This creamy Chicken Pomodoro recipe is a super simple, super fresh and super delicious dish! Serve it over pasta or as a main dish with veggies. The whole thing comes together in under an hour and the results are so good! You’ll love it!
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Is it just me, or do you constantly feel like you're googling recipes for chicken breasts.
I always seem to have them but I never know what to do with them!
But luckily, I've got the solution!
This chicken pomodoro recipe is beyond easy and it's so flavorful!
We've made it quite a few times in the last month and it keeps getting better.
Even my one year old, Poppy, devours it! She literally will finish her plate then steal the spaghetti noodles from mine to keep eating, It's the cutest thing ever!
And although this recipe is just for the chicken itself, there are a ton of ways to serve it.
Personally, we always go the pasta route because it's our fav.
But you could most definitely serve it as a main with a side of roasted broccoli and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Shoot, this would even be delicious served on a toasted ciabatta bun with a spoonful of burrata on top!
Honestly, the possibilities are endless. And since this is such a simple recipe, you really can't mess it up!
Let's get to it shall we?!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken Breasts - No real sub here since they're the star of the dish! I guess you could use pork cutlets though? I'd stick with the chicken lol.
- Garlic powder - This works best for browning chicken but you could also use any sort of all purpose chicken seasoning you have on hand.
- Black pepper - Fresh cracked pepper is my go-to but regular ole black or white pepper will work wonders!
- Olive Oil - Since this is an Italian dish, I recommend olive oil, but you could also use avocado or another neutral oil if you'd like.
- Onion - If you don't have onion, you could def use some chopped shallots.
- Red pepper flakes - Although a pinch won't make it spicy (trust me my one year old devoured this dish!), you can def leave it out if your'e scared!
- Cherry tomatoes - Grape tomatoes work too! I just would use a smaller tomato over a beefsteak if possible.
- Garlic cloves - Please for the love of god don't use the jarred minced garlic! It just does not taste the same!
- Crushed tomatoes - You could also use a a can of pureed tomatoes, a can of diced tomatoes or even the plum tomatoes that you crush in your hand!
- Heavy cream - You could def use unsweetened almond milk or a nut pod if you're not into dairy!
- Salty Butter - Regular unsalted butter will work just fine but add an extra pinch of salt to make up for it!
- Fresh Basil - Nothing like the real thing! If you absolutely must use dried basil, please add it in with the red pepper flakes so it has time to infuse in the sauce. But def don't top the chicken with the dried kind!
- Fresh Mozzarella Pearls - Any mozzarella will work! I just like these because they're aesthetically pleasing.
How to make Chicken Pomodoro
Making this chicken pomodoro recipe is a breeze!
The first thing you'll want to do is lay your chicken out for at least 30 minutes so it gets room temp. If you don't do this, you might get a weird, rubbery chicken texture!
Once the chicken is out, place the breasts in a medium sized bowl. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, pepper and olive oil. Toss until everything is coated and then set aside.
Now grab a large yet shallow heavy bottomed pan (such as an enameled cast iron braiser like the one I'm using!) and heat it over medium-high. Once it's hot, add olive oil.
Then add the chicken breasts and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until brown. They do not need to be cooked through at this point! They'll finish cooking in the sauce at the end.
Once the chicken is browned, remove it from the pan. Immediately add the diced onion, red pepper flakes and a little bit of salt and stir. You'll want to cook for 2-3 minutes while scraping up all the chicken bits in the bottom of the pan.
Now add the cherry tomatoes and a little bit more olive oil if needed!
Continue cooking until they begin to burst and blister then add chopped garlic. Cook it down for another 3-4 minutes until softened and fragrant.
You don't want it to be raw and spicy before the next step.
Then add in a can of crushed tomatoes, heavy cream, salted butter and half the basil leaves. Stir everything together then cook for 5 minutes over medium heat until simmering.
Now add in the chicken, cover and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 165F degrees.
Once the chicken is done, it’s time to serve. I recommend topping each piece with a few fresh mozzarella pearls and the remaining chopped basil.
What to serve it with
If I were serving chicken pomodoro for dinner, I would def pair it with boursin cheese pasta, truffle oil pasta or some tortellini alla panna!
You could also serve it with this strawberry goat cheese salad or this kale avocado and citrus salad.
Or do as I do and just serve it with some al dente pasta.
Save this recipe for later
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But if you don't use it yet - I highly recommend you try it out!
You can either follow me on pinterest for tasty inspiration shared daily or you could hover over any of these images and click the "pin it" or "save" button then save it to whatever board you'd like!
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Recipe
Recipe
Creamy Chicken Pomodoro
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1.2 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 10oz cartons cherry tomatoes about 21 oz total
- 10 cloves garlic minced
- 1 24 oz can crushed or pureed tomatoes
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup basil leaves loosely packed
- ½ cup mozzarella pearls **optional**
Instructions
- in a medium sized bowl, add room temp chicken breasts then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon pepper and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Toss until everything is coated and then set aside.
- Heat a large heavy bottomed pan (such as an enameled cast iron braiser) over medium-high and add 2 tablespoon olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until brown. They do not need to be cooked through at this point.
- Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and immediately add onion, red pepper flakes and a little bit of salt and stir - cooking for 2-3 minutes while scraping up all the chicken bits in the bottom of the pan.
- Now add the cherry tomatoes (and a little bit more olive oil if needed) and continue cooking until they burst and blister then add chopped garlic and cook it down for another 3-4 minutes until softened and fragrant.
- Then add in a can of crushed tomatoes, ⅓ cup heavy cream, 3 tablespoon salted butter and half the basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes until simmering.
- Add in the chicken, cover and cook for another 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Once the chicken is done, it’s time to serve. I recommend topping each piece with a few fresh mozzarella pearls and the remaining chopped basil.
