Tomato Basil Chicken – Would you make this chicken dish if I say just three things? Super easy, super quick and super delicious!! It’s actually quite brilliant and good looking too!!
Those gorgeous looking cherry tomatoes in a slightly buttery-orangey sauce with hints of basil are just too good on otherwise plain chicken breast. The perfect answer to end a rather busy day is this Fast Flourish!!
I get you my readers, life is fast and demanding. I get it every single day. I thought life as a stay home mom would be a breeze, taking a break from my gypsying lifestyle, living out of suitcase for months at a time. Well, quite the opposite!!
After being a full time blogger for nearly two months, 24 hours doesn’t seem like nearly enough time for my never ending to do list. Besides doing regular mom things, maintaining a food blog is quite challenging, from conceptualizing to writing to cooking to shooting to editing to posting to optimizing… wow!
After days in and days out of cooking, sometimes I just want something a little simper and little kinder. And I don’t mean cooking some ramen, I still want some great taste, but one that is possible in less than 30 minutes. So here is one of those…
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What is Tomato Basil Chicken?
That title could fit a lot of very different recipes! I could have called this one orange tomato basil chicken, as there is a good amount of orange marmalade to make that yummy, citrussy-tomatoee sauce, but I decided to keep the name as simple as the dish.
As you can see, I have used those lovely heirloom cherry tomatoes. By now you must know I am absolutely, head over heels, in love with them. Every time I go grocery shopping I veer towards those baby tomatoes. I just love the stunning array of colors and the unique flavors of them.
These small, round guys with their thin skins squirt juice all over when you bite them. They are super sweet and have a high water content. Whenever I can, I try to use these beauties in my GypsyPlate recipes. As you can see, they add a glamour factor to your foods, in addition to being so flavorful.
When a dish is as simple as this, these tomatoes exude a freshness and vibrancy. You can always replace cherry tomatoes with whatever you have available, but if you can get a nice heirloom variety the taste will be elevated.
Ingredients Needed
This uses some very basic pantry staples…
- Chicken – Usually I steer towards thighs, but for this recipe I am using butterflied breasts.
- Cherry Tomatoes – Yum!
- Fresh Basil – My favorite herb.
- Orange Marmalade – For a nice touch of sweetness.
- Butter and Olive Oil – For frying the chicken.
- Salt, Pepper and red wine vinegar – To complete the flavors.
Tomato Basil Chicken Recipe
1. Prepare the chicken: Place each chicken breast flat on a cutting board and slice horizontally all the way through, into cutlets.
Season generously with salt and freshly cracked pepper.
2. Sear chicken: Melt some butter, along with olive oil, in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken cutlets and sear for about 5 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove them to a plate.
3. Create the sauce: In the same pan, I add more butter and half the portion of halved tomatoes and sauté for a few minutes, scraping all the good brown bits left by the chicken into your mixture, this builds a yummy sauce.
Next I add in 3-4 Tbsp of water and stir in orange marmalade and vinegar and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously, until the tomatoes starts bursting and sauce begins to thicken. Then I toss in remaining tomatoes and cook for a couple of more minutes or until thoroughly heated. Lastly I add in basil, salt and pepper to taste.
This method has half the tomatoes thoroughly cooked and the other half almost fresh and crunchy. If you like a saucier consistency, cover and simmer over low heat for up to 10 minutes once you add the second half of the tomatoes. I like this sauce chunkier and fresher myself.
4. Serve: Top each chicken generously with the tomato basil sauce.
Serving Suggestions
I like to pair this chicken with some pearled couscous and top with my favorite cheese, like goat cheese or feta. It also goes great with spaghetti or even zucchini noodles, if you’re watching carbs… The choice is yours! All I promise is a yum, quick and easy dinner!
Leftovers
If you have leftovers, they keep beautifully! Store the chicken and sauce together in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3–4 days. Reheat gently in a skillet over low heat or in the microwave, adding a splash of water to loosen the sauce if needed. I don’t recommend freezing this one—the fresh tomatoes lose their texture once thawed.
There you have it, friends, one seriously quick and delicious dinner. Let me know you’re favorite ways to serve it, I love hearing from you!
Tomato Basil Chicken, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!!!
More 30-Minute Chicken Dinners
Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce
Kung Pao Chicken
Easy Creamy Chicken Skillet
Chicken Schnitzel
Qdoba Chicken
Chicken Stroganoff
Grilled Chicken Tacos
Recipe Video
Tomato Basil Chicken
Tomato Basil Chicken — juicy seared chicken with a buttery tomato-basil sauce and a hint of orange marmalade. Easy, fresh, and ready in 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 1.5 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 tablespoons orange marmalade
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup fresh basil
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper.
- Melt 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and cook 5 minutes per side, until slightly browned. Remove to plate and set aside.
- Lower heat to medium-low, add remaining butter to pan. Once melted, add half of the cherry tomatoes. Scrape up browned bits from the chicken and mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes.
- Add 3-4 tablespoons water, vinegar, orange marmalade and remaining cherry tomatoes. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper to taste, along with basil.
- Serve tomato mixture over chicken.
Notes
- I like a fresh tomato flavor, but if you prefer it a bit saucier cover the pan after adding all tomatoes and simmer 10 minutes.
- Goes great over pearled cous cous, but for a keto friendly option goes well with zoodles!
Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 321Total Fat 13gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 117mgSodium 1307mgCarbohydrates 11gFiber 1gSugar 9gProtein 38g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former worldwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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Only 2 months in as a full time blogger? I’m impressed. I’m quite enjoying your articles. Your photos are mouth watering. I have already saved quite a few and are on my “ to try” recipe list. Thanks! Keep up the great work
Hi Janet. This is a very old post, GypsyPlate will be turning 5 years old in August. My husband has even been on the team full time for over 2 years!
I made this dish tonight. I am amazed at the flavor of the tomatoes with the orange marmalade. It is outstanding and I would never have thought of putting them together. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us!
We are glad you enjoyed these simple yet delicious flavors..I get amazed at all the times when I throw in some strange flavors together and come up with a winner. I just made this Tomato Basil Chicken for my YouTube Channel and will post there soon. Check out our new Youtube and there are many recipes with step by step instructions coming there every week.