Get my Cookbooks! Balsamic Chicken
This Balsamic Chicken recipe is a FLAVOR bomb! It’s got a vibrant balsamic sauce with spinach, fresh fruit, feta, and crunchy candied pecans! It’s a delicious chicken dish that tastes like the fresh flavors of summer!
Be sure to try my Bruschetta Chicken, Peach Chicken, and Apple Pork Chops recipes next!
Balsamic Chicken
If you’re looking for a refreshing flavor explosion with all of the fresh flavors of summer, this incredible Balsamic Chicken recipe is it! It has a vibrant, tangy balsamic sauce with fresh spinach, juicy fruit, and savory feta cheese! Seriously- you can’t beat this combination of flavors, it’s like no chicken dinner you’ve had before.
Be sure to check out ALL of my pro tips below, including pairing suggestions, the best wines to use, and more!
How to Make It
Note: This is an overview. See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Cut the chicken in half and tenderize it with a meat mallet. Season with salt and pepper and sear in olive oil. Set aside. Deglaze the skillet with white wine. Add butter and garlic. Cook until the wine is reduced by half.
Add the sauce mixture and bring to a boil until thickened. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes to let the flavors meld. Add the spinach and let it wilt.
Add the chicken back and spoon the sauce on top. Heat through for a few minutes, then top with blueberries, strawberries, and feta. Serve with arugula, glazed pecans, and additional berries.
Pro Tips
- Make this with my homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette, or my favorite store-bought version is Marie’s Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc are the best dry white wines for this recipe. Non-alcoholic wine or chicken broth may also be used.
- The Dijon and Worcestershire sauce are flavor enhancers that you can’t taste outright.
- This dish makes a lot of sauce so be sure to serve it with some arugula on the side to drizzle on top as a dressing, along with additional berries, feta, and glazed nuts!
- Nuts: Glazed or honey roasted nuts are a must in this dish, they add a nice crunch and take the combination of flavors to the next level. Pecans and almonds are the best options, but walnuts or even peanuts will work as well.
- More Recipes with Fresh Fruit: Peach Cobbler, Apple Pork Chops, Blueberry Cobbler, Blackberry Cobbler, and Pineapple Fried Rice.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The chicken and sauce freeze well without the fruit and feta.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links*)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 12-inch Enamel Cast Iron Skillet– The perfect size for this recipe.
- Large Measuring Cup with a Spout -This is what I use to combine the sauce ingredients at the beginning.
- Kitchen Tongs– Makes it easy to handle the chicken when searing.
- Meat Tenderizer– This makes the meat much more tender.
- 8-inch Chef’s Knife– This is the one I have, I love it. (I also have/love this knife!)
- Cutting Boards- I love having assorted sizes. (One for the meat, one for the veggies, etc.)
- Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth/bouillon in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts of broth.
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Try These Next
-
- Apple Pork Chops
-
- Bruschetta Chicken
-
- Peach Chicken
-
- Thai Chicken Salad
-
- Italian Pasta Salad
-
- Chicken Milanese
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Tried This Recipe?
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Balsamic Chicken
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 2/3 cup balsamic vinaigrette
- ½ chicken bouillon cube
- 1 tablespoon honey, can sub brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon EACH: dried basil, oregano, onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
Chicken, Berries, Feta, etc.
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt/pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup dry white wine, see notes
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 ½ cups spinach, roughly chopped
- ⅓ cup blueberries, plus more to serve with salad/arugula
- ⅓ cup diced strawberries, plus more to serve with arugula
- ¼ cup Feta cheese, crumbled
For Serving
- Arugula
- Glazed pecans or almonds
Instructions
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a large measuring cup with a spout and set aside. (Make sure the liquid isn’t warm so that it doesn’t activate the cornstarch.) Measure out remaining ingredients before beginning.
- Slice the chicken in half lengthwise to create 2 thinner slices. Cover with saran wrap and use the textured side of a meat mallet to pound it to ½ inch thick. Pat dry and season each side with salt and pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken in batches for 4-5 minutes per side, until a golden crust has developed. Set aside.
- Turn the heat off. Add the wine and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the skillet, this will add more flavor to the sauce. Set the heat to medium and cook for 1 minute. Add the butter and garlic and cook until the wine is reduced by half, about 3 more minutes.
- Add the sauce mixture from step 1. Bring to a boil and let it thicken, about 2-3 minutes. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 4-5 minutes to let the flavors meld, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the spinach and let it wilt slightly, about 1 minute.
- Add the chicken back and spoon the sauce on top. Let the chicken heat through for 2-3 minutes. Top with berries and feta. Remove from heat and serve with arugula, glazed pecans, and additional berries.
Notes
- Make this with my homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette, or my favorite store-bought version is Marie's Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.
- Wine: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc are the best dry white wines for this recipe. Non-alcoholic wine or chicken broth may also be used.
- The Dijon and Worcestershire sauce are flavor enhancers that you can’t taste outright.
- This dish makes a lot of sauce so be sure to serve it with some arugula on the side to drizzle on top as a dressing, along with additional berries, feta, and glazed nuts!
- Nuts: Glazed or honey roasted nuts are a must in this dish, they add a nice crunch and take the combination of flavors to the next level. Pecans and almonds are the best options, but walnuts or even peanuts will work as well.
- More Recipes with Fresh Fruit: Peach Cobbler, Apple Pork Chops, Blackberry Cobbler, and Pineapple Fried Rice.
Storage:
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. The chicken and sauce freeze well without the fruit and feta.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. This recipe makes 4 servings.
Balsamic Chicken had me at Balsamic, a flavoring my husband and I both love. Once I made it, using the Cozy Cook tried and true approach to dividing chicken breasts into cutlets, browning them, and pouring sauce over them, I could not have been more thrilled. The sauce is savory-sweet and the addition of the fruit elements adds color and surprise when whole and/or diced berries appear in your mouth. But the real surprise here lies in the use of arugula, which I almost skipped being no fan of the green. Stephanie’s encouragement of its use is highly justified. The sweet sauce balances the bitter taste of the arugula, providing a contrast that was enlivening and delicious. Again the use of the berries adds sparkle to the “salad” and the glazed nuts (I used pecans) are a textural rush. For its flavor, color, texture, and taste, Balsamic Chicken is a crowning achievement!
Hey David!! I am SO thrilled that you loved the Balsamic Chicken! (And that you decided to go for it with the arugula!) Honestly, your vivid description of this dish has me wanting to make it again tonight! I love that you used every element, glazed pecans included, to get the full experience! Thank you SO much for your heartfelt, honest, and wonderful review! It made my weekend!! Your support means a lot. THANK YOU! -Stephanie
This was sooo good. We served it with a spinach salad on the side drizzled with this amazing sauce. My husband gobbled it up m, as did I! Thank you for this recipe!!
I’m soo happy to hear that Terese! That’s exactly how we serve it too, and my husband loves it as well, he always has an empty plate! Thank you so much for the review, I really appreciate it! 🙂 -Stephanie