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Bruschetta Chicken

This Bruschetta Chicken is an easy and healthy dinner recipe with juicy chicken breasts baked in a balsamic sauce with mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, and basil. A buttery panko topping adds the perfect crunch to this delicious dish!

Be sure to serve this with a side of greens and beans!

Bruschetta Chicken in a skillet with Balsamic sauce, diced tomatoes, and basil.

Bruschetta Chicken

This is quite possibly the most refreshing and flavorful way to enjoy chicken, my family goes crazy for this recipe!

First, the chicken is marinated in Italian Dressing and then seared to create a golden crust on the outside. It’s then smothered in the most flavorful Balsamic sauce and topped with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Fresh tomatoes are sprinkled over the top, along with an optional addition of buttery panko breadcrumbs to complete the Bruschetta theme! 🥖🍅🌿

Top it off with fresh basil, and you’ve got yourself a meal with the most amazing flavor profile!

How to Make It

See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Marinate the chicken in Italian salad dressing for 20 minutes. Sear in olive oil until golden on each side, set aside.

Deglaze the pan with white wine (or chicken broth), let it reduce by half. Add butter and garlic. Add the sauce ingredients and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Seared chicken on a plate next to a skillet with balsamic sauce being made.

Bring the sauce to a boil and stir in a cornstarch slurry until thickened, remove from heat. Add the chicken back and spoon some sauce over it.

A skillet with balsamic sauce next to a skillet with chicken and sauce spooned on top.

Top with shredded mozzarella, parmesan, and diced tomatoes. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes. Garnish with basil and serve!

Bruschetta chicken with cheese and tomatoes before and after being baked.

Optional: Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and add panko breadcrumbs. Stir continuously until toasted, 2-3 minutes. Remove from hot skillet and sprinkle over serving plates for added flair!

What to Serve With Bruschetta Chicken

Pro Tips

  • Wine: Pinot Grigio is the best wine to use in this recipe, followed by Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc. Chicken broth can be used if you don’t cook with wine.
  • Whole milk/low moisture mozzarella melts best in this recipe.
  • Shred the cheese from a block, it will melt and taste much better than pre-shredded. I use Dragone mozzarella and Belgioioso parmesan
  • The mustard powder and Worcestershire sauce are flavor enhancers that you can’t taste outright.
  • I use Olive Garden Italian Salad Dressing for the chicken marinade. (I have a homemade version of this dressing as well!)
  • I use Pompeian Gourmet Balsamic Vinegar for the sauce.
  • Finely diced red onions make a great addition to the baking dish as well.

Storage

  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover chicken can be frozen with the sauce. The tomatoes can be included but don’t hold up quite as well upon reheating.

A plate of Bruschetta Chicken with melted cheese, diced tomatoes, and basil.

Tools For This Recipe

(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.

  • 3.5 quart Braiser– This is the skillet I used that’s pictured in this recipe. It’s the perfect size for this and is what I use for many of my casseroles, pastas, and chicken dishes. 
  • Meat Tenderizer– This makes the meat much more tender.
  • Box Cheese Grater– Freshly shredded cheese melts and tastes much better than packaged shredded cheese. 
  • Rubbermaid Containers with lids– I always use these to combine my corn starch + cold water.
  • Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts of broth.

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Bruschetta Chicken in a Balsamic sauce with diced tomatoes and fresh basil.

Bruschetta Chicken

5 from 9 ratings
This Bruschetta Chicken is an easy and healthy dinner recipe with juicy chicken breasts baked in a balsamic sauce with mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, and basil.

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • Salt/Pepper
  • ½ cup Italian salad dressing, see notes
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup dry white wine, can sub chicken broth. See notes.
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ¾ cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • Fresh basil leaves

Sauce

  • 2/3 cup chicken broth
  • ½ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch + 2 tablespoons cold water

Optional Topping

  • 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Prep Work

  • Slice the chicken in half lengthwise to create 2-3 thinner slices. Place in a gallon freezer bag (or in between saran wrap) and use the textured side of a meat mallet to pound it to ½ inch thick. Pat dry.
  • Sprinkle lightly with salt/pepper. Place the Italian dressing in a gallon freezer bag and add the chicken. Remove excess air from the bag and seal. Let it marinade at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  • While the chicken marinates, combine all sauce ingredients EXCEPT for the cornstarch/water and set aside. Measure out remaining ingredients.
  • Preheat oven to 400°F.

Sear the Chicken

  • Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and sear it in batches for 3-4 minutes per side, until a golden crust has developed. Set aside.

Make the Sauce

  • Clean any black spots from the skillet but leave the brown “fond” as this adds flavor to the sauce. Add the wine to the skillet over medium heat and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the skillet. Let it reduce by half, 3-4 minutes.
  • Melt the butter, then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  • Add the combined sauce ingredients. Let it simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch + cold water in a small container with a lid and shake to combine.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil and stir in the cornstarch mixture until thickened and combined, then remove from heat. (If it thickens more than you’d like, stir in a little chicken broth. You also don’t have to add all of the cornstarch mixture)

Assemble and Bake

  • Transfer the sauce to a 9 x 13-inch baking dish if your skillet isn’t oven safe.
  • Add the chicken to the sauce along with any juices from the plate. Spoon a little sauce over the chicken and top each piece with the mozzarella and Parmesan, then sprinkle with diced tomatoes.
  • Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
  • Garnish with fresh basil. Additional garnish options include chopped parsley, finely shredded Parmesan cheese, and freshly cracked pepper.
  • Optional: Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat and add panko breadcrumbs. Stir continuously until toasted, 2-3 minutes. Remove from hot skillet and sprinkle over serving plates for added flair!

Notes

Pro Tips

Storage
  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover chicken can be frozen with the sauce. The tomatoes can be included but don't hold up quite as well upon reheating.

The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe, the optional Panko breadcrumb topping is not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 39g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0.3g, Cholesterol: 130mg, Sodium: 821mg, Potassium: 769mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 25g, Vitamin A: 746IU, Vitamin C: 15mg, Calcium: 258mg, Iron: 2mg
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20 comments on “Bruschetta Chicken”

  1. Made this tonight. Didn’t have enough fresh cherry tomatoes so I used the leftover half of a can of tomatoes I had in my freezer instead. Delicious!

    • Nice work Jenn! I’m so happy you liked it! This is one of my favorite recipes for when I have garden fresh tomatoes. Thanks so much for the great review!💖

  2. This is one of my favorite recipes… super easy to make and the flavor is unmatched. A staple in our house! Freezes well too.

    • I agree, it really does freeze well! I was pleasantly surprised when served frozen leftovers to my husband. He said it was as good as the day I made it. Thanks for the great review Alexandra!💗

  3. Happy Easter Stephanie! Oh my goodness!  You were SO RIGHT!  This IS a hidden GEM!  I knew I’d love this. It has my name ALL OVER IT!  But, my husband and son both LOVED this recipe as well!  It’s perfection! There were no leftovers!  It got RAVE reviews. Beyond delicious!  If you haven’t tried this recipe, you NEED to!  We have a new dish to add to dinner rotation now. Easy and SO SO Amazing!  Thank you Stephanie for sharing your recipes. You’ve changed up our weekly menus and I will return to keep making more of your recipes. ALWAYS a pleasure! I hope you’re enjoying your weekend! 

    • Thanks so much for the great comments and review Amy, this makes me so happy! I love that it was such a hit with you husband and son. Extra happy to hear your weekly menus has received a nice boost! Thanks again!💖

  4. This was a fantastic, flavorful and popular dish! I served this last night to family and it was a hit; comes with all the comfort fixings including marinated chicken, throw in some vegetables, add a delicious tangy sauce and top with CHEESE! I highly recommend. Love your blog too, by the way!

  5. Absolutely delicious. An excellent dish if you are having guests. Sure to impress.

    • I’m so happy to hear that Lori! I feel like this is a hidden gem on the blog, I absolutely love it, thank you for taking the time to leave a review! I really appreciate it! -Stephanie

  6. Family loved it! Thank you for the extra tips and tricks!

  7. What a wonderful way for me to use my garden fresh cherry tomatoes!!!! I made this last night to surprise my wife after a stressful few weeks. My wife had already made your version of the Olive Garden salad dressing; so that part was easy to marinate the chicken in. I followed your outlined instructions (I appreciated your photos) and I did decide to use the crunchy Panko on top. It was a nice touch! My wife was VERY surprised and loved it. I served it with mashed potatoes for a nice, home-cooked, comforting meal which we needed. Thank you so much. We will be eating this a lot!

    • I’m so happy this was such a hit Jeff! I agree, such a great way to use garden fresh cherry tomatoes! Thanks so much for the great comments and review!❤️

  8. Super good and easy to make! Will be making it again.

  9. The recipe was easy to follow and I followed it as recommended except used broth instead of wine. I think there’s enough sauce left over for another batch, so I’ll freeze it. My kitchen smelled sooo awesome!

  10. Wanting to make ahead of time –this morning, for tonights meal– can I do so, & proceed with bake in oven step later? And if so, increase baking time by how much?
    Thanks!

    • Hi Debra! Yes, you can definitely fully assemble this and then bake later tonight! I would cover it and bake it for 12-15 minutes, (ovens vary so you may know best on that one), then uncover and bake for the 12 additional minutes, or until your cheese is nice and melted!

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