Tomato & Basil Chicken in a Garlic Butter Sauce

Nothing screams summer more than fresh, red, ripe tomatoes on the vine and freshly grown basil. Now add those flavors to a garlic butter sauce with chicken and you’ve got yourself summer on a plate!

The name, Tomato and Basil Chicken, probably gives away that this recipe is best made in the summer months, so I won’t point out the obvious.  But what I do want to point out is how light and simple this dish is to make. Not to mention how few ingredients.

The combination of the moist chicken, fresh tomatoes and basil is wonderful.  Then the oil blends perfectly with the butter and garlic to create a nice sauce.  The tomatoes cook down and add even more juice to this delicious recipe.

Let me show you just how easy this tomato basil chicken is to make:

• Anytime I am cooking chicken breasts I lay them between parchment paper and give them a little pound with a mallet. If the chicken has a high hump in the middle, it will take longer to cook than the edges. This quick step just helps ensure even cooking.
• Sauté the chicken in a skillet until it is AT LEAST ¾ of the way cooked through. You can tell this by watching the edges of the chicken as they brown and the large pink color will turn white.
• Doing this gives the chicken a chance to sear and develop color – that color turns into flavor and what we call fond. Fond are the little bits left behind in the pan that dissolve into the sauce, again adding more flavor.
• Flip the chicken and add your chopped up tomatoes, basil, butter and garlic. Allow the tomatoes to soften a bit and release their juices and flavors into the butter. If you feel the chicken is already fully cooked, just set it aside on a plate to allow the garlic butter sauce to come together.
• Serve this over a lighter pasta, like a thin spaghetti. A thicker pasta will absorb all the sauce making the dish feel very heavy. Angel hair will soak up the least of the sauce allowing for more on the plate.

Dinner in under 30 minutes!

PRO TIPS:

• The amount of garlic butter sauce in this recipe works very well with 2 chicken breasts.
• Using a variety of tomatoes brings so much to this dish – I implore you to add sundried as well.
• The basil will get lost if it is cut too small. A rough chop or julienning it works best.
• A thin spaghetti is a great pasta for light sauces such as this garlic butter sauce. Angel hair is great too!

Tomato and Basil Chicken in a Garlic Butter Sauce

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★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

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Description

All the freshness of summer goes bounding though in this simple yet elegant weeknight dish.  Fresh ripe tomatoes and basil are the inspiration of this dish, yet somehow it gets even better when infused in a garlic butter sauce. 

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Ingredients

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• 2 Chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2–3 Tbsp Olive oil
• 2 ½ Cups Fresh tomatoes, chopped (roma, big, cherry, grape and sundried are all great choices)
• 2 teaspoons Fresh garlic, minced
• 4 Tbsp Cold Butter
• ½ Cup Fresh Basil, torn or largely chopped
• Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, for garnish
• ½ a box of Thin spaghetti, cooked

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Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken by flattening it with a mallet for even cooking and seasoning with some salt and pepper.
2. Sauté the chicken in a large skillet over medium heat in about 2 Tablespoons of oil. 
3. Cook the chicken until it is ¾ of the way cooked.  You will see the edges and sides turn a light brown as the large pink area turns white.  This will give great color and flavor to the chicken. 
4. Flip the chicken over – add in all the chopped tomatoes.
5. Add the butter and allow to melt a bit before adding the garlic.
6. Lastly, add the fresh basil.
7. Serve over cooked pasta and garnish with some Parmesan cheese.