Chicken marinated in balsamic brown sugar sauce, baked with tomatoes and topped with melted mozzarella and basil. This Brown Sugar Caprese Chicken is a quick weeknight meal that is full of flavor!
On Being MIA
If you follow my blog, you’re likely used to me posting two or three recipes a week. So, you may be wondering why there have not been very many posts recently. I promise I have not given up on sharing! The past month has been hectic with house remodeling, a never ending cold, and trips – so I have gotten a bit behind. The next few weeks are quite hectic as well, so there may be fewer posts than usual, but I promise there are plenty coming!
House Remodel
We’ve been doing lots of little changes around our house, especially in our kitchen. Nothing major, more like redecorating instead of remodeling. But, we had our floor replaced and an island built for the kitchen, so we had to be out of it for a few days. That made it tough for cooking.
The day our island was being delivered, I only had an hour or so to make dinner between work and the island delivery. So, I needed something quick.
Brown Sugar Caprese Chicken
I had previously tried out some skillet Caprese chicken, and although it was good, I wanted to kick it up a notch. Given that it was quick to make, it fit the bill for what I needed the island delivery night.
I decided to make the chicken with a brown sugar balsamic sauce, cook it in a skillet until the tomatoes bilstered, and top it with fresh mozzarella and basil. Those little changes definitely did the trick for making this meal delicious!
Here are a few tricks to help ensure success with this recipe:
- It’s pretty to have your cheese brown, but don’t let the cheese broil for too long, or you’ll overcook the chicken. Any melted cheese tastes great!
- Place your skillet on a large baking sheet or baking mat in the oven as when the tomatoes blister, they will likely pop a little bit of tomato juice into your oven.
- When you’re broiling, do NOT leave the oven door open enough for any of the juice to fly out. Trust me, it burns.
Brown Sugar Caprese Chicken
Ingredients
- 3-4 large chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella
- ~1/4 cup fresh basil cut into silvers
- balsamic reduction to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally so that each piece of chicken is about 1/2 inch thick. Note: If you only have one large cast iron skillet, you will likely only be able to fit 6 chicken pieces (3 breasts). If you have another skillet or want to do two batches, this recipe will work for 8 chicken pieces (4 breasts)
- In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, dried oregano, and thyme. Evenly coat both sides of each piece of chicken.
- Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sear on each side for about 1 minute, or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from skillet after it has been seared.
- Turn heat to low and melt butter. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Stir in balsamic vinegar and brown sugar. Once will combined, add chicken. Spoon sauce over chicken so that both sides of chicken are coated.
- Spread tomatoes evenly around chicken. Cover skillet with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Remove from oven and cover each piece of chicken with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Turn oven to broil. Return skillet to oven and broil until cheese is melted and tomatoes have blistered, about 3 minutes. NOTE: Tomatoes will likely spread out juice as they pop. Place skillet on a large baking sheet or baking mat in oven. As you broil, keep oven minimally open to prevent getting sprayed with hot tomato.
- Remove skillet from oven. Serve chicken with juices from pan and tomatoes. Top with fresh basil and balsamic glaze.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.
If you enjoyed this Brown Sugar Caprese Chicken, you might enjoy these other SugarSpicesLife recipes:
Prosciutto Caprese Skillet Pizza
Skillet Bacon Cheese Rolls
Chimichurri Chicken and Rice
Brown Butter Chicken and Vegetable Orzo
Links to items used to make this recipe:
Every bit as good as the photos look! As we get older, my husband doesn’t do as well with beef dishes. So nice to be able to fix this chicken dish for him. Nothing boring or repetitive about it. Love it!
That’s great, I’m so glad y’all enjoy it – thank you!