This balsamic chicken recipe tastes as it came from a fancy Italian restaurant, but it’s a simple one-pan wonder! Like all the best Italian chicken recipes, balsamic chicken has traditional Italian flavors with easy-to-find ingredients.

I love chicken recipes that transform simple chicken breasts into a flavorful family meal. Italian and Mediterranean chicken meals deliver just that! My family loves this quick and easy recipe!

If you and your loved ones enjoy this recipe, check out my Italian chicken, creamy Tuscan garlic chicken, or try a honey balsamic sheet pan chicken recipe variation.

Let’s make this!

What I Love About This Recipe

Only one pan to clean!
Uses fresh tomatoes that are available year-round.
No advanced prep or planning required!
The SAUCE! Thick, Complex, and sooo Yummy!!

How To Make Balsamic Chicken Recipe

Cooking the chicken breasts with a bit of oil in a skillet. Once they are mostly cooked, remove them from the skillet and set aside.
Sauté the garlic and shallots until tender before deglazing the pan with the vinegar.
Reduce the vinegar until syrupy and add in the chicken broth and tomatoes.
Bring to a boil and allow the sauce to thicken before adding the butter.
Put the chicken back into the sauce and cook until the chicken is fully cooked and coated.

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken Recipe +Ingredient Notes

Cooking the Chicken – When you put the chicken back into the sauce for its final cook, be sure you don’t overcook it. If you boil it in the sauce for too long, the chicken will be tough and rubbery. Cook it just until it reaches a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees.

The Vinegar – Like wine, there is a wide variety of ages and quality of balsamic vinegar. I suggest a mid-range vinegar that has a little age to it, but it doesn’t have to be the super expensive stuff. The older the vinegar is, the sweeter it is.

Cutting the tomatoes – Cutting the individual tomatoes can be tedious. I suggest the sandwich method (that’s my name for it!) Put your tomatoes on a cutting board, plate, or even a Tupperware lid with a bit of a lip around the edge.

Put your tomatoes on it and put a plate or lid on top to make a sandwich. Press down just hard enough to hold the tomatoes in place and use a sharp knife to slice through them in one pass. This video shows it perfectly. It’s a great trick and saves tons of time. Just be sure your knife is sharp, and you don’t squash the tomatoes!

What To Serve With This Recipe

This chicken goes well with cooked spaghetti, angel hair pasta, or rice. I like to also have copycat Olive Garden bread sticks or homemade garlic bread on the side. Crispy parmesan potatoes and dark leafy greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette are other good companions.

Savory vegetable sides like roasted broccoli, simple roasted peppers, garlic sautéed asparagus, or my brown sugar glazed carrots are great if you want to up the ante!

Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead

How Long will This Last In The Fridge: The chicken will last in the fridge 3-4 days. Allow the chicken to cool completely before putting it in a well-sealed container. I suggest using a glass storage container because of the tomato-based sauce. You can defrost and reheat slowly on medium heat.
Can You Freeze This? This recipe freezes well, though the tomatoes will lose their texture after a trip through the deep freeze.
Make Ahead: You can make this in advance in one of two ways.
- Option one: finish the entire dish, then freeze or refrigerate the chicken and sauce it in an airtight container like a gallon plastic bag. Cooked, chicken keeps for about three months in the freezer and three days in the refrigerator.
- Alternatively, you can cook the seasoned chicken, freeze it, and put together the sauce when you want to serve. Defrost the chicken by putting it in the refrigerator the night before.

More Mediterranean Chicken Recipes

Greek Chicken – fresh flavors straight from the Mediterranean
Pesto Chicken – takes only 4 ingredients, comes together in about 10 minutes
Creamy Lemon Chicken – coated in a luscious creamy lemon sauce and can be ready in 30 minutes!
Chicken Scarpariello – oven-baked, simmering dish of white wine, rosemary, sausage and chicken!
Chicken Vesuvio – Delectable sauce coats every piece of chicken & potatoes.
Chicken Lazone – Deliciously seasoned and covered in a rich sauce