Chicken and Tomatoes is a simple skillet with pan seared chicken breasts, fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil. Delicious, healthy summer dinner ready in 30 minutes!
We also love this caprese chicken and zucchini, Tex Mex chicken and zucchini and Mediterranean chicken.
As a busy mom, I’m always looking for super simple, low effort midweek dinner options like this chicken and tomatoes recipe.
I created this recipe one night in August and my family loved it. Just watch as your family cleans their dinner plates with this one skillet wonder!
Reader’s Review
Another Olena home run recipe…it was delicious! The vine tomatoes made a great sauce. We will be having this on repeat!
Amy
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Just 8 simple ingredients: Salt, pepper and oil included!
- Quick: A true 30 minute meal. You can cook your favorite grain as a side dish at same time.
- Very flavorful: The emphasis here is on fresh – ripe and juicy tomatoes, fragrant basil and garlic.
- Perfect for tomato season: When you have more than you can handle garden or farmers market tomatoes, this chicken recipe is the one to make.
- A crowd pleaser: Even self-proclaimed tomato haters love this tomato chicken!
Ingredients for Chicken and Tomatoes
- Chicken: I used 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into tenders. You could also use chicken tenderloin or chicken thighs but may need to slightly reduce or slightly increase the cooking time.
- Tomatoes: Ideally you want to use farmers market or garden and in-season ripe juicy tomatoes. You want them to be soft enough to make a sauce. You can use any variety or even a combination of any like beefsteak, roma, grape or cherry tomatoes. In winter, I recommend using tomatoes on the vine for the best results.
- Garlic: Avoid the questionable store bought garlic puree and use fresh garlic cloves.
- Seasonings: I used a combination of Italian herbs like dried oregano, salt and pepper. You can also use Italian seasoning.
- Oil: I used avocado oil. You could also use olive oil or another neutral cooking oil.
- Fresh herbs: Finely chopped basil or fresh parsley really adds to the fresh garden taste of this dish.
How to Make Chicken with Tomatoes
- Season the chicken breasts: First, cut the chicken breasts into chicken tenders and season with oregano, salt, and pepper. You can do this directly on the cutting board.
- Prep tomatoes and garlic: Peel and mince the garlic and cut the tomatoes depending on their size. For large tomatoes, I cut it into wedges, around 8 per tomato. For smaller tomatoes, like cherry tomatoes, you can chop them in half.
- Sear the chicken: In a large skillet over medium heat, add a little oil and sear half of the seasoned chicken pieces on one side until its edges begin to turn white. Then flip over and cook until golden brown, 4-5 minutes per side.
- Cook the tomatoes: Reduce the heat to low and add the garlic and oregano and lightly sauté for one minute, stirring regularly. Then add the tomatoes to the pan, season with salt and pepper, increase the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Assemble and serve: Once the tomatoes are cooked, turn off the heat. Add the chicken back to the skillet and sprinkle with fresh basil or parsley.
Tips for Best Results
- Experiment with the herbs and seasonings: Dried rosemary, dried thyme, Italian seasoning, or Herbes De Provence would all taste great.
- Use the freshest tomatoes you can: This chicken and tomatoes recipe is simple and relies on the tomatoes’ quality and flavor a lot. So, make sure you don’t use hard field tomatoes in January.
- If the tomatoes aren’t juicy: Depends on tomatoes type, they might be more “dry”. Just add a splash of water or broth.
- Add vinegar: You can add a splash of red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar to the pan when adding the tomatoes. The harsh flavor will burn off, leaving behind added depth.
Serving Ideas
This dish is so versatile, it will go with so many of the favorite side dishes.
In Ukraine, we served it with cooked buckwheat aka “kasha”. But you can also serve it over creamy Instant Pot mashed potatoes. The fresh tomato sauce is perfect to spoon over anything that can absorb it, so good!
Serve with a simple green salad like spring mix salad or butter lettuce salad
With simple roasted or grilled veggies that don’t take over the main dish. Try roasted asparagus or roasted cauliflower in winter, and grilled zucchini in summer.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Allow the chicken with tomatoes to cool entirely before transferring to an airtight container. Refrigerate for 3-5 days.
Freeze: I think it will thaw well. Freeze for up to 3 months, then defrost in the fridge before reheating.
Reheat: Add to a large pan heat and reheat over low-medium heat until warmed through, 5-10 minutes.
You can also reheat in the oven while covered at 350 degrees F. Bake for around 10 minutes, until it is heated through.
FAQs
Yes, you can. I would follow this baked chicken breast instructions adding the tomato sauce ingredients to the bottom of the dish.
While it won’t be as fresh tasting, you could try a 28 ounces can of low sodium diced tomatoes.
There’s nothing quite like cheese and tomato, so feel free to grate a healthy helping of gruyere cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, or other sharp cheese. Add this in the last few minutes of cooking, just enough for it to melt.
More Chicken Recipes to Try
- One pan chicken and potatoes
- Baked feta chicken
- Marry me chicken
- Pesto chicken and vegetables
- Pesto chicken
- Chicken cacciatore
Simple Chicken and Tomatoes Recipe
Video
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
- 2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 4-5 large
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Oil, for frying
For the Tomato Sauce:
- 3 pounds ripe, soft and juicy tomatoes, about 4 large, cut into wedges
- 5 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- Basil or parsley, finely chopped
Instructions
- Cut chicken breasts into tenders. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Gently toss around to coat evenly. Slice tomatoes and chop garlic.
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and swirl a bit of oil to coat. Add half of chicken and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown on each side. Transfer to a dish and cook remaining chicken this way.
- Reduce heat to low, add garlic and 1/2 teaspoon oregano. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently (add a bit of oil if there was none left from cooking chicken).
- Layer tomatoes on top, sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Turn up the heat to medium and cook tomatoes for about 5 minutes, gently tossing them around (if tomatoes aren’t juicy enough, add a splash of water).
- When tomatoes have released their juices and turned into fresh tomato sauce, turn off the heat and return chicken back to skillet. Gently tuck it in between tomatoes and sprinkle with fresh basil or parsley.
- Serve warm with whole wheat spaghetti, quinoa, brown rice or buckwheat.
Notes
- Store: Allow the chicken and tomatoes to cool entirely before transferring to an airtight container and storing in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Freeze: Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Use the freshest tomatoes you can: This dish is simple and relies on the tomatoes’ flavor a lot, so make sure you use good ones. In season from farmers market or garden are ideal. In winter, buy tomatoes on the vine.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Great course!
Awesome, glad you loved it, James!
SO SIMPLE, how could this taste SO GOOD?? I’m learning to use things grown in our garden and I used-up some very ripe tomatoes for this recipe. The chicken was so simple and tasty, too. Just the kind of recipe I’m looking for – basic, fresh, feeds a larger number of people and lick-your -fingers good 🙂 Thank you!!
Fantastic! Homegrown tomatoes are the best and this recipe is the best to use them up!