The Italian-Inspired Chicken Dinner I'm Making All Summer Long

Bursting with summery tomato flavor, this chicken pomodoro can be made with just a few ingredients in less than 40 minutes. Serve this easy dinner recipe over pasta, polenta, or with crusty bread.

Jun 5, 2024 - 07:00

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The Italian-Inspired Chicken Dinner I'm Making All Summer Long

chicken pomodoro in a cast iron skillet at a table setting with a bowl of rigatoni, bowl of basil, stack of plates, and a table napkin — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Pomodoro is a classic Italian sauce that captures the flavors of summer. Juicy fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic are all you need for a memorable dish. And you don’t have to get your hands on perfect, peak summer tomatoes to make this dish. Cherry or grape tomatoes, picked when ripe, are the year-round solution.

Instead of tossing Pomodoro with pasta and calling it a day (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), we combined the vibrant sauce with tender chicken breasts. This takes Pomodoro into full-on meal territory. All you need to do is serve with cooked pasta, polenta, or even crusty bread, and dinner is served.

An Adaptable Sauce

For a chunkier, heartier sauce, simply use your spoon to mash the cooked tomatoes. For a more homogenous sauce, use a potato masher instead. And if you prefer smooth sauces, you can transfer the cooked sauce to a blender (crack the lid!) and blend before returning to the pan.

Serve This Chicken Pomodoro as Pasta

You can simply boil some pasta while the chicken and sauce cook, then serve over top. For a more cohesive, silky pasta, use this easy trick:

Reserve some pasta water when the pasta is almost done cooking. After rewarming the chicken breasts, remove them to a cutting board for slicing. Add the drained pasta and a splash of pasta water to the sauce over medium heat and stir, stir, stir. Add more pasta water as needed to create a more luxurious sauce, then serve topped with the chicken and fresh basil.

chicken pomodoro over rigatoni on a plate at a table setting with more in a cast iron skillet, glass of water, bowl of basil, and a table napkin — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Skillet Chicken Dinners

Cook the chicken:

Season the chicken with 1 teaspoon of the salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering, about 3 minutes. Add the chicken in an even layer and cook, turning once halfway through, until golden brown and a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the chicken registers 165°F, 6 to 8 minutes per side.

Remove the chicken from the skillet (do not wipe the skillet clean), place on a plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and set aside.

chicken breasts cooking in a cast iron skillet for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

cooked chicken on a plate for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Make the sauce:

Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic to the same skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the wine and cook, scraping the browned bits from the skillet, until the wine is slightly reduced, about 1 minute.

Stir in the tomatoes, broth, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are softened and bursting, about 4 minutes. Use the back of a spoon to mash the tomatoes. Keep cooking until thickened, about 5 minutes.

cast iron skillet deglazed with white wine for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

grape tomatoes and chicken stock added to the cast iron skillet for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

grape tomatoes cooked until soft for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Add the basil and chicken:

Stir in the basil and place the chicken in an even layer nestled down in the tomato mixture. Turn off the heat and let sit for a few minutes to re-warm the chicken.

cooked chicken added to skillet for chicken pomodoro recipe — Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

Serve:

To serve, cut the chicken into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Spoon the sauce over the pasta (if using) and top evenly with the sliced chicken. Garnish with basil leaves and additional pepper and olive oil.

Store the leftover sauce and/or chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

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