Caprese Chicken Thighs

Make your tomato and mozzarella chicken thighs extra special by using homemade balsamic reduction.

WHAT ARE CAPRESE CHICKEN THIGHS?

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs seasoned with oil and Italian spices, then seared in a skillet and glazed with balsamic reduction. Caprese chicken is topped with a mouthwatering blend of fresh tomatoes and mozzarella slices, before cooked to perfection in the oven. Garnished with fresh basil, this dish represents the colors of the Italian flag, green-white-red.

CAPRESE CHICKEN THIGHS INGREDIENTS

This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for chicken with mozzarella and tomatoes, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.

You may have all of these oven baked balsamic chicken thighs ingredients in your refrigerator or pantry and not need to make a trip to the grocery store. See recipe card below for ingredient amounts.

• Chicken Thighs: Use defrosted boneless, skinless thighs for best results.
• Italian Seasoning: You can substitute plain oregano, or make your own Italian seasoning by mixing oregano, dried basil, and thyme.
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Oil: We recommend using olive oil or avocado oil.
• Garlic
• Balsamic Glaze: Use your favorite store bought balsamic reduction or make your own. Check out our super easy and quick recipe for homemade balsamic glaze. It tastes incredible! If you’re eating Keto, omit the balsamic glaze. You can use a straight balsamic vinegar.
• Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes work best for this recipe, because they add an intense, slightly sweet tomato flavor. You can also use grape tomatoes.
• Mozzarella: Use fresh mozzarella slices, not low moisture cheese.
• Fresh Basil: Get a ready to use basil plant at the grocery store. It usually lasts you quite a while to make many delicious recipes. Packaged basil leaves only last for a very short time and start to look unappetizing quite quickly.

INSTRUCTIONS

This section shows how to cook balsamic chicken thighs in the oven, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, nutritional information, to print the recipe or to have the recipe scaled to double or triple, see the recipe card below.

SEASON THE CHICKEN: Drizzle the chicken thighs with oil and spices, then rub the seasonings well into all sides of the meat.

🔴 TIP: Use defrosted boneless skinless thighs, because frozen chicken thighs do not absorb the seasonings as well. Additionally frozen thighs take longer in the oven and might cause the balsamic glaze to burn.

🔴 TIP: Don’t skip the browning of the chicken, because it seals up the outside of the chicken and therefore keeps the moisture inside the meat while roasting in the oven.

MAKE GLAZE: Add the garlic to the pan and sautée for a minute. Then add balsamic reduction and stir to combine. Coat chicken with the glaze on all sides then add half of the tomatoes.

COOK IN THE OVEN: Now transfer the chicken to the oven and cook for 20 minutes.

MELT THE CHEESE: Top the almost done balsamic chicken thighs with slices of fresh mozzarella. Then return to the oven and finish cooking till an inside temperature of 165ºF is reached.

🔴 TIP: Check the temperature of the chicken, by poking the thermometer through the thickest part of the chicken to make sure the whole piece is cooked through. Remove from oven immediately when internal temperature reaches 165°F.

SERVE: Top caprese chicken thighs with more sliced tomatoes, fresh basil chiffonade and drizzle with pan juices. Serve and enjoy!

STORAGE TIPS

Refrigerate: Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container or ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 3 days.

How to use leftovers: You can slice up the cold caprese balsamic chicken thighs and use them to make a sandwich with crusty white bread. Add some arugula salad, fresh tomato slices and a drizzle of pesto and enjoy!

Reheat: To reheat, simply pop in the microwave or put back into the oven until heated through.

Freeze: Leftover chicken thighs can be frozen in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. We do not recommend freezing the tomatoes though, as they loose their texture in the freezer.

WHAT TO SERVE WITH CAPRESE CHICKEN THIGHS

Serve tomato and mozzarella topped chicken thighs with jasmine rice, or a healthy side dish, such as a crunchy salad. Try our delicious and colorful Italian salad or amazing Greek salad with caprese chicken thighs.

Or if you prefer to make your side dish in the air fryer, check out our air fryer carrots with balsamic glaze, air fryer green beans and air fried asparagus.

Copycat lion house rolls or easy cheesy garlic rolls are also a great addition to oven baked balsamic chicken thighs, because you want to mop up all the tasty pan juices.

MORE CHICKEN RECIPES

If you love love caprese chicken thighs you’ll also enjoy our other scrumptious chicken recipes. If you want to keep it on the lighter side, you have to try our caprese stuffed chicken breast, air fryer lemon chicken, grilled chicken marinade with lemon, or chicken meatballs.

In case you are looking for a more hearty chicken dish, we highly recommend trying our Instant Pot chicken thighs with lemon butter, chicken parm sandwich bake, herb roasted chicken or chicken in white wine sauce with mushrooms.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

For perfect results every time, here are answers to the most common questions about cooking balsamic chicken thighs.

5 from 2 votes

Caprese Chicken Thighs

Author Andrea + Stef

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American, Italian, keto

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

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6 servings

Learn how to cook mouthwatering caprese chicken thigh skillet topped with delicious mozzarella, tomatoes and balsamic glaze.

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Equipment

• small bowl
• ovenproof skillet
• kitchen spatula
• knife and cutting board

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• ▢ 2 tsps Italian seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ pinch of black pepper
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil olive oil or avocado oil
• ▢ 3 tablespoon garlic minced
• ▢ ¼ cup balsamic glaze
• ▢ 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• ▢ 8 oz fresh mozzarella

Garnish:

• ▢ fresh basil chiffonade

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
• Drizzle ½ teaspoon of oil on each chicken thigh.
  
• Sprinkle Italian seasoning evenly over each thigh.
  
• Using your hands, rub in the seasoning to coat all sides of the chicken.
• Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken into the pan once the oil is hot. Sear each side until golden brown, about 4 minutes on each side.
  
• First add garlic around the chicken and cook for about 1 minute. Then add balsamic glaze, and stir to combine glaze and garlic.
  
• Turn chicken to coat in the glaze.
• Add ½ cup of whole cherry tomatoes around the chicken thighs.
  
• Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes, until the internal chicken temperature is 160ºF.
• Top with mozzarella cheese and return to the oven to melt the mozzarella. Remove from the oven when mozzarella is melted and the internal temperature of the chicken is 165ºF.
  
• Slice the remaining tomatoes and garnish chicken with freshly sliced tomatoes and basil.
  
• Spoon some of the glaze from the pan over the chicken.

Notes

Recipe Notes:

• Use boneless skinless thighs that are defrosted. Do not use frozen thighs.
• You can use store bought or homemade balsamic glaze. Give our quick and easy balsamic reduction recipe a try!
• Fresh mozzarella slices are perfect for this recipe but if you want to buy mozzarella to shred, buy low moisture mozzarella.

Nutrition

Calories: 297kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 729mg | Potassium: 384mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 416IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 222mg | Iron: 2mg

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