Caprese Chicken
One of my favorite things in the world is a classic caprese salad. It just hits all the rights notes— creamy mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, and the flavor of basil, all topped with a little zing from balsamic vinegar. 10/10. This chicken recipe takes those traditional flavors and translates it to a chicken entree! I made this chicken recipe at one point during the COVID lockdown last year because we had all the ingredients, and I’ve tweaked it a little since then to create the perfect main dish. If you don’t have an air fryer, don’t fret. This is still perfect pan fried on the stove! Just cook for 5 or so minutes on each side, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Caprese Chicken
2 chicken breasts, sliced in half long ways to create 4 thin pieces of chicken
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, or any seasoning of your choice
2 eggs, whisked
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
Cooking spray
1 medium tomato, roughly diced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced (could also use a shallot here, or really any onion)
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 tablespoon of olive oil* (this is approximate— I just “eyeballed” a drizzle)
1/2 cup pesto (I use Barilla jarred pesto from the pasta aisle at the store)
Mozzarella cheese for topping
Balsamic glaze for topping (I use store-bought here too! It should be located near the oil/vinegar at your supermarket)
*Note: When I made these for William and I, I cooked all four breasts, but only put toppings on 2 of them for us to eat immediately. I think they will save better if you just top the ones you’re going to eat immediately. If you want do repeat the meal for leftovers, reheat in the air fryer for 2-3 minutes, and then start at step 4. When I ate the leftovers, I actually just reheated it and ate it with honey mustard instead of redoing the caprese all over again. Keeping them plain allows you more freedom with your leftovers— and will prevent the panko from getting soggy!
Mix together your all purpose flour and Tony’s on a small plate or in a shallow dish. Whisk together your eggs (I add a splash of milk to mine) in a shall dish as well. Also add your panko to a shall dish. Set these up starting with flour, then egg, then panko.
One at a time, dip the chicken breast in flour, coating thoroughly. Next move the chicken to the egg wash, making sure it’s fully covered so that the panko sticks. Next, coat the chicken in panko breadcrumbs. Repeat this until you’ve done all four chicken breasts.
I cooked mine in my air fryer— place in 2 breasts at a time. Spray the top of the chicken with cooking spray (this is the secret to that “fried” golden color). Cook at 400 degrees in the air fryer for 8 minutes per side. Repeat with the other two chicken breasts.
Prepare a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray. Remove the cooked chicken from the air fryer and place on the prepared baking sheet.
First top chicken with a thin layer of pesto. Mix together the chopped tomato, onion, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Add after the pesto layer. Then add mozzarella cheese.
Turn your oven to the high broil setting and place the chicken under the broiler until the cheese is melted. Keep an eye on this— it should only take 1-2 minutes!
Top each chicken breast with a generous drizzle of balsamic glaze. Serve immediately!