This Italian Chicken recipe is juicy, flavorful, and sure to be your go-to weeknight recipe!
If you’ve wanted to take a dive into Italian chicken recipes, this is the one to start with! Six ingredients sizzle together in one of the most sensational sheet pan chicken recipes, giving you a divinely Mediterranean chicken dinner in less than 35 minutes.
From the marinated chicken to the creamy parmesan to the bright pops of tomato, this is sure to become one of your favorite chicken recipes! You’re about to be an Italian chef — let’s whip up a delicious Italian recipe!
Do you have some extra minutes to make a salad to partner with this recipe? I think you might wanna try our strawberry spinach salad, marinated tomato salad, and Mediterranean salad.
Jump To…
What I Love About This Recipe
I love all Italian cooking, but I always have a soft spot for meals that are a snap to make! This is why sheet pan dinners are so beloved — and this recipe is all that ease and more!
- Six simple ingredients
- Creamy, juicy, bright — all the flavor notes!
- Fast and easy — done in 35 minutes
- Minimal cleanup!
How To Make Italian Chicken Recipe
I promise this chicken recipe is crazy easy!
Start by marinating your chicken in balsamic vinaigrette for 1-8 hours. The longer, the tastier! Leave it overnight if you can.
When you’re ready to cook, place your chopped veggies around the edges of a foil-lined pan and cover them in balsamic. Put the chicken in the center. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle parmesan over your masterpiece and bake on a sheet pan until golden brown.
Done and YUM!
Recipe Notes
With such an easy chicken recipe, you want to make sure every bite of your ingredients is top of the line! Read on for all the best tips and tricks.
Ingredient Notes
Six ingredients, 35 minutes of work . . . yeah, we’ve got this!
Similar Bites: This recipe may sound similar to Italian dressing chicken, but with that recipe, a good commercial salad dressing is used instead of balsamic vinaigrette.
Cooking Time: Generally, when I make a sheet pan chicken recipe, I cook it for 18 minutes. The chicken breasts come out perfectly cooked, moist, and juicy. In this particular recipe, the chicken is broiled a few minutes at the end to finish the cooking, so I only bake it for 16 minutes.
To make sure you cook the chicken to perfection in your oven, a digital thermometer is your best friend!
Storing Tips
The simplicity of this recipe makes it extra easy to store! You won’t get this kind of versatility from every baked Italian chicken dinner. Read on!
Can You Freeze This?
Yes! You can freeze the leftovers. Thankfully, this isn’t one of those chicken dishes with pasta, so you don’t have to worry about the ins and outs of freezing any noodles.
Choose a quality freezer-safe container and throw the chicken and veggies in together. Place it flat in the freezer, and you’re good to go for up to four months!
Make Ahead Tips
The best way to make this meal ahead is to, well, make all of it ahead!
If you’d like to make up a big batch and freeze it to cook at a later time, marinate the chicken for 1-8 hours, toss the veggies into the bag with it, and then freeze it flat. You’ll get up to eight months out of your prepped meal!
Or you can fully cook your chicken and store the finished product. Marinate your chicken and chop your veggies in advance. Then, store it all in the fridge (separately, for sanitation until it’s cooked) for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to bake it, toss it onto a baking sheet and you’ve got dinner in 30 minutes. It takes my family longer than that to agree on a Netflix show.
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
Once cooked, you store leftovers in the fridge for up to two days. This is a great way to meal plan too — individually portion your leftovers so you have grab and go lunches with an Italian twist!
Recipe Variations
There’s a wonderful world of chicken dishes — let’s shake things up!
What Other Chicken Dishes Can I Make With My Leftover Parmesan Cheese?
When you hear “parmesan” and “chicken” together in a recipe, it’s natural to think of the famous meal: chicken parmesan! It’s also an easy weeknight dinner to whip up. You can always try a variation on it, parmesan crusted chicken, or get fancy with decadent creamy parmesan garlic mushroom chicken!
What Other Veggies Can I Add?
Want more veggies? Bring it on! Chicken and asparagus go deliciously together, as do the ever hearty chicken and potatoes. But you really can’t go wrong with this dish as is — Italian chicken dishes with tomatoes are worldwide favorites!
Can I Make This Creamier?
Go for it! Bring on the dairy with Tuscan chicken to up the garlic and cream, or try another Italian provincial favorite with chicken Florentine!
Can I Cook This In A Skillet Instead?
Got a little extra time to get that stove top crisp? Balsamic chicken will make your whole house deliciously fragrant. Pesto chicken is the perfect blend of cheese and earthy nuttiness, and let’s not overlook chicken Milanese for that perfect lemon POP!
Can I Make This With A Twist Of Greek Cuisine?
Let’s pull in all the Mediterranean flavors! Greek chicken is just as delicious as Italian. Greek lemon chicken is bright and delicious and perfect for spring or summer meals, while chicken gyro is perfect for busy lunches on the move!
Italian Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 1 cup balsamic vinaigrette divided
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 2 red bell pepper cut in 1/4-inch strips
- 1 zucchini cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Place the chicken in a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag.
- Pour in 1/2 cup Balsamic vinaigrette and seal bag, removing as much air as possible. Lay on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any leaks and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Place the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 1/4 cup Balsamic vinaigrette until evenly coated. Arrange the vegetables in a single layer, around the edges of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle vegetables with salt and pepper.
- Remove chicken from ziplock and discard marinade. Nestle chicken pieces into the center of vegetables. Season both sides of chicken generously with salt and pepper.
- Bake in preheated oven and bake chicken, flipping halfway through, about 16-18 minutes (Mine only needed 16 minutes.)
- Sprinkle parmesan cheese over chicken and vegetables and broil until chicken is golden, 2-5 minutes (depending on how close the chicken is to the heating element) and a digital thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken breast.
Nutrition
More Italian Chicken Recipes
Can’t get enough Italian dishes? Me neither! Though unlike this actual “Italian chicken” named recipe, these lend their Italian roots to other names:
- Chicken Scarpariello – Chicken with sausage — two types of meat, can’t be beaten!
- Chicken Vesuvio – Beans and wine give this dish a unique twist!
- Chicken Lombardy – Crank up the CHEESE!
- Chicken Piccata – A simple but luxurious lemon butter sauce makes this dish a winner!
- Chicken Gnocchi – Gnocchi pillows bring the chicken to life!
Conclusion
So, was this Italian chicken recipe as easy as I promised? Do you now feel like a bonafide Italian chef? Next thing you know, you’ll be shipping in your olive from Italy and making meatballs any Italian would be proud of!
What veggies did you add to your chicken? Let me know in the comments!
Marianne says
March 2, 2020 at 6:25 pmWhat do you like to serve with this? Looks fab.
Kathleen says
March 2, 2020 at 7:49 pmHi Marianne! My favorite thing to serve this with is Lemon Garlic Pasta, or Cacio e Pepe. But, in all truth, sometimes when I’m pressed bor time I just serve it with sliced ciabatta <3
Marianne says
March 3, 2020 at 2:52 amThanks for the suggestions! 👍
Lindsey says
January 28, 2019 at 3:54 pmYour chicken looks stunning!!!
Kathleen says
January 28, 2019 at 5:48 pmThank you so much, Lindsey!!<3