Garlic Butter Tomato Baked Chicken with Mozzarella
The easiest garlic butter tomato baked chicken with mozzarella. It’s a one pan recipe that comes complete with roasted sweet balsamic tomatoes, cooked chicken with melty mozzarella and the most fantastic sauce for your quinoa, rice, pasta, or veggies!
Tomato Baked Chicken.
We’ve got a garlic – balsamic – butter tomato situation we need to discuss. It’s a little out of control at the moment because we’re not even in peak tomato season yet and I can’t stop, won’t stop with this tomato baked chicken recipe. And yes, this is just the first of many tomato basil balsamic sauces I’ll be making. And that brings to me to a critical point I’d like to discuss; it’s not actually a sauce. But more like tomato pan gravy?
Let me explain.
It is the most delicious pan sauce slash an entire serving of veggies that would be beautiful if you were to say, mop it all up with a hunk of crusty bread? There’s also quick baked chicken breasts and tons of melty mozzarella cheese to finish the whole thing off. As if those aren’t reasons enough on their own to give this recipe a go, here’s a little more music to your ears –
You only have to clean ONE dish.
This tomato baked chicken recipe is the kind of meal I love cooking for the two of us. It starts with simple ingredients that I usually have on hand and takes very little prep work to whip up. I have to say, judging from the popularity of my one skillet dinners, it’s pretty obvious, you guys prefer these kinds of meals too.
I’m going to be straight with you. Today’s tomato baked chicken recipe is a mash-up of a few different recipes I’ve already shared with you already. More specifically, my bruschetta chicken meets a Caprese salad meets my 30-minute mozzarella chicken. It’s the kind of food I think about late into the night while my head rests on my pillow just waiting to drift off to sleep. It’s a little bit of everything. You get a roasted tomato side, a spoon-slurp-worthy gravy, and of course tender chicken under a blanket of melty mozzarella cheese. A new addition to our chicken dinner recipes and I couldn’t be more stoked to share it with you!
Tomato baked chicken starts with chicken breasts. But as always, you can swap them for boneless, skinless chicken thighs as well if that’s more your thing. We’ll season them with ingredients that we’ve already got at home. A little olive oil, a splash of white wine vinegar, a few cloves of garlic and some dried seasonings. You can marinate for as little as 15 minutes and still achieve a great flavor!
I can’t get over how easy it is to put this tomato baked chicken together.
All you need are four chicken breasts to start. I had two huge ones hidden way in the back of my freezer, so I just sliced them up lengthwise. To marinate the chicken, I just tossed all the ingredients into a ziptop bag and gave it a good shake. In goes the chicken. Give it a quick massage to distribute the flavors. If you’re cooking this right away, let it hang out on the counter or if you’re making it later, just refrigerate until you’re ready.
While the chicken brines, we’ll toss together the ingredients for the tomato pan gravy. You can do this directly in your baking pan, I sure did! Again, humble ingredients that will yield a gourmet dinner you’ll be proud to serve dinner guests. You’ll need roughly three cups of sliced cherry tomatoes mixed with minced garlic, butter, balsamic, a squeeze of honey, chopped basil, dried thyme, and onion powder. When those tomatoes roast with the chicken you’re left with bright and sweet tomato juices that would be delicious drizzled over a bed or rice, pasta, or even some steamed veggies.
During the last 5 minutes, you’ll add shredded mozzarella to the top and pop the chicken back under the broiler just long enough for it to get warm and bubbly. You can make my tomato baked chicken recipe without the mozzarella too if you’d like. I’ve tried it in the past, and it’s still delicious. But personally, the mozzarella adds a cheesy little something to this dish!
Other cheeses that would work well here: provolone. My next best choice.
I serve my tomato baked chicken up with a little rice and a side salad, and both Anees and I drizzled that tomato pan gravy over the rice, and I even went as far as using a bit on my salad.
I couldn’t believe my mouth when I first tried this. Could simple ingredients make this kind of dinner?
It’s bright, sweet yet acidic and it is fresh as a good spring meal should be!
shop this post:
Garlic Butter Tomato Baked Chicken with Mozzarella
The easiest garlic butter tomato baked chicken with mozzarella. It’s a one pan recipe that comes complete with roasted sweet balsamic tomatoes, cooked chicken with melty mozzarella and the most fantastic sauce for your quinoa, rice, pasta, or veggies!
Ingredients:
Chicken Marinade:
- 1 tablespoons EACH: olive oil and white wine vinegar
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Balsamic Tomato Pan Sauce:
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons EACH: balsamic vinegar and melted butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil
- ½ teaspoon EACH: onion powder and dried thyme
- 1- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Directions:
- Marinate: Add all the ingredients except the chicken breasts into a zip top bag along with 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Seal the bag and shake until mixed. Add the chicken breasts, seal, and massage so the chicken is covered in the marinade, set aside for 10-15 minutes while you prep the remaining ingredients. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 425ºF.
- Balsamic Tomato Pan Sauce: Add all the ingredients except the mozzarella to an oven-safe baking dish, along with a big pinch of salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Move the tomatoes around the edges and place the chicken breasts in the center.
- Bake: Bake uncovered for 18-22 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked through. Add the mozzarella cheese to the chicken breasts and broil just long enough for the cheese to melt. Top with additional chopped basil or parsley and serve warm with crusty bread, pasta, rice, or steamed veggies!
Notes:
- Extra points for being lazy: you can melt the butter right in your baking dish before adding the remaining ingredients (as long as it is microwave safe!)
- I suggest shredding your own mozzarella for this recipe. Pre-shredded mozzarella didn’t yield such great results for me, unfortunately!
- You can marinate the chicken for up to 4 hours! Feel free to do this earlier in the day if you’d like.
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If you like this tomato baked chicken recipe, you might also like:
Garlic Butter Baked Chicken Breasts (20 minutes!)
Garlic Butter Baked Chicken with Mozzarella
![If you're planning the menu for the week, you need to put this garlic butter tomato baked chicken topped with mozzarella at the top of the list! It comes together in one pan complete with roasted balsamic tomatoes, cooked chicken, and melty mozz. All you really need is a scoop of cauliflower rice/ fluffy quinoa and a salad on the side!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Recipe can be found by searching google for "Little Spice Jar Tomato Baked Chicken" or by clicking the link in my bio @littlespicejar [https://littlespicejar.com/tomato-baked-chicken/]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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#littlespicejar #fwx #abmfoodie #thecookfeed #foodblogeats #foodandwine #tastingtable #heresmyfood #bareaders #thewayweeat #food52](https://littlespicejar.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Amazing!
Loved!! a little too much juice but chicken was tender
I have to watch sodium intake and the whole recipe was
Around 1000mg because of cheese. Which is only 250 per serving!
I wanted to know the carb and fibre value to this recipe, per serve.
Hi! I don’t have chicken breasts on hand.. just bone-in chicken thighs. Do I need to change the cooking time ?
Marzia, thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. Even with me baking the chicken little longer which made it dry, my husband loved it and wanted to drink up the souse.
I was wondering if I could make it in crockpot (so I could do thiswhile kids are napping 🙂 ) and broil in the oven? IF yes, how long to cook?
Thank you!w
I served it on pasta..my breasts were large so I baked longer..you just have to check,it’s delicious!I loved it!
My family loves this recipe! I love how simple it is to make. The last time I made it I didn’t have any cherry tomatoes so I used a can of diced tomatoes and had about 3/4 cup of crushed tomatoes that were left from another recipe. I always cut the breasts into serving size pieces to make it easier to serve. The subbed tomatoes made for a thicker sauce. I saved the leftover sauce to serve at lunch over pasta. So yummy!
Wow was this good! And I never bother to post reviews even if I like something. The garlic butter sauce is fabulous and you can put all of this dish over pasta. And so quick and easy to make!
This is Absolutely Delicious! So simple to make. I added Tricolored Peppers, Onions & Mushrooms. I did slice Peppers & Onion’s thinner, afraid they wouldn’t Cook. But Cooked Beautifully. Thank You for Sharing, Sending Recipe to My Sister.
My new Favorite! I’ve made it twice so far and telling all my friends. I used to make lemon butter chicken quite frequently but this has taken it’s place! Thanks for sharing
A great recipe, even when you discover it’s not a chicken breast that you’ve defrosted but hake! Honestly it did look like chicken…and not to self, label the items in freezer.
However, husband enjoyed it and ate fish that hadn’t been grilled or fried, so a plus all round. Looking forward to trying it keep with the right protein 😂
My family loves this recipe. Such a tasty dish. So yummy served over rice! Thank you!
I have made this delicious recipe several times and every time it gets rave reviews. Everyone who has tried it has asked for the recipe. Simple and elegant but great taste. Thanks. I am trying other recipes on your site and again great flavors. Thanks.
Love this dish!!!!! My fiance just made it for dinner it was amazing. We were wondering though of what way we can thicken the sauce?
Mix 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 Tablespoon of cold water. Stir until smooth. Whisk or stir into sauce. If it’s not thick enough after a few minutes, repeat the above.
God bless!
Can’t wait to try it! Quick question: I can’t have onion powder (but can have “real” onion, oddly), so how should I adjust the sauce so it’s still as tasty?
This is DELICIOUS. I’ve made it several times now for company and it always gets such rave reviews. I did add a step of cooking it in a big cast iron skillet so I could sear the chicken beforehand and then pop the whole thing in the oven. Man, those cherry tomatoes are little bites of heaven!
Hi,
This looks delicious !
can i make it on the stove top? Cook the chicken first and then add the tomatoes and sauce ingredients?
Ill be using bone in chicken.
It could work, I’m just not sure as I’ve only tried it the way written. I’d love to hear the results if you decide to give it a try!
This dish is A.MA.ZING. !!!!! I sliced 2 chicken breasts horizontally for a total of 4 pieces and was well done in 25 minutes. Also, I had only 1 cup of GRAPE tomatoes so chopped up one vine-ripened as well. I didn’t add thyme as every dish I’ve eaten that includes it tastes like mold to me. This is an excellent recipe to serve guests(s)!! I would have liked to spiralize zucchini and serve mixed with pasta, but didn’t have any on hand, so served atop Fusilli. Can’t wait to make it again 😊
I can’t even put into words how amazing this meal was. I wish I could eat it every day. Which I sort of have been doing for the last three at least (thank god for leftovers!!) I made a few small changes – I doubled the pan sauce recipe and put 2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp of balsamic glaze instead of 4 tbsp all of balsamic vinegar. I also accidentally put 2 tsp of onion powder – definitely didn’t hurt the final product though! so amazing. Will make weekly.
I never comment on recipes…. But I make this once a week. My husband calls it “yummy chicken”. The only thing different I do, is that I use chicken breast tenders instead of the whole breast. I also double the balsamic, honey, butter garlic mixture for the tomatoes because I love when I have extra “sauce”! Especially since I serve it over rice. Thanks for this recipe!
Amazing! I made it with dayia dairy free cheese and my family loved it! Thank you
A new family favorite!! Sauce is the best part!! So delicious!
Could I use tenderloins or thin chicken breast for this?
Yes, absolutely! Thinly sliced chicken breasts will just require a shorter baking time!
This chicken looks amazing! Going to try it during the week, I pinned it to remember too 🙂 I have to try it before it starts getting too hot out. It would be a perfect early fall dish too when it is cool enough for the oven and yet I still have cherry tomatoes in the garden!
The chicken breasts at the store here are always too big to cook in that time frame, but I will just add a little more time or cut them in half if I have to.
Hi Dawn! Glad to hear you’re gonna give this recipe a try! Yes, for larger chicken breasts I suggest splitting them in half lengthwise so that they cook in the time listed. Hope you enjoy it! 😊
Insanely delicious!! Little tip- add a little plain yogurt (2 TBSP- 1/4 cup) towards the end of cooking to stretch that delicious sauce!!
Delicious weeknight meal. I had Roma tomatoes on hand so I used those instead. I served with a side if sauteed spinach w/riced cauliflower and my husband lived it. Will definitely make again.
This was great! Easy and Delicious! Thank you
Great meal but 18-22 minutes in the oven at 425 is not long enough… you want to cook the chicken to a safe internal temp of 165 and that is just not enough time. However this dish was delicious and super easy to make!
I agree. Just took mine out of the oven and checked it with a thermometer and it wasn’t done in the center. I actually cooked it for like 25 minutes.
Probably our new favorite chicken recipe. So very simple and I kept thinking,”HOW is it this good??!” Served it over angel hair pasta.
Love love LOVE it. I’ve made this a couple of times now since neither me nor my partner can get enough. So delicious and easy, the chicken is so tender & the sauce is fantastic! Definitely going to be a regular for us.
Amazing recipe! My husband absolutely loved it and is already asking me to make it again! So easy and tasty. I used chicken tenderloins and they cooked in 14 mins.
Thank you for a wonderful recipe! This will definitely be on the menu at my next dinner party 🙂
We absolutely loved this dish, the flavor was amazing! I only used two chicken breast but forgot to cut the sauce in half..it was still so good. We served it with spaghetti squash and roasted asparagus with mushrooms! Looking forward to having the leftovers tomorrow.
Used four chicken breasts and two containers of cherry tomatoes. Somehow, the glaze came out to be liquidy and soupy so next time, I might try roasting the tomatoes and combining the glaze on the stove because it looks so delicious.
All of my kids ate this. All. Of. Them. The chicken was fork – cuttable. The flavors were rich without being heavy – the tomatoes were bright. Served over simple mashed potatoes. Divine.
What temperature do I bake it on?
This is delicious! I add two chicken breasts and double the balsamic pan sauce because we have some big eaters here! My husband and any company that has eaten this recipe loves it! We serve it with a salad and a side of Schwann rice pilaf. It is also super easy to make for lunches for the week and reheats well! Thank you so much for this recipe!
This was amazing! Is there a nutritional breakdown listed somewhere that I missed?
I just made this recipe tonight and it is absolutely a keeper!! I wish I would post a pic! It was quick, simple and looked and tasted like it took hours (but it didn’t!)
Quick, easy, and delicious! I had a 600+ g package of cherry tomatoes and used them all, so I made 1 1/2 x the pan sauce recipe. I grated a 340 g ball of mozzarella and used all of it. After adding the mozzarella, I baked the chicken for an additional 10 minutes before broiling. I served it with garlic bread. I will definitely make it again!
Absolutely amazing I used chicken thighs instead we prefer them over breast, would make this again so yummy.
This looks awesome! I would sere this with penne pasta. Looks delicious!
One of the best meals I have made! Was a huge hit!
Wow, this was absolutely delicious and so simple! Thank you for this recipe, it’s amazing! I will definitely be making this again soon.
I would not call myself a cooking pro, so I sometimes get a bit intimidated trying new recipes… However, this came out great! I will absolutely make this again. Thanks so much!
This recipe is so yummy!!! I made it tonight and my Husband said it was definitely a keeper!
This recipe is delicious! It’s now one of my mainstays.
Absolute delicious. Followed the recipe exactly except I marinated the chicken in the baking dish. Served with salad and orzo. Definitely will make this one again!
This was excellent ! We all loved it.
Only thing I would suggest is add to the baking time. The recipe says bake 18-22 minutes and I knew as soon as I read that , that it was going to take longer. It took 45 minutes for the chicken to be fully cooked. Unless the chicken is pounded paper thin, there is no way it would be done in the stated time in the recipe.
Agree – similar cook time. I think a lot of supermarkets cut and package chicken breast tenders in a way that makes them look like small chicken breasts, and this cook time would be appropriate for that. With full-size chicken breasts, my chicken was still half-raw at 22 minutes.
We absolutely love this recipe. Do you have a rough calorie count for this?
Excellent. I will make this again.
One of the most flavorful chicken recipes I’ve ever made!!! Fantastic-passed it on to all my family and friends!!
Really like this recipe. I will definately make it again. It was a very light weight healthy meal.
Loved the full on garlic and pepper taste.
This was an amazing recipe I kinda just made my own sauce because the sauce isn’t sweet enough for me but it was amazing. making it for the 2nd time time💛
This is so incredibly delicious! I made it last weekend when I was on my own for dinner one night and tonight I’m making it again for my husband. I’m excited to have it again, since I picked up fresh cherry tomatoes and a zucchini (for zoodles!) from the day farmers market yesterday!
I made this and it was fantastic! I plan on making it again but was wondering can I marinate chicken the night before?
I wouldn’t marinate it that far in advance as the acid in the marinade will actually start cooking the chicken. I think 8 hours would probably be the max if you really wanted to do it further in advance!
This recipe is AMAZING…the tomatoes should be bottles and sold…I can’t rave enough about this recipe…Enjoy!
I just made this for myself and my mom tonight. It was honestly one of the best dinners I’ve ever made. I mixed to tomatoes and sauce together with some pasta and it was unreal. I’m already excited to make it again!
This was delicious, I didn’t have a few items so I used white rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and Mexican cheese blend instead of mozzarella. I also used boneless skinless thighs because they’re cheap and in my opinion much more flavorful. I’ll definitely be making this again!
What harm comes of marinating it for more than 4 hours?
The acid will start to cook the chicken and it will have a very unpleasant texture.
Delicious recipe! My only complaint was that the ‘gravy’ was too watery.. maybe from the breakdown of the tomatoes when they cooked? Have you used a balsamic glaze instead? Just looking for a way to get a richer sauce.
I was wondering the same thing from reading the recipe. Wonder if the chicken is sort of poaching in all that cooking liquid?
I made this tonight and it was super yummy! I didn’t have any red pepper flakes so I used a teaspoon of chili garlic sauce that I had in the pantry. I also added a half of an onion to the tomatoes and no basil because we didn’t have any. I didn’t see the note about mozzarella until after I had already went shopping, but I used part skim shredded mozzarella cheese and it all came together beautifully. The dish was really delicious!
Greetings from South Africa! OH MY WORD, this recipe is so good. I made a few adjustments to suit what i had on hand; used jam tomatoes cut into the same size as the cherry tomatoes (which i had less of),
used 3/4 tsp of garlic powder per garlic clove (coz i’m lazy like that), added some thickly sliced onions and served it with steamed unseasoned pumpkin ( to cut down on the carbs. the tomato juice had plenty of flavour for the pumpkin).
I just loved how lightly flavoured this dish was and it all married together *drool*
Really good recipe. Added some mushrooms and olives. Was really yummy!! Will definitely repeat.
I don’t see that this chicken has butter in it???? Am I missing something?
The butter is mentioned under the ‘balsamic tomato pan sauce’ section in the ingredients. You’ll add it with the other ingredients in step #2.
Hi
Would I be able to use boneless skinless chicken thighs in this recipe.
Yes, boneless, skinless thighs would work. I think there’s a note about it in the text as well 🙂
So easy and so much flavor. Loved it. Served over quinoa and it was delicious. Definitely making it again and again
Is the pan sauce 2 tablespoons each of balsamic vinegar (chicken breast)? So a total of 8?
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar total for the pan sauce, same for the butter 😊
Hi Marzia
If one has to make the recipes for 8+ people. Does the Balsamic tomatoe pan sauce and chicken marinade need to double up?
As written it’ll feed 4 people. For 8 people I suggest doubling the ingredient quantities and you’ll need either a larger baking pan or you may want to bake it in two! Hope everyone enjoys it!
This was so good and SO easy to make! The majority of the ingredients are pantry staples, so I didn’t have to spend much on groceries. The chicken marinade was very flavorful, and the tomato sauce was SUPER tasty; I’d make that on its own to go with other dishes! I served it with warm, crusty bread and garlic and olive oil-sautéed spinach. My boyfriend loved it and went back for seconds. My only problem was that the chicken was underdone at 22 minutes, but maybe I used larger chicken breasts than you did. Either way, this is a recipe I’ll definitely go back to!
This was absolutely delicious! I sprinkled (the first portion) of chopped garlic on top of the chicken breasts during the marinade phase and all of those flavors really added some depth of flavor during cooking. I used red wine vinegar because that’s what I had on hand and chopped ripe tomatoes instead of the cherry variety. This will definitely be going into my rotation. It really was surprisingly good.
Absolutely amazing! This was a big hit. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Super easy recipe and oh my, delicious! Full of flavor. Making it now for the 2nd time. Great for meal prep!
Loved this recipe, but did change it up by using my immersion blender at the end to make more of a gravy – yum! Next time will make mashed potatoes with the sauce.
Do you dump the marinade in with the balsamic? Probably a dumb question but I’m making tonight and don’t want to mess it op.
You want to just place the chicken in the prepared baking dish and discard anything (marinade) remaining in the ziptop bag. 🙂
I made this and it was wonderful. I was a bit short on tomatoes, so I added some artichoke hearts to fill the dish (the non marinated kind) and it was perfect over rice. I agree with the comment about using non-preshredded cheese. I started grating my own cheeses a while back and it makes a significant difference in my dishes.
Absolutely delicious! Will make again for sure!
Looks yummy, but….my husband can’t process tomato seeds (he has diverticulosis). Any suggestions on a workaround. I am wondering if I could seed plum tomatoes and then cut them into pieces similar to the size of the halved grape tomatoes.
Yes, I think your substitute should work just fine here!
Plate-licking good. Literally, I did that.
This was one of those rare recipes that I pinned, and instead of immediately forgetting about it, I knew I had to make it in the next week. Well I had an all-around crappy day at work yesterday, and knew this was going to be my cooking therapy for the evening. SO easy, and definitely the best caprese-style chicken I’ve ever had. It actually perked me right back up and turned my day around. Thank you for this gem!!
Also, I subbed red wine vinegar for white, and agave for honey since those are what I had in my cupboard. No regrets, it was still amazing.
ThIs tasted great my husband loved it. I found the red pepper too much for me but loved the sweetness of the honey.
I was out of balsamic vinegar so I used balsamic dressing I also used buffalo mozzarella.
I will make again
I made this tonight and we all enjoyed it! Next time I will marinate the chicken longer. I served it with green beans and it was healthy and delicious.
I tried it today and loved it! I’m sure it will become a regular recipe for us 🙂
Made this for the first time tonight and my ever so picky 16 year old raved about it!! She said she wanted again this week! Great recipe! Thanks a bunch as it was easy to prepare and cook! A weeknight time saver, for sure.
Not sure where the butter goes in this recipe. In the title, but not the ingredient list or instructions. Going to make this tonight.
Hi Colleen, the butter is mentioned along with the balsamic vinegar (in bold). You would use it in step 2.
We had this tonight for dinner and it was FANTASTIC!
Thanks so much for a great recipe, the flavor of the tomatoes with the balsamic is incredible. By the way I used a good already shredded mozzarella cheese and it turned out perfect. However what I did do different was put it back in the oven to melt cheese instead of the broiler as my broiler is low and hard to get to on my stove!
I hope you dont get offended by people swapping out items but I used tofu instead of chicken. I served my husbands on toasted sourdough and had mine plain. We were both very happy. Delicious recipe.
Not at all, sounds like a great swap to make this vegetarian! I’m happy to hear you both enjoyed it! 🙂
This looks wonderful. I’d love to see a breakdown of the nutritional info. I’m a Keto gal, and I’d love to see how I could ‘Keto-ize’ this-or even see if it is necessary.
Hi Eileen! I don’t have the nutritional information off hand but if you plug the URL of this page into myfitnesspal.com it’ll calculate it all for you! Hope that helps!
Wondered if you made this keto and if so, what did you sub for the honey? If you omit it, would it still turn out?
Yummy…😉💙💚🧡