Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! Sometimes I get really excited about recipes. Can you tell? This Balsamic Chicken Skillet is one of those recipes. It’s just so freaking easy, the flavor is big, and it looks all pretty and fancy. :D I love it and I hope you will too.
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The marinade for this Balsamic Chicken Skillet is super simple and uses basic pantry staples, which means you can probably whip it up any time you want. When the delicious marinade hits the skillet it cooks down to a gloriously thick and rich glaze that coats the chicken in flavor. Using chicken thighs is key for this recipe because they are small and cook quickly, but always stay moist and tender. Plus, they’re really inexpensive, especially when you buy a value pack like I did, which will help keep this recipe affordable.
Whole Milk Mozzarella is Key
Another key to making this recipe so scrumptious is whole milk mozzarella. None of that “part-skim” stuff here. Whole milk mozzarella melts 100x better than part-skim mozz, and has a really rich flavor. Fresh mozzarella (the kind packed in water) also melts beautifully and would work well in this recipe.
Top Your Balsamic Chicken Skillet with Herbs
If you happen to grow basil, slice up a few leaves and sprinkle them over the chicken after it cooks. I don’t have a basil plant anymore, so I just used some fresh parsley to keep things budget friendly. Either way, a little bit of fresh green makes all the difference.
How to Serve Balsamic Chicken Skillet
You can serve this Balsamic Chicken Skillet over rice or pasta, but served some Marinated White Beans with the chicken this time.
Balsamic Chicken Skillet
Servings 6Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ( $0.22)
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar ($0.08)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($0.39)
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce ($0.09)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs ($3.02)
- 4 oz. whole milk mozzarella ($0.91)
- 2 Roma tomatoes ($0.54)
- 1/4 bunch fresh parsley ( $0.20)
Instructions
- Prepare the marinade by stirring together the olive oil, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, minced garlic, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill).
- Place the chicken thighs in a gallon-size zip top bag or a shallow dish and pour the marinade over top. Stir to coat the chicken in the marinade. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 8 hours, turning occasionally to redistribute the marinade.
- When ready to cook the chicken, heat a large skillet over medium flame. When the skillet is hot, carefully take the chicken thighs out of the marinade and place them in the hot skillet. Cook the chicken thighs until cooked through and browned on each side (about 5 minutes each side). While the chicken is cooking, slice the mozzarella into six pieces, slice the tomatoes (at least 12 slices), and roughly chop the parsley.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, remove it to a clean plate. Pour the remaining marinade into the skillet and let it boil over medium heat, stirring often, until it has reduced to a thick and rich glaze.
- Turn the heat under the skillet down to medium-low, return the chicken to the skillet, and spoon some of the glaze over each piece. Place a slice of mozzarella on top of each piece of chicken, followed by two slices of tomato. Place a lid on the skillet and let it heat through until the mozzarella is melted. Top the chicken with the chopped fresh parsley, then serve.
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Nutrition
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How to Make Balsamic Chicken Skillet – Step by Step Photos
Prepare the marinade first, by stirring together 2 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and some freshly cracked pepper.
Place six boneless, skinless chicken thighs in a gallon-size zip top bag, or in a shallow dish. Pour the marinade over top and stir to coat the chicken in the marinade. Marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 8 hours.
When you’re ready to cook the chicken, heat a large skillet over medium flame. When the skillet is hot, carefully add the chicken pieces (there will likely be some sputtering and splattering). Cook the chicken on each side until browned and cooked through (about 5 minutes on each side).
Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and pour in the remaining marinade. Let the marinade boil until it is reduced to a thick glaze. Stir the marinade often while it boils.
While the chicken and glaze are cooking, slice the mozzarella into six pieces (one for each piece of chicken). I bought a one pound block, so I cut it into quarters, then sliced one quarter into six slices.
Slice two Roma tomatoes, making sure you have at least twelve slices, or two for each piece of chicken.
Once the glaze is thickened, turn the heat down to medium-low and return the cooked chicken to the skillet. Spoon a little of the glaze over each piece of chicken, then top each one with a slice of mozzarella.
Place two slices of tomato on each piece of mozzarella. Place a lid on the skillet and let the chicken heat through until the mozzarella is melted.
Once the mozzarella is melted, sprinkle chopped fresh parsley over top and serve. I also added a touch more cracked pepper.
You can also drizzle a little of that glaze from the bottom of the skillet over top… Oooooh yeah. This Balsamic Chicken Skillet is gonna earn you some POINTS.
Wow! This was so tasty! We all loved it and look forward to having it again real soon. Thank you, Beth. You’re my hero☺
Delicious!
I tried to give 5 stars but my keyboard jumped back the stars, my mistake, it deserves 5 stars!!!!
I am SOOOOO making this for my mom’s upcoming visit this weekend. I plan to put it over some cauliflower rice that I have with a lil bit of the glaze spooned over. Yum and thanks!
This was absolutely delicious and pretty quick to make! Thanks Beth! My only question is where do you buy your chicken?! I haven’t found any prices anywhere that are as low as yours!
On sale at my local grocery store! :)
What do you do with the milk???
There is no milk i this recipe, only “whole milk mozzarella”, that is not the “part-skim” kind.
My family LOVED this recipe!! Delicious, easy and quick to make. Best three ingredients in a recipe.
Thank you so much for this post! I am always looking for a cheap and easy recipe to throw together on the week nights. I personally have a plethora of food allergies and these ingredients are all safe! With my busy schedule of coaching, advising and working full time this should be a great recipe to try.
I love balsamic and think the combination with the chicken, this recipe looks sooo tasty!!!
I think I am going to have to give this one a go!
Do you think it would also work well cooking in the oven?
I have another recipe that uses the same marinade, but is baked in the oven. The only difference is that the marinade does not thicken to a nice glaze in the oven. It still tastes great, though!
Hi Beth! What would you do differently with bone-in chicken thighs? Got them accidentally but still would like to make this for dinner!
They will take longer to cook through, so you may need to add a lid and let them simmer in the sauce a little while before removing the chicken and reducing the sauce.
I was planning to make this tonight but I completely missed the marinade step… would it hurt the thighs to marinade for longer than eight hours (like if I did this as a weeknight meal) or should I just stick the thighs in the freezer to get back to another day? I’m planning to try the extended marinade at this point but any clarification helps. Thanks!
I think you’ll be alright with an extended marinating time. :)
Cool! This came out absolutely delicious, by the way, will definitely make again!
This recipe was simple and delicious!!!!
Cert good
Husband and I, lazily mumbling to each other “what about dinner…” I pull up this pic and just point to the screen. Husband grunts “yes.”
Too lazy to even think about a single extra dish to wash, I prepared this in the oven like your other balsamic chicken recipe (that we already love), so we did not have the reduced glaze. We also had to use the wedge of Gouda we bought the payday before and hadn’t touched yet (poor us, I know!). We did have fresh basil I got for another recipe, to garnish.
This was so different for us – cheese and tomato on a baked balsamic chicken. SO GOOD!!! And the Gouda was such a happy substitute – I hadn’t had Gouda in years, I think, and it’s one of my fave’s. It melts like nothing else!
Served only with a simple romaine salad that was already prepped the day before, when I wasn’t so lazy.
Best kitchen habit I’m acquiring: when I’m feeling motivated, I prep as much as I can. It makes “lazy day” a breeze!
I am vegetarian so I substituted tofu for the chicken and it was excellent :) In case anyone is interested in trying it!
I’m visiting with vegetarian friends this weekend and I’m going to try it with portobellos. The marinade is SO GOOD!
This was super delicious and very simple to make! Moist and full of flavor, served with some plain pasta, the husband gave rave reviews. Thanks!!!