Chicken Caprese Recipe (2024)

Baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. It worked.However because we had four leftover uncooked boneless chicken thighs also tried those. Took a rolling pin and flattened each thigh by rolling them out until about 1/2 inch thick. Used one thigh for the base and another thigh for the top with the tomato, basil and mozz in between.The thighs were noticeably more moist than the breasts. So will use thighs in the future.

I sauté everything in my stainless steel Dutch oven to keep from splattering the stove. Almost never use a frying pan anymore!

I did a bit of both. I cooked the garlic, tomatoes, oil and basil in the saucepan. I baked the chicken in a foil lined pan. When I removed the chicken from the oven I poured whatever juices there were into the saucepan, I placed the cheese, fresh basil and fresh tomatoes into the chicken and allowed it to rest until the cheese was melted. When plating I placed a dollop of pesto on the cooked chicken and poured the contents of the saucepan equally over the chicken. Voila!

Like others, I had trouble keeping the basil, cheese and tomatoes in the pocket. So I went ahead and sautéed the breasts without them, in cast iron pan, cut them in half, then made a sandwich with the basil cheese and tomatoes in the middle, held in place by toothpicks. Put pan in oven at 350 for ten minutes, spooned pan juices over. Pesto on top. So good!

Looks good, but could this dish be baked? The sauté method leaves such a mess of spatters.

As a very experienced cook I should have known better than to expect that this recipe was accurate and would produce an acceptable and edible entree. Impossible to have fully cooked chicken that is stuffed in the time indicated in the recipe. And as outlined by another reviewer, when covering in an attempt to endure chicken is fully cooked, the water from tomatoes and cheese leached and the chicken simmered in the juice. Collectively the dish was a disaster and the chicken too tough to eat.

Works well wrapped in prosciutto and baked

I would still brown the top side of the breast...then flip it and finish in the oven.

This was absolutely delicious. I did add balsamic vinegar when I stuffed the breasts. I also sautéed my garlic with sliced kalamato olives and poured it over the chicken. 45 minutes in the oven was perfect.

I used chicken cutlets for this recipe. I folded the cutlet lengthwise over the cheese, basil and tomato and pierced the edges together with a toothpick. It was really delicious.

Sure, you could bake it, but you’d miss out on the pan juices that come from the quick browning/searing. Also, it doesn’t dry out as it would in the oven because of the quick cooking and final step of steaming to make sure it is cooked through. I like AW’s idea of using a deeper pot, but being such a lean cut and small amount of oil, there isn’t much spattering.

I pounded the chicken breasts very thin, and then folded them over the mozzarella, tomato and basil. I threaded toothpicks to secure them. I did not bake them in the oven; I sauteed them in more olive oil than the recipe called for (and added a few pats of butter). Boy, I'm glad I did because the drippings poured over the breasts - and jasmine rice - were delicious! Pounding the breasts to an even thinness also resulted in perfectly-cooked meat. Definitely will make again

Disaster! The mozzarella oozed right out and stuck to the bottom of the pan. There was no way it was going to stay in the pocket. And the mozzarella and chicken both leached water, which created too much steam to sauté the chicken on the second side. I salvaged it to serve, but won’t be making it again. I’ll stick to Melissa Clark’s pizza chicken for the same flavor profile.

Great chicken dish! Very tasty and relatively easy to make. Because the chicken was sort of overflowing with the filling I secured both ends with toothpicks which worked well. I also finished them off in the oven at 350 degrees, but added leftover cheese, tomatoes and basil to the top of each piece of chicken. Terrific recipe!

If you're going to use tomatoes out of season, the best option is canned -- my preference is either San Marzano or Muir Glen whole peeled tomatoes.

After stuffing the chicken, I tied the chicken with string to keep the stuffing from seeping out. Worked perfectly and the dish cooked as directed was awesome!

Add balsamic to the pan while cooking! Gives it a deeper flavor and just generally makes it more delicious!

slippery nightmare

A little bland, and not worth the hassle of putting together and cooking. Not my favorite chicken recipe or recipe from NYT.

Great meal. Pretty quick, 30 min. I found the chicken fell apart, probably due to my cutting the breast. Used string. Helpful hint from before to use a big pot to keep splatters down. Also took a little longer cooking than the time in original recepie.

Pretty sure I won’t make this again. Easy enough to prepare and cook but I still managed to undercook the chicken. I chose to not add pesto (it’s it a flair that I love) but that was a big mistake. It was pretty flavorless without it. Oh well

Make sure to stuff it well as the fillings would not stay in the chicken well. Or you can seal with toothpicks to hold it together better. Also, I had to cook it much longer than the recipe said for the chicken to cook through; try to make cut the chicken so the top and bottom are pretty even for even cooking. Otherwise the recipe was easy and delicious! Served over spaghetti. I used burrata cheese.

Concept and flavors are fabulous (and the recipe for pesto linked is incredible), but the whole thing was impossible to cook and quite a mess. Next time I'll saute or bake chicken and add cheese, basil, and tomato on top to finish.

Should have read the comments before making this. In retrospect, I agree that the stuffing concept is a disaster. But hard to argue with those flavors. Next time, I'll make the sauteed garlic slices, then saute fully sliced breasts (lengthwise) in an oven safe skillet, add the tomatoes at the end of that with some more garlic and basil. Will then layer the cheese on top and finish under the broiler, topping with fresh basil leaves, sauteed garlic and the pesto.

I had a lot of difficulty with the sauté. The chicken did not cook but the mozzarella melted everywhere before the chicken was done and just made a huge mess.

This was great! But feeding five hungry children tonight, I always make it the easy way. Sautéed garlic, salted and peppered chicken inside and out and browned chicken in advance. Once cool, stuffed with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and put in a baking dish and covered with juice from pan, minus garlic. Just before dinner time, I baked in the oven 15 minutes at 350 from room temp, covered in tinfoil. Drizzled with pan juices, pesto and garlic slivers and fresh basil - divine!

Bought thin sliced chicken breasts from PCC, cooked on stovetop (in oven safe skillet) until browned on both sides. Turned broiler on high and broiled slices of buffalo mozz on each thin breast with sliced cherry tomatoes and basil. Slightly messy stovetop splatter, but with it considering start to finish (including prep) was 20-ish mins. Will add to regular weekday rotation.

Delicious. Cooked exactly as instructed, but steamed it a few minutes longer. Very moist chicken, topped with home made pesto.

Excellent!! Had no problems with staging the assembly. After slicing each breast to create the pocket, I seasoned and then seared the breasts in olive oil. I then coated the interior of each sliced breast opening with basil pesto, and then inserted the tomato slices, mozzarella slices, and fresh basil leaves. I placed the chicken breasts side by side vertically in a 9.5 by 13 elliptical cast iron brassier and then baked at 350 for about 40min. The vertical stacking keeps it all together.

Haven’t made this dish and a couple of months and forgot a big secret for success. Make sure that the breasts are not overly thick and of equal size on both sides otherwise I do not cook evenly and become dry. Other than that it’s a phenomenal recipe.