Caprese Chicken Zucchini Skillet with chicken breast and diced zucchini cooked in fresh tomato sauce, topped with melted fresh mozzarella cheese and garnished with basil.
For a low carb dinner, we also love this zucchini pizza skillet, chicken with tomatoes and of course crazy popular Tex Mex chicken zucchini recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Combining chicken and zucchini is one of my favorite summer dinners! This caprese chicken with zucchini and tomatoes skillet is no exception.
First, we make easy fresh tomato sauce with garlic, basil, and balsamic vinegar. Then we simmer cubed chicken and zucchini in it. Top it off with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, wait until it melts, and top with more fresh basil and freshly cracked pepper. To die for!
Kids and husband gobbled it up with spaghetti. And I enjoyed probably 1.5 servings on its own – only 17 grams of carbs per 2 cups serving! Winner, winner chicken dinner!
Making dinner in one skillet means less time washing dishes and more time enjoying summer!
Reader’s Review
Absolutely delicious! My husband, who is a great cook, is still raving about the sauce in itself. I put it over cauliflower rice. Definitely a keeper!
Amy Goldasich
Ingredients and Notes
Fresh is really best for this light and flavorful Caprese chicken, zucchini and tomato recipe!
- Chicken: Boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs cook time is a perfect match for delicate zucchini.
- Zucchini: Advice for summer – feel free to use dark green, light green, or yellow zucchini or squash. Doesn’t matter. Any fresh summer squash works in this dish! The color does not matter, but choose smaller, thinner squash that is uniform in size for a total of 2 pounds.
- Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes are the best as we cook them down into sauce. But you can also use 28 ounces of canned diced tomatoes (please drain them).
- Mozzarella cheese: It’s a soft log-shaped white cheese in brine with a milky-fresh taste. It’s traditional cheese with delicate texture and light taste used to make anything Caprese. Find it in the deli area of your grocery store with other Artisan cheeses.
- Basil: Fresh basil adds incredible flavor and dried basil wouldn’t be the same. Use fresh parsley, if you wish.
- Garlic: Fresh minced garlic is the best!
- Pantry staples: Balsamic vinegar for depth of flavor, dried oregano for Italian taste and salt/pepper to season.
Variations
- Diced onion: Add with garlic, I recommend to use red onion or white onion.
- Sliced mushrooms: Use brown mushrooms or white mushrooms and add with zucchini.
- Pesto: Stir in with zucchini, use homemade pesto or store bought pesto.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: Julienned or chopped sun-dried tomatoes, stir in with zucchini.
- Avocado: Sliced avocado could be added right before serving for extra creaminess.
How to Make Caprese Chicken Skillet
This recipe moves fast, so be sure to have all ingredients ready to go. Pick a large skillet, 12 – 14-inches wide, to cook this dish comfortably.
- Cook chicken and garlic: Cook chicken for about 5 minutes and push to the side. On the empty side, saute garlic in oil for 30 seconds. That’s why large skillet is handy!
- Cook tomatoes: Add tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil and salt over the garlic and simmer more. Tomatoes will cook down into fresh sauce. Make sure this part of the skillet is over the burner.
- Cook zucchini: Add zucchini, stir with chicken and sauce, cover and cook for 12 minutes. Do not peek in.
- Melt the cheese: Add cheese and cover to melt for 5 minutes. Again, do not peek in – let heat do its job.
Tips for Best Results
- Zucchini is ready when firm to the touch with a fork.
- Do not overcook zucchini, as veggies will become soggy and dish watery.
- If you don’t have fresh mozzarella, use shredded regular mozzarella cheese.
- No fresh basil? Use fresh parsley but not dried basil.
- Tomato paste adds a depth of flavor. You can skip it, the dish will be still tasty but a bit less flavorful.
Serving Recommendations
While this chicken with zucchini and tomatoes skillet could be considered a meal on its own for those enjoying lighter fare, a common question I get is “What can I serve with it?”.
Try the following options to feed your hungry family:
- Pasta: As a mom, I eat less carbs for dinner than my husband and boys. For them, I cook spaghetti and it becomes a true Italian dinner with Ukrainian twist.
- Low carb: Alternately, you could serve with spaghetti squash noodles.
- Salad: A fresh side salad really will capitalize on using summer produce in your meal. Make lettuce salad, spinach salad or even try grilled romaine.
- Potatoes: Again, when feeding hungry family members baked potatoes or mashed potatoes always fill them up!
- Grains: Serve over rice or quinoa to soak up the juices.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Refrigerate caprese chicken skillet leftovers in a glass airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
Do not freeze. Once thawed, zucchini will “leak” all liquid and become a mushy mess. If this recipe is too many servings for you, cut recipe in half and leftovers will keep well for next few days.
Reheat in a covered ceramic non-stick skillet on low-medium heat, for about 5-7 minutes. I wouldn’t add any liquid or oil to it at first and then “play it by ear”.
More Dinner Skillet Recipes to Try
- Pesto chicken and vegetables skillet
- Greek chicken zucchini skillet
- Ground turkey and zucchini skillet
- Chicken, zucchini and corn
- Basil cashew chicken
- Mediterranean chicken
- Chicken and zucchini noodles
Caprese Chicken with Zucchini and Tomatoes Skillet
Equipment
Video
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1″ cubes
- 2 pounds zucchini, cut in to 1″ cubes
- 9 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
- 7 garlic cloves, minced
- 1.5 pounds tomatoes, sliced
- 6 ounces can tomato paste, low sodium
- 2 tablespoons oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Handful fresh basil, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Preheat large skillet on medium heat and swirl 1 tablespoon of oil to coat. Add chicken, 1/4 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring once.
- Move chicken to the side of the skillet and keep empty part over the burner. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, garlic and saute for 30 seconds, stirring frequently.
- Add tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, oregano, 1/4 teaspoon salt and a handful of basil. Cook this "tomato pile" for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add zucchini, stir everything together, cover and cook on low-medium for 12 minutes.
- Lay mozzarella slices on top, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle more basil and ground black pepper on top. Serve hot, on its own or with spaghetti, Instant Pot brown rice or Instant Pot quinoa.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate covered for up to 3 – 4 days. To reheat simmer on low heat in a skillet for 5 minutes covered.
- To reheat: Simmer on low heat in a skillet for 5 minutes covered. If you use non-stick skillet you should not need any water or oil to reheat the dish as zucchini will release water.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
There’s nothing I love more than a one pan recipe where I can prep and clean as I go. And even my pickiest eater loved the chicken this way. I added tortellini too and was a huge crowd pleaser
That sounds like a total win – one pan, happy eaters, and tortellini too? Love it!
This dish was absolutely delicious! I added a little bit of crushed red pepper for an extra kit. My kids don’t even like zucchini that they loved this!
So happy you all enjoyed it—especially the kids! Love the crushed red pepper idea for a little kick! 🔥
We loved it! I cook zuchini in tomato sauce a lot, and we eat chicken a lot in different ways, but today I was looking for a recipe that included both together. My husband loved it and I will definitely make it again.!!!
Delicious! I added onion, mushrooms, and peppers as we are trying to eat more veggies! Thanks for sharing!
Fantastic additions! My pleasure.
I made this tonight with a few modifications. I only used 1 chicken breast, and 1 zucchini, but I added mushrooms, bell pepper, and an onion (also a couple dashes of red pepper flakes.)
It was AMAZING!!! Sooo delicious! It tasted like my fave (combo) pizza in a bowl.
Sounds delicious, Evie! I love hearing how you made this your own! Thank you for the rating!
Yummy recipe! I had a bit less zucchini, and had to use canned tomatoes. I did have basil. I also used shredded mozzarella. In spite of these adjustments, it was delicious. I’ll be making it again when our tomatoes ripen. Thanks for a great recipe!
This editions and changes are all great. I do the same and use what I have on hand. Glad you loved this caprese chicken zucchini skillet!
This was very tasty- I loved the zucchini/ basil/ fresh mozzarella combo (and so did my toddler)! But …. The tomato paste is overpowering in my opinion- so next time I will try either less paste – or sauce instead- this was delicious so I do want to try again with this tweak
Of course, make it your own. I’m so happy to read this! Thanks for your positive feedback!
I’ve made this a few times and it’s always great! This time I made it with pasta and stored the leftovers with the pasta together. I reheated with some extra pasta sauce and a dash of cayenne (I like my pasta to be a bit spicy) and it was just as good as freshly cooked!
Sounds amazing! Maybe try to store it without pasta so it doesn’t soak up the sauce.
Absolutely delicious! My husband, who is a great cook, is still raving about the sauce in itself. I put it over cauliflower rice. Definitely a keeper!
Oh, that’s so amazing to hear, Amy!!!
Don’t forget the balsamic!!! Great recipe and easy to make.
Glad you enjoy it, Courtney!