Crispy Chicken Caprese.
This crispy chicken caprese is a delicious summer meal! Tender, thin and crispy chicken cutlets layered with heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil. Drizzle it with a balsamic glaze for the ultimate flavor bomb!
Tomatoes and mozzarella are magic in the summertime.
Add in some crispy chicken and fresh basil, and mealtime is MADE. This crispy chicken caprese is so flavorful and satisfying. Juicy tomatoes, silky soft fresh mozzarella, the freshest basil leaves and a big drizzle of balsamic glaze? Sounds like a dream summer meal to me.
P.S. I love alliteration almost as much as I love this recipe. Crispy chicken caprese?! I mean, it doesn’t get any better than this.
These are our favorite crispy chicken cutlets that I make on the regular. My family would be thrilled if I made them once a week. I usually make them every other week or so – and they are devoured. I swear that my extended family can sense when I’m making them because they happen to show up on that day too. Crispy chicken pieces for everyone!
This is the kind of chicken that I used to swipe from the pan when my mom was in the middle of cooking dinner. It made the house smell so incredible that I just couldn’t even wait to have a piece. And now, I know exactly what that’s like. But I don’t blame anyone because… I steal a few pieces too. It’s inevitable. These crispy little parm covered bites are so perfect, crunchy and savory. I could eat them on anything.
The key is slicing the chicken into paper thin chicken cutlets. I slice a boneless, skinless chicken breast into three or four cutlets – as thin as I can make them. This means that once they are breaded, you can slice everything else to be the same thickness. Which is perfect. It all comes together wonderfully, sort of like a chopped salad. You get a bite of everything at once!
So, yes, this is one of my embarrassingly easy go-to summer meals. You can use grilled chicken instead of crispy, of course. There is no true “recipe” here – it’s more of the method of layering tomatoes and fresh mozzarella and basil. And to that, I say you do you! Layer as many slices of tomato and cheese and basil together that you want. Serve with the crispy chicken and a glass of ice cold sauvignon blanc.
And the balsamic glaze! These days I just buy it in the grocery store but I used to make my own. If I wasn’t using chicken here, I’d also do a drizzle of high-quality olive oil. You can do that to the tomatoes before layering if you wish.
I can just taste the crispy, crunchy chicken paired with the tomatoes and cheese. I love this meal so much!
The only way we could possibly make this better is by making it into a sandwich. Throw it on a garlic buttered grilled baguette and I am in.
Crispy Chicken Caprese
Crispy Chicken Caprese
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- kosher salt and pepper
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 ½ cups seasoned breadcrumbs
- ⅓ cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 to 3 heirloom or homegrown tomatoes, sliced
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
- lots of fresh basil leaves
- balsamic glaze, for drizzling
Instructions
- Thinly slice the chicken breasts lengthwise to make thin chicken cutlets. You want THIN slices - ones you can almost see through! I get 3 to 4 thin slices from one chicken breast. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
- Place the eggs in a shallow plate or bowl. Stir together the breadcrumbs and parmesan in another plate or bowl.
- Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. I like to heat the oil for a good 5 minutes before adding the chicken. Watch the heat the entire time - if it seems to be too hot, make sure to lower it!
- Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, then into the breadcrumbs, pressing gently so the crumbs adhere.
- Add the chicken 2 to 3 pieces at a time. Cook on each side until deeply golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. This should cook the chicken the entire way through, but take the temperature to make sure it is 165 degrees F inside if you’re unsure. Remove each piece of chicken and place it on the paper towel-lined sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken.
- (This reheats great! I store mine in foil in the fridge and reheat in the oven or air fryer until warm.)
- Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
- Layer the chicken pieces with the slices of tomato and mozzarella and basil leaves. Drizzle all over with balsamic glaze. Serve!
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4 Comments on “Crispy Chicken Caprese.”
This looks so good! I used to cut the chicken into cutlets the way you mentioned, but I’ve since switched to pounding them A LOT. It tears them to shreds but when they cook in the pan they come back together. To make them a manageable size I first cut the chicken breasts into 3 pieces then pound them super super thin.
Amazing – loved the suggestion of cutting the chicken super thin (and I pounded it a little) and the presentation is so pretty. I added arugula on the bottom and that worked well too,
This was fantastic! An easy weeknight meal that my family loved. I bought pre-sliced chicken to save myself some time in the kitchen and the recipe came together very quickly!
Thank you!!
So simple and so good! I served this with rice. You MUST use homegrown tomatoes though. Store-bought tomatoes just do not cut it!