Anytime I use chicken breasts my husband cooks the chicken on the BBQ since I tend to overcook it! Rather than have him go out in the cold, I decided to try cooking it in the oven.
I had fresh mozzarella and tomatoes so I looked up balsamic chicken recipes and found a few variations. I decided to use a combination of a few of them since I already had a balsamic with honey dressing that I've been wanting to try as a marinade. Overall, it came out good but I slightly overcooked the chicken, AGAIN!
My biggest fear is under cooking a protein so I always end up leaving it in for too long. This time I fully planned on taking it out sooner (I even saw when it was ready!) but I was too busy focusing on my side dish (and trying to get my kids to stop running around in the kitchen) that I left it in for 10 minutes longer which made the chicken slightly chewy. The leftover marinade also burned and left charred marks on the corners of the pan. 🤦🏻♀️
So lesson learned, if you think it's ready take it out right away to check! If you really want to be sure, you can take a cooking thermometer and make sure the internal temperature is 165 F. Or you can do it the fool proof way like I do and cut one piece down the middle. 😂
I'll hopefully get better at cooking protein for the right amount of time. In the meantime, if you have any tips, send them my way!
I still wanted to share this recipe because if you can cook it the right way (or even slightly overcook it like I did ) it's still tastes great. I also have a great pasta side dish to go with it!
Balsamic Chicken
4-6 chicken breasts
1 cup of halved grape tomatoes
1 cup of balsamic with honey dressing (I used Ken's)
1 tsp. of minced garlic
1) Mix the garlic and balsamic dressing in a bowl
2) Place chicken in gallon size ziploc bag (or in a large bowl) and pour marinade over it.
3) Marinate for at least 2-4 hours
4) Heat the oven to 400 F
5) Place the chicken on a pan and cook for 30 minutes
6) Add the tomatoes for the last 15-20 minutes
Note: I use the tomatoes for the pasta
Pasta
1/2 box of penne pasta
salt (to taste)
olive oil (small amount to drizzle on)
1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1) Add water and salt to pot and bring to a boil
2) Add pasta and cook for approx. 10-12 minutes
3) Drain water then add pasta back to pot and bring to low heat
4) Drizzle olive oil, add minced garlic and tomatoes from chicken pan
5) Mix altogether then serve with chicken
OPTIONAL:
You can add sliced fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil to each piece of chicken then drizzle it with balsamic glaze. Here is a picture of the one I use.
This is to show you the burnt marinade on the sides. Make sure to check on it and take it out if you aren't sure if it's ready!
Enjoy!
Comments