Discover a new match made in heaven with this chicken tomato recipe. This delectable pairing creates vibrant and sweet-tart flavors that reminisce the sunny feeling of summer. You’ll fall in love at first bite with the creamy and melt-in-the-mouth sauce, coupled with exquisitely tender chicken and utterly juicy tomatoes.
Why You’ll Love Chicken Tomato
- It’s a One-pan Wonder
As lavish as this dish looks, it actually isn’t all that difficult to make. Everything comes together in one pan and only takes around 30 minutes, making it an ideal main course for all kinds of occasions.
- It’s a Flavor-bursting Treat
Filled to the brim with a sweet-tart and creamy tomato sauce, this dish bursts with the sunny feeling of summer. The sauce is paired with a splash of milk and heavy cream, filling each bite with a tender brightness that melts straight in your mouth.
- It’s Easy to Customize
Don’t worry too much about getting tired of this dish. Since chicken and tomato are both quite versatile, you can easily switch things up with small yet significant changes.
Swap out the spaghetti with rice, risotto, or bread (to dip into the sauce), coat the chicken in a layer of melting cheese, or add other veggies and herbs to diversify the flavors. The choice is yours!
Is Our Recipe Healthy?
It certainly is.
We paid special attention to the ingredients and their amounts so that nothing goes over the limit set by our nutrition guidelines. As a result, each serving contains approximately:
- 475 calories
- 4.3 g saturated fat
- 545 mg sodium
Furthermore, with 40 g protein per serving, this dish is a great way to load yourself up with this essential macronutrient. This generous amount comes primarily from the chicken, which is also a great source of vitamins B12 and B6, zinc, heme iron, potassium, magnesium, and other nutrients.
As the name suggests, there’s an abundance of tomatoes in this recipe. This fruit provides not only vibrant flavors but also a decent amount of fiber, vitamins C and A, and various minerals. However, it’s most prominently known for its high levels of lycopene—a carotenoid that could potentially decrease the risks of chronic diseases.
Ingredients You'll Need
You’ll need the following ingredients to make this chicken tomato dish:
- Chicken: We used boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. This meat cut is notorious for being “dry and tasteless”, but that won’t be the case for this recipe. When drenched in a copious amount of tomato sauce and robust seasonings, the meat will become unbelievably succulent while infused with a vivid sweetness.
- Spaghetti: The chicken is served over spaghetti to make the dish a whole lot more filling and satisfying. You can also use other long-strand varieties like linguine, fettuccine, or bucatini.
- Tomatoes: Vibrant, sweet, and deliciously juicy, the tomatoes bring a pop of flavor that instantly brightens the mild-flavored chicken. Make sure to pick out ripe ones for the most scrumptious results.
- Aromatics: We couldn’t go without some aromatics to subtly kick the flavors up, so we used some garlic and onion—a foolproof combination.
- White Wine: We used Sauvignon Blanc, which has floral and fruity notes that lend a delicate sweetness to this dish. Moreover, its acidity also helps to tenderize the meat and keep it from drying out.
- Dairy Products: We used milk and heavy cream to give the sauce a creamy consistency while also enriching the dish’s sweet-and-savory flavor profile.
- Tomato Paste: This is used to further enhance the sauce’s tomato taste as well as thicken the consistency. However, since the paste is concentrated, its flavors are quite intense, so we only used a very small amount.
- Spices: Since the sauce already does a pretty good job of giving the chicken depth of flavor, we only used a handful of spices, such as salt, pepper, dried basil, and Cajun seasoning.
How to Store and Reheat the Leftover
When kept in airtight containers in the fridge, this chicken tomato spaghetti should last for 1 or 2 days. Note that the sauce will have dried out, significantly affecting the dish’s overall taste.
Nevertheless, you can still reheat this dish by giving it a quick stir on the stovetop over medium heat or using the microwave. Add a little water to loosen the strands and restore their texture.
What to Serve With
This dish’s bright and vibrant taste goes well with a wide variety of flavors. Here are a few of our suggestions for what to serve with it for a hearty and filling meal:
Other Saucy Chicken Skillets to Try
Chicken Korma is our first dish in the archive, and it was a great first success. The spice mix, the sauce's consistency, the cashews, the little jalapeno rings that add spice and aesthetic to the plate, all are just perfect. It can be done in a regular pan, but the cast iron's rustic appearance just ties the whole look together.
This Mediterranean Chicken dish is made up of fresh herbs, juicy meat, and vegetables, and it's so filling that you'll want more. Baked until fork-tender, the succulent chicken thighs along with fresh black olives, red onion, and cherry tomatoes define the flavor and texture of Mediterranean cuisine.
How to Make Chicken Tomato
This chicken tomato recipe creates vibrant and sweet-tart flavors that evoke the sunny feeling of summer. You'll fall in love at first bite with the creamy and melt-in-the-mouth sauce, coupled with tender chicken and utterly juicy tomatoes.
- cook TIME 18 mins
- prep TIME 12 mins
- total TIME 30 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 475 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz skinless boneless chicken breast
- 6 oz tomatoes (cut into pieces)
- 2 tbsp Hunt's tomato paste
- 14 oz cooked spaghetti (from 7 oz uncooked)
- 2 oz yellow onion (diced)
- 2 fl oz white wine
- 0.5 oz brined capers
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tbsp garlic (minced)
- 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
- 2 tbsp olive oil (divided)
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
INSTRUCTIONS
Prep:
Cook the Spaghetti: Check the package for specific guides on the time and water amount. Boil the water, add the pasta, and gently stir every few minutes until al dente. Use a colander to drain the water.
Prepare the Chicken: Pat the meat dry with paper towels to remove the excess moisture. Take a knife and butterfly the chicken by slicing along the side in a sawing motion almost to the end, but don’t cut all the way through.
Cut the Tomatoes: Slice off the top, quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds, then diagonally slice into similar-sized pieces.
Dice the Onion: Lengthwise halve the onion then turn the half vertically and thinly slice without touching the root. Turn the onion horizontally then push the knife crosswise into the slices. Finally, thinly slice lengthwise to make diced pieces.
Mince the Garlic: Bash the garlic with the side of the knife to remove the skin, trim off the end, then thinly slice each clove. Rock the knife back and forth over the sliced pile until finely minced.
Chop the Parsley: Bunch the leaves together and thinly slice. Then, rock the knife over the sliced leaves a few times until the leaves are finely chopped.
Cook:
Season the Chicken: On a plate, lay 20 oz skinless boneless chicken breast, add 1 tsp paprika, then dry rub the spice all over the sides of the chicken. Make sure to also rub the butterflied insides.
Cook the Chicken: In a pan over medium heat, cook the seasoned chicken with 1 tbsp olive oil for 7 minutes on both sides then take off the heat.
Sauté the Aromatics: Add 2 oz yellow onion and 2 tbsp garlic with 1 tbsp olive oil and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the Tomatoes: Add 6 oz tomatoes and continue sautéing around for 4 minutes.
Add the Paste: Add 2 tbsp Hunt's tomato paste and stir around to evenly coat the ingredients for 1 minute.
Add the Wine: Add 2 fl oz white wine and evenly stir for 1 minute.
Add the Dairy and Spices: Add 1/2 cup milk, 2 tbsp heavy cream, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, and 1/2 tsp dried basil, and stir for 30 seconds to mix everything together.
Put the Chicken Back and Add the Capers: Put the chicken back into the sauce and simmer on low heat for 4 minutes. Turn off the heat then sprinkle 0.5 oz brined capers all over the surface.
Serve: Transfer the cooked chicken and sauce onto serving plates, lay them over 14 oz cooked spaghetti, and garnish with 2 tbsp parsley. Serve hot.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary ConsultantLuna Regina
Writer, AuthorNatalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer- Erin Paige PalmerSavory chicken with tangy tomato - a winner!