperature of 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Grill the tomatoes, optional. Brush the tomato slices with olive oil and grill for a minute or two per side, until softened and marked with grill lines. This is optional but is such a nice touch for such a low-lift item.
- Plate and finish. Top the grilled chicken with tomatoes, add fresh basil ribbons, drizzle of balsamic glaze, and finish with flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper if desired. Other fresh herbs are always welcome here too!
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for step-by-step photos and process shots of the cooking process.
what to serve with grilled chicken caprese
Grilled Chicken Caprese
🍅🧀🌿 An EASY, restaurant-worthy dish with juicy chicken that's topped with melted mozzarella cheese, grilled tomatoes, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze for mouthwatering Caprese flavors that taste like you're in Italy🇮🇹! High protein, ready in 30 minutes, and both outdoor grill and indoor grill pan instructions provided below.
Equipment
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1.50 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced, (about 4 chicken breasts halved into about 8 thin cutlets or purchase thin-sliced chicken breasts; may use regular thickness chicken breasts or boneless chicken thighs noting cooking times will vary)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Caprese Topping
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/2-inch thick (use any type of tomato you enjoy), grilled if desired
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick (use mozzarella that’s sold in a tub in water in the cheese case; don’t use bagged shredded mozzarella)
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons (chiffonade), or as desired
- 2 tablespoons balsamic glaze, (store-bought or homemade)
- Olive oil, optional for a final drizzle
- Flaky sea salt, optional for serving
- Freshly ground black pepper, optional for serving
Instructions
- Preheat outdoor grill to medium heat or set stove to high heat and preheat indoor grill pan.
- Chicken: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, evenly drizzle with olive oil as desired, and evenly sprinkle the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper over the chicken on both sides. Use more seasonings, salt, or pepper than called for, if desired.
- Chicken Tips – I like to use thin-sliced chicken breasts, sometimes sold as chicken cutlets, for this recipe for quicker cooking. You can use regular thickness chicken breasts, although I would pound them to uniform thickness, if you prefer noting they'll take longer to cook through. Boneless chicken thighs are also an option.
- Grilling: Place the chicken on either your outdoor grill or indoor grill pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side, or as needed, until the chicken is nearly done.Grilling Tips – If you're using an outdoor grill, make sure to keep control of the heat output because thin-sliced chicken breasts will cook very quickly on an outdoor grill and you don't want to accidentally overcook them so that they get dried out.
- Cheese: In the final 1 minute of cooking, place the cheese slices over each piece of chicken. If you're using an outdoor grill, it's very easy to close the lid to encourage the cheese to melt. If you're using an indoor grill pan, you may want to tint it with a sheet of foil. Tip – Make sure to break or cut the cheese so it's approximately the same shape as the chicken so it doesn't stick to the grates and burn.
- Tomatoes: If you want to grill your tomatoes, do it now while the cheese is melting.
- I lightly drizzle the tomatoes with a bit of olive oil so they don't stick to the grill, add a pinch of salt and pepper to them, and then grill them for about 60-90 seconds per side, or as desired. You're not really cooking them through, rather just softening them and adding flavor.
- Combining: Top the melted cheesy layer on each piece of chicken with the tomatoes and evenly sprinkle with basil ribbons.
- As desired, evenly drizzle with balsamic glaze.
- Serving: Optionally for serving, drizzle with olive oil, and add flakey sea salt or pepper, as desired, and serve warm and fresh.
Notes
Storage: Recipe is best warm and fresh due to the melted cheese and fresh tomatoes and basil. However, leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently and as desired in the microwave. Although I’d probably just take it out of the fridge about an hour before I wanted to eat it and then eat it at room temp rather than trying to reheat but it’s up to you.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 455cal, Carbohydrates: 8g, Protein: 50g, Fat: 24g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 10g, Trans Fat: 0.02g, Cholesterol: 154mg, Sodium: 1138mg, Potassium: 850mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 1116IU, Vitamin C: 11mg, Calcium: 318mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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