Skillet Bruschetta Chicken Dinner
Healthy, light, and simple skillet bruschetta chicken dinner. All made in 1 pan!
I promise I haven’t lost my mind posting salad dressing earlier this week. Random, yes. But there was a reason! Though it dresses up salads to the nines (ha!), homemade Italian dressing truly shines as a marinade. All those zesty herb seasonings infuse into chicken and when paired with fresh ingredients like tomatoes and basil, it’s something miraculous on your dinner table.
Ladies and gents, let me present you with my all time favorite satisfying and light bruschetta chicken dinner. It’s so easy, so healthy, so regular and yet– so scrumptiously delicious. Dinner-party-esque, without all the work. That’s my style.
And bonus: if you have a spiralizer, serve the bruschetta chicken over zoodles. And make sure you say zoodles 100x times out loud because it’s the most fun word ever and because that’s our style, you and me.
But before I get to that, guess what? I’m in Vermont this weekend with our friends. We decided to take a little weekend getaway, winter style. We’re on the cusp of some snowmobiling action, fireplace coziness, and I told Kevin I’d try snowboarding again even though the last time ended in tears and a bucket of wine. He’s really good at it and I’m literally the definition of snowboard disaster.
Anyway.
I’m a couple years late on the zucchini noodle scene, but I’m here and I love it. Kevin got me a spiralizer for Christmas and I can’t stop. I craved Italian the other week, so I whipped up this bruschetta chicken as my first spiralizer recipe. (Though you can totally make the bruschetta chicken without it– just cut zucchini into super thin strips. Or use regular pasta.) And we seriously LOVED it. Starting with the fact that it’s made entirely in one pan and ending with that fresh garlic bruschetta topping and perfectly crisp chicken.
It’s all surprisingly easy. To start:
Make that Italian dressing and begin marinating some skinless boneless chicken breasts. Then, whip up a simple bruschetta topping. The topping is best prepared in advance because the flavors need time to get friendly. The flavors are soooo much better after a few hours of infusing and hanging. I let the chicken marinate and bruschetta topping sit for about 8 hours, though you can do all this the night before. Anywhere from 2 – 24 hours is just fine.
The bruschetta topping: tomatoes, fresh basil, fresh garlic, the homemade Italian dressing, salt, and pepper. Real food in a really good way.
Then you’ll just cook the Italian dressing marinaded chicken in a skillet. You can also bake or grill the chicken, whatever your method of choice. If making zoodles, you can add them right to the skillet after you cook the chicken. Add some of the bruschetta topping, let the zoodles soften a bit, and stir it all together.
Soft (not soggy!), garlicky, bruschetta-infused noodles made from a vegetable.
I can’t get over this. Even Kevin loves them.
Top the chicken with the rest of the bruschetta to serve.
And what a beautiful sight it is! 1 skillet, healthy noodles, warm chicken, chilled bruschetta. My mouth is watering. Cook time is only about 25 minutes, as all the marinading and bruschetta making is done ahead of time.
If only snowboarding was this easy. Seriously, wish me luck.
Skillet Bruschetta Chicken Dinner
Prep Time: 2 - 24 hours for marinating- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: serves 4
Category: Dinner
Method: Cooking
Cuisine: Italian
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PinDescription
Here is a healthy, light, and simple recipe for skillet bruschetta chicken dinner! It’s all made in 1 pan.
Ingredients
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- full recipe for homemade Italian dressing (about 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons, divided)*
- about 1 pound tomatoes, chopped (about 1 and 1/2 cups chopped)
- 3 Tablespoons chopped basil leaves
- 2 whole garlic cloves, minced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 large zucchini, spiralized into noodles*
Instructions
- Marinate the chicken in advance: Place chicken breasts into a large ziplock bag or shallow tupperware. Pour 1 cup of dressing on top and make sure it covers every inch of chicken. Seal up and refrigerate for 2 – 24 hours. I always aim for at least 8 hours for the best flavor.
- Make the bruschetta topping in advance: Combine the chopped tomatoes, basil leaves, minced garlic, and 2 Tablespoons remaining Italian dressing. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 2 – 24 hours.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 15 minutes, turning once. You want the chicken nice and browned on the outside while fully cooked inside. Remove the chicken from the skillet; do not clean out skillet.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet, followed by the zucchini noodles and 3/4 cup of the bruschetta topping. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. The noodles will cook down, absorbing all the flavor. Remove from heat and place chicken on top of the noodles– or, if using a serving dish, place noodles on first and top with chicken.
- Evenly top each chicken breast with remaining bruschetta mixture. Serve immediately. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheat to your liking.
Notes
- Italian Dressing: Store-bought Italian dressing works too.
- Zucchini: I love this spiralizer! If you do not have a spiralizer, just cut the zucchinis into super thin strips instead. Or use 1 pound angel hair pasta. If using regular pasta, you’ll want to cook it before using. I suggest tossing the cooked pasta with a scant 1/2 cup tomato sauce before adding to the skillet in step 4. This way it has more flavor. The zucchini noodles pick up a lot of flavor from the pan, but the regular pasta won’t.
Keywords: skillet bruschetta chicken, healthy bruschetta chicken
My spiralizer recommendation: I love this spiralizer!
More healthy, easy, light dinner goodness in this citrus chicken quinoa salad! This makes incredible leftovers for lunch during the week.
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