Stuffed Chicken Caprese
Filled with creamy mozzarella cheese, Roma tomatoes and freshly chopped basil, this Stuffed Chicken Caprese recipe is a new favorite in our house!
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As we emerge from the winter slumber, I’d like to offer up a gentle but important reminder: make sure to have a fire extinguisher or two in your house. And make sure to know where they are. Seriously.
Rewind to last Autumn when we were cleaning up leaves and getting ready to hunker down for the winter. We have a large yard, and I was using a lawn vacuum that attaches to our riding mower to suck up all of the leaves. As I rolled through a rather large pile of leaves in the front yard, I noticed that the leaves were getting jammed up behind the front tire of the mower. (In hindsight, the pile of leaves was just too big.)
About 30 seconds later, those dry leaves ignited. They must have been tightly packed up against the engine, and dry leaves + hot engines don’t mix too well. Within about 10 seconds, I had huge flames shooting out of the edge of the mower. Fearful that the flames would hit the gas tank, I flew off of that mower faster than greased lightning. Somehow I remembered that we keep a fire extinguisher in the garage, and fortunately we had left the garage door open. I was able to get the fire extinguisher, pull the pin and extinguish those flames…but, man, that could’ve been a bad scenario.
Lesson learned. Always know where your fire extinguishers are.
Stuffed Chicken Caprese
Shifting away from fire extinguishers (hopefully you never need them), let’s talk about food. More specifically, let’s talk about this Stuffed Chicken Caprese. This dish is a twist on the classic caprese salad ingredients of fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and olive oil. Instead of layering these ingredients together like you might see in a caprese salad, I simply sliced up a chicken breast and made a stuffed chicken caprese. This is not a difficult recipe to make, and it looks pretty cool, right?
I got this idea for Stuffed Chicken Caprese from our local grocery store. They had done a similar take on this recipe using spinach and tomatoes inserted into boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you take a gander through the recipe archive, it’s clear that I love Italian food. Not surprisingly, I wanted to put an Italian spin on this idea by using caprese salad ingredients.
Truthfully, I was a little skeptical about the cheese. I half-expected to open the oven and find that the mozzarella had melted and oozed out everywhere. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case at all! This little experiment worked, and now this Stuffed Chicken Caprese is a new favorite in our house. Enjoy, friends! (And make sure you know where your fire extinguishers are.)
Did you make this Stuffed Chicken Caprese at home? Leave a comment! Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog).
Looking for more stuffed recipes? Check out these fun ones, too!
Bacon and Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken Rollatini
Mozzarella Stuffed Italian Breadsticks
Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza Rolls
Baked Parmesan Stuffed Chicken
Red Beans and Rice Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed Chicken Caprese
Ingredients
- 8 oz. mozzarella cheese
- 5 Roma tomatoes
- 2 tsp Italian seasonings
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- penne pasta for serving
- marinara sauce for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Slice log of mozzarella cheese in half lengthwise and then cut each half into ¼” slices; set cheese aside.
- Repeat the same process with the Roma tomatoes (slice in half lengthwise and then cut into ¼” slices.)
- Using a small dish, combine Italian seasonings, salt and pepper.
- Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil evenly onto both sides of chicken breasts and then sprinkle evenly with Italian seasonings mixture.
- Using a sharp knife, cut deep slices every 1” in top of each chicken breast. (Note: Do not cut all the way through.)
- Insert one slice of cheese and one slice of tomato into each of the slits. Place chicken breasts on a foil-lined sheet pan.
- Bake uncovered for 28-30 minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked (internal temperature of 165°F). (Note: Baking times will vary depending on size of chicken breasts. Continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.)
- Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package instructions.
- Garnish with chopped basil and serve over cooked pasta with marinara sauce.
We just had caprese last night, by coincidence. Now this is an interesting twist. As someone who find chicken breast a bit boring, looks like a great way to liven things up a bit!
Caprese is a classic! It sounds like we were both channeling the mozzarella, tomato + basil love recently. You can’t go wrong with that combo! Next time, try stuffing the filling inside a chicken breast. It’s a fun recipe for sure, and now I want to try other ingredients in the same way. Thanks, Frank!
This is filled with all things I love! It looks perfect for dinner any night of the week. We are still waiting for spring here too! It’s teasing us, but then we had a sprinkling of snow! Ugh…I’m ready for warm temps!
Tell me about it with the weather, Kathy! It wants to be Spring here, but Old Man Winter just hasn’t given in yet. This stuffed chicken is a delicious indoor meal, although now I’m wondering if I could pull this off on the grill without all of the cheese melting into a mess. Hmmmm… 🙂
Firstly, I am so glad you’re okay – that’s scary!! I have heard of something similar happening to a friend, so very aware of it now.
And the recipe – well, anything with the word Caprese in it makes me think of warmth and Italy – two things I love the most! I think doing it with chicken is a brilliant idea! Yum!
Thanks, Alexandra. To say it was scary is an understatement. I’ve never been that close to a fire (campfires not included here), and it wasn’t fun. All worked out in the end, but if I hadn’t had the fire extinguisher close then who knows what would’ve happened.
Fires aside, this stuffed chicken caprese is totally delicious! And you’re right: warmth and Italy are 2 of my favorite things as well! 🙂
David, I love a good Caprese, as a matter of fact, I had one for lunch. So, your dish sounds very yummy. It might even get me to eat a chicken breast or maybe I’ll do a chicken thigh stacked Caprese.
Good safety tip on the fire extinguisher. Glad you avoided a bad one last fall.
No way! We were totally channeling the same caprese thoughts yesterday, Ron. 🙂 Ooo…I like the idea of using chicken thighs here. More flavor, although perhaps a bit of a trick to stuff. I might have to try that out!
Also, fire extinguishers. You hope you never need ’em, and ours sat in the garage corner for 8 years…until I needed one and FAST. So just know where they are. That’s my public service announcement of the day! Haha.
So scary about those leaves! Yet another reason I don’t garden, haha. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a fire extinguisher in the house so I’ll add getting one to my to-do list. A few weeks ago I actually dropped butter into the toaster (don’t ask) and about had a heart attack because I was thinking GREASE FIRE! Fortunately it didn’t even smoke :). Anyway, mozzarella and tomatoes are a combo that can’t be beat so this sounds delicious!
Hah! I don’t think the garden and leaves are related here. The leaves just land in the yard, and then I have to deal with ’em. I’d much prefer to not deal with them, but then we’d look like that abandoned house that we pass on the way to Robbie’s preschool. It’s not a good look.
So my public service announcement of the day: get a fire extinguisher. They make little skinny ones that you can put under the kitchen sink. You never think you’ll need one…until you need one.
Also, butter in the toaster? Ummm…story? 🙂
David, that sounds terrifying! Who knew something like that could happen? So glad you’re ok!
This chicken caprese looks fabulous with all that melty cheese! My family would love it!
Yeah, tell me about it, Kelly! I was totally freaked out by the fire. At first, I was like “watch me run over this massive pile of leaves!” Then I was like “uhhh…oh no.” So just learn from my lesson and know where your fire extinguisher is!
In other news, this stuffed chicken caprese is a fun one! There’s so much flavor going on here. 🙂
Eeeek!! Scary stuff!!! It’s still chilly here, but I did comment yesterday about the noticeable difference in the length of days, which is nice! What a yummy idea to make a classic even more subsantial by using chicken…love it! It’s a popular protein in our home so looking forward to trying this one out soon 🙂 Have a great week, David!!
You make a good point about length of days, Dawn. It’s chilly here, too. To be fair, I’m over chilly. It’s almost May! But at least the long days are nice. This stuffed chicken breast is a fun one for sure…although now I’m wondering if there’s a way I can make this one on the grill without sending melted mozz into the grates. Hmmm… 🙂
What a gorgeous dish, David! We love Italian food, too, and anything stuffed with cheese gets all the thumbs up in my house! Love this easy and impressive idea! Glad you escaped disaster with the lawn mower. Dang leaves anyway.
Dang leaves for sure! I hate cleaning those things up. Haha!
You know me and Italian food. I could eat those flavors every single night! This stuffed chicken breast is a fun one for sure, and we had enough for some awesome leftovers for lunch the next day, too. Yum! 🙂 Thanks so much, Laura!
I don’t know how about your groundhog, but it looks the Canadian dude was correct this year. Hmmm…Do you think groundhog meat is delicious? (Just saying)
Anyway, no matter what’s outside – we can create a little miracle in the kitchen! Caprese is a summer symbol to me, and I love this twist on it – fresh yet satisfying and delicious. Well done!
I’m thinking we need to grill that groundhog for sure! Haha. I’m SO over this cold weather…it’s almost May!
Even though we’re still indoors more than outdoors, we can totally channel fun flavors. This stuffed chicken breast is so tasty, Ben. It’s a fun twist on a classic! 🙂
This sounds delicious and I love the pretty presentation. Fancy enough to be impressive for guests and quick enough for a busy weeknight. Perfect.
I know we have a fire extinguisher and now I’m going to locate it, just in case!
Yes! Make sure you can put your hands on that fire extinguisher. You never think you’ll need it…until you need it FAST. 🙂
In other news, you make an excellent point about this stuffed chicken being impressive enough for guests. I’ll have to keep this recipe in mind for when we’re brainstorming dinner ideas for company. Thanks for the kind words, my friend!
Oh yes. I love a caprese salad 🥗 and i love chicken 🐔. This looks fabulous! Must make soon. Cheers sherry
Thank you so much, Sherry! Caprese flavors are a classic for a reason. They’re delicious! And then stuffing a chicken breast with those flavors? Now you’ve got a fun and easy dinner. Definitely put this one on the list! 🙂
I’m a huge fan of Stuffed Chicken recipes. We get to taste many different types of Stuffed Chicken dishes here in India because of Mughalai influence.
But I liked your version as well, David. It looks so tempting!
Interesting! I’ll have to learn more about the Mughalai style of cooking. I love stuffed chicken recipes. Thanks so much, Harshad!
Yikes! That fire must have been so scary. Great advice to always have fire extinguishers on hand!
This stuffed chicken looks wonderful, David! You can never go wrong with caprese flavors. Looking forward to grilling season!
Yeah, fire extinguishers are one of those things you never think you’ll need…until you need them FAST. That’s my public service announcement for the day. 🙂
As far as the recipe, I’m all about some stuffed chicken. These flavors work so well, too. Now I’m wondering if there’s a way I can do this one on the grill? Hmmm…
WOA – David – that’s some scary stuff! So glad your fire extinguisher was close and you handled that leaf fire like a boss! Your post reminds me I need to check our extinguishers this Saturday and figure out where I placed them after we unpacked – thanks so much for the reminder!
Now onto these stuffed breasts – wow – that ooey gooey melty cheese filling looks fantastic (Lil S would demolish this in seconds) – great job from keeping the cheese from going everywhere – this chicken would quickly become a fav in our home! Happy Friday my friend!
Yeah, totally check out where those fire extinguishers ended up. You hope (expect?) that you’ll never actually need ’em…but then when you do need them, you need them FAST. That’s my public service announcement for the day!
And these stuffed chicken breasts? Definitely a new favorite! These are delicious, and the caprese flavors work so well here. Thanks so much, Shashi! Hope you have a great Friday yourself!