Will a sheet pan work instead of a skillet?
Yep – it sure will! Just make sure to use a sheet pan with a lip around the edges so the juices from the chicken and tomatoes don’t make a mess. We chose to use an oven-safe skillet, mostly because it looks prettier for photos, but a sheet pan will work just as well! You can even line it with parchment paper to make clean up that much easier.
What would you serve with this chicken skillet dinner?
You can really pair this oven-baked chicken caprese with any roasted veggies, whatever you have on hand. We really enjoy it with asparagus and/or cauliflower rice. If you’re going to roast anything, you can also add the leftover artichoke hearts to your pan. We just threw them on a pan with some asparagus, avocado oil, sea salt and pepper and roasted for the last ten minutes the chicken was cooking. Super easy and tastes great with this chicken breast dinner.
Easy Oven-Baked Chicken Caprese
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp (1 tbsp) avocado oil
- 2 (2) chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise, (or 4-5 chicken thighs)
- 1/2 tsp (1/2 tsp) sea salt
- 1/2 tsp (1/2 tsp) ground pepper
- 1/2 cup (124 g) pesto, (see below)
- 1 package (1 package ) buffalo mozzarella , (~5 oz. optional, can sub regular mozzarella if tolerated or omit for strict Paleo + Whole30)
- 4 small (4 small) tomatoes, (roma or small heirloom would be great, cherry tomatoes would work too)
- balsamic vinegar, to taste
For the pesto:
- 1/4 cup (33.5 g) raw unsalted sunflower seeds
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) nutrtional yeast
- 3 cloves (3 cloves) garlic, peeled
- 1/2 can (1/2 can) artichoke hearts, (14.5 oz can)
- 1 (1) lemon, juice of
- 15 leaves (15 leaves) fresh basil, (plus more for topping)
- 3 cups (90 g) fresh spinach
- sea salt and pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup (108 g) olive oil, (or avocado oil)
- water, (to thin out sauce to desired consistency)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit, grease an oven safe skillet with avocado oil and prep chicken as noted. A sheet pan with a lip would work too. Just line it with parchment paper to avoid sticking.
- Place chicken breast or thighs in greased skillet and season with salt and pepper. Place in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes.
- While the chicken cooks, make the pesto sauce. Add sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast, garlic, artichoke hearts and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until combined.
- Add the fresh basil and spinach. Stream the olive oil (or avocado oil) in while the food processor runs until the consistency is smooth. You can add water to thin the sauce out more if desired.
- Also while the chicken is baking, slice tomatoes and cheese. When the chicken has about 10 minutes left, add cheese and tomatoes to skillet, topping each piece of chicken with a few slices. You can add extra tomatoes to the pan as well if desired.
- Return skillet to the oven to cook for the remaining 10 minutes. Once done remove, drizzle with pesto sauce and balsamic vinegar, and top with fresh chopped basil. Enjoy with a side of asparagus or any other roasted veggies or cauliflower rice. We roasted asparagus and the extra artichoke hearts.
Notes
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This was a delicious recipe and thumbs up on the quick make! Definitely bookmarking and will be making again!
We love hearing that you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to leave a review. We appreciate hearing from you. 🙂
My whole family loved this recipe. To quote my wife, “you can make this again anytime.” I made double the pesto with half the oil because I don’t like oily pesto, it turned out delicious and we have leftovers for lunches this week. Thank you for your easy wonderful recipes!
You’re very welcome Kellie, thank you for the great review 🙂
YUM. Easy and delicious!! Definitely a keeper.
Thanks Alyssa, glad you enjoyed the recipe!