If you love tomato and mozzarella salad, you have to try our absolutely delicious caprese stuffed chicken breast. Juicy and tender chicken filled with slices of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves and drizzled with balsamic reduction makes an irresistible Italian dinner.
This flavorful mozzarella stuffed chicken is easy to make, but turns your everyday chicken breast into a truly spectacular meal. Serve this gluten free chicken dish with jasmine rice, air fryer vegetables and a fresh and crunchy salad.
Make your oven baked tomato and mozzarella stuffed chicken even more special by using homemade balsamic glaze. Have you tried our recipe for balsamic reduction? You won't believe how easy and yummy it is!
WHAT IS CAPRESE STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST?
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts seasoned with sun dried tomato oil and spices. Then stuffed with a mouthwatering blend of fresh tomato and mozzarella slices, fresh basil leaves and sun dried tomatoes. Caprese chicken is seared in a skillet and glazed with balsamic reduction before cooked to perfection in the oven.
❤️ WHY YOU'LL LOVE THIS BALSAMIC CHICKEN RECIPE
✔️ Takes 40 minutes to cook from start to finish.
✔️ Combines tender and juicy chicken with a flavorful tomato and mozzarella stuffing. Plus it has delicious sundried tomatoes and basil.
✔️ 55 grams of protein.
✔️ Gluten free.
CAPRESE STUFFED CHICKEN INGREDIENTS
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for tomato and mozzarella stuffed chicken, 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 caprese chicken 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 breasts: Use small to medium sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If the chicken breast is too thick it will take longer to cook. For thick chicken breasts, pound flatter with a meat tenderizer after cutting the slit.
- Tomatoes: Vine ripe or roma tomatoes work well with this recipe.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Mozzarella Cheese: 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.
- 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!
- Italian seasoning: You can substitute plain oregano, or make your own Italian seasoning by mixing oregano, dried basil, and thyme.
- Salt
- Pepper
VARIATIONS: Try different stuffings!
- Try adding a teaspoon of pesto to each chicken breast before stuffing them.
- Instead of mozzarella, you can also try filling the chicken with provolone or Monterey jack cheese.
INSTRUCTIONS
This section shows how to cook tomato and mozzarella stuffed chicken 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.
PREHEAT THE OVEN: Preheat oven to 350ºF.
PREPARE AND SEASON: With a sharp knife, cut down the center of the breast, lengthwise. Combine the salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Pour 1 teaspoon of sun dried tomato oil over each breast. Rub it around. Then sprinkle with seasonings. Rub all over inside and out of each breast.
STUFF AND CLOSE: Put 2 thin slices of tomato, one slice of mozzarella cheese, 3 basil leaves and 2-3 teaspoons of sun dried tomatoes(without oil) into each breast. Close the breasts with toothpicks.
🔴 TIP: Poke toothpicks into the chicken to close after stuffing. The toothpicks should be at a 45 degree angle and poke in and out of the chicken on the cut side to keep it closed while cooking.
SEAR IN SKILLET: In an ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the chicken, cooking just to sear each side. About 4 minutes on each side. Add balsamic glaze to the pan around the chicken. Turn the chicken to coat in the glaze.
🔴 TIP: Divide chicken before searing. If all 4 chicken breasts don’t fit into the pan at first, put 3 in. After turning once they will have shrunk in size enough to put the 4th into the pan. You can remove the other 3 for a moment so they don’t cook longer than the 4th.
COOK IN THE OVEN: Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken has reached 165°F and the cheese has melted.
🔴 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. Smaller breasts may need to be removed before larger breasts.
FINISH: Remove the toothpicks and drizzle with the pan juices. Garnish with basil chiffonade.
RECOMMENDED TOOLS
Ovenproof Skillet – An ovenproof pan works well for this recipe as it goes right from the stove into the oven. If you don't have one, transfer the chicken to a baking dish before putting it into the oven.
HOW TO MAKE TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA STUFFED CHICKEN AHEAD
In order to speed up preparation time you can prepare the chicken by cutting the slits and seasoning the meat with sun dried tomato oil and spices. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
You can also prepare the filling by making stacks of tomato slices, mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes and basil. Put the filling stacks on a plate and cover with foil. Make sure you keep the filling unseasoned, because otherwise the tomatoes will release their juices.
TIPS FOR THE BEST CAPRESE STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST
Follow these tips to make the best tomato and mozzarella stuffed chicken.
✔️ Use small to medium chicken breasts. If the chicken breast is too thick it will take longer to cook. For thick chicken breasts, pound flatter with a meat tenderizer after cutting the slit.
✔️ Use fresh mozzarella slices. We do not recommend using low moisture mozzarella for this recipe.
✔️ Slice your tomatoes thinly.
✔️ Sew the chicken closed with a toothpick after it is stuffed. The toothpick should be at a 45 degree angle and poke in and out of the chicken on the cut side to keep it closed while cooking.
✔️ Check the temperature of the chicken, 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. Smaller breasts may need to be removed before larger breasts.
STORAGE TIPS
Refrigerate: Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container or ziploc bag in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Reheat: You can slice up the cold caprese stuffed balsamic chicken and use it to make a sandwich with crusty white bread. Add some arugula salad and a drizzle of pesto and enjoy! To reheat, simply pop in the microwave or put back into the oven until heated through.
Freeze: We do not recommend freezing this dish, as the tomatoes loose their texture in the freezer.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH BALSAMIC CHICKEN
Serve tomato and mozzarella stuffed chicken breasts with jasmine rice, or a healthy side dish, such as a crunchy salad. We especially love Italian salad or Greek salad with caprese chicken breast. Or if you prefer to make your side dish in the air fryer, check out our air fryer carrots with balsamic glaze and air fried broccoli.
Copycat lion house rolls are also a great addition to oven baked balsamic chicken, because you want to mop up all the tasty pan juices.
MORE CAPRESE RECIPES
If you love love caprese stuffed chicken breast you'll enjoy our fresh caprese salad, caprese stuffed portobello mushrooms, juicy caprese chicken thighs or mouthwatering caprese pizza.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
For perfect results every time, here are answers to the most common questions about cooking mozzarella stuffed chicken.
Yes. You can also stuff chicken thighs by putting the filling under the skin of the thighs. Have you tried our scrumptious caprese chicken thighs recipe?
While the balsamic reduction adds a ton of flavor to this dish, it is also totally fine to skip it. Simply transfer the chicken to the oven and baste with pan juices. If you like, you can drizzle the chicken with pesto when it comes out of the oven.
Insert a food thermometer at the thickest part of the chicken and make sure the inside temperature has reached 165ºF. Be careful to insert the thermometer only into the meat and not into the filling to get a correct reading.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts - small to medium sized
- 2 medium sized roma or vine ripe tomatoes - thinly sliced
- ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
- 4 slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- 12 basil leaves
- 4 cloves of garlic - minced
- ¼ cup balsamic glaze
- 2 tsps Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
With a sharp knife, cut down the center of the breast, lengthwise. Cut about ¾ of the way through the breast, starting on the thickest side.
In a small bowl, combine the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
Pour 1 teaspoon of sun dried tomato oil over each breast. Rub it around, including inside the cut.
Sprinkle with seasonings. Rub all over inside and out of each breast.
Inside each breast, put 2 thin slices of tomato, one slice of mozzarella cheese, 3 basil leaves and 2-3 teaspoons of sun dried tomatoes(without oil).
Close the breasts by poking 4 toothpicks into the top of the chicken diagonally and through to the bottom.- In an ovenproof skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil (olive oil, avocado oil or sun dried tomato oil).
Once the oil is hot, add the chicken, cooking just to sear each side. About 4 minutes on each side.
Add balsamic glaze to the pan around the chicken. Turn the chicken to coat in the glaze.
Transfer the pan to the oven. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until the chicken has reached 165°F and the cheese has melted.- Remove the toothpicks and drizzle with the pan juices.
Garnish with basil chiffonade.
Notes
- If all 4 chicken breasts don’t fit into the pan at first, put 3 in. After turning once they will have shrunk in size enough to put the 4th into the pan. You can remove the other 3 for a moment so they don’t cook longer than the 4th.
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