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Mozzarella chicken is a simple weeknight dinner recipe! It’s pan seared chicken smothered in a homemade marinara sauce and melty mozzarella — ready in just 30 minutes!
Dinner in around 30 minutes, with just 10 ingredients.
The ideal comfort food situation for busy weeknights. Mozzarella chicken to the rescue.
We’re talking about pan seared chicken breasts with a aromatic tomato sauce that tastes like something a nonna would be simmering it all day long. Top it off with melty cheese and I’m telling you this is going to top the charts for family dinner.
When I say 30-minute recipe, know that i’m being extra generous with the time. It’s more like a 6-10 minute chicken-searing-while-the-pasta-is-cooking-in-a-pot recipe.
Then it’s a zippy 10 minutes to slow simmer that sauce and voila!
Before you know it, it’s on the table and the whole family can smell it from miles away because it’s chicken smothered in marinara sauce and it’s topped with melty, stretchy, cheesy goodness.
But also, it’s ready in just 1 pan.
This is fantastic!!! It smelled soooooo good, my kids kept coming in the kitchen asking if it was ready yet! Even my picky 5 year old ate two helpings. It was a hit! Also, the sun dried tomato pesto was fabulous as well!!!
Let’s Make it (44 seconds):
Ingredients for mozzarella chicken
- Chicken breasts: I like to use boneless skinless chicken breast for most chicken recipes. Swap for boneless, skinless chicken thighs here but just know that chicken thighs take longer to cook.
- Olive Oil: we’ll need a drizzle to cook the chicken in before we make homemade marinara
- Minced Garlic: To save time, I just run the garlic through a garlic press.
- Onion: Use a box chopper to make this quick and easy if you’d like.
- Tomatoes: You’ll need crushed tomatoes for this recipe. Avoid diced tomatoes, they’ll require additional cooking time.
- Seasonings: I use Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, as well as dried basil, kosher salt, and black pepper.
- Tomato Pesto: this is my secret ingredient to making the homemade marinara taste like it was slow simmered all day long. sun-dried tomato pesto contains ingredients like basil, some nuts, parmesan cheese, and spices. It gives the dish a ton of flavor.
- Mozzarella: I prefer sliced mozzarella cheese for this recipe, but shredded cheese works too.
- Fresh Basil or Parsley: just to add freshness to the dish.
Making Mozzarella Chicken in 30 Minutes
- Start with the chicken. season the tender chicken breasts with salt and pepper and then sear them in a hot skillet with a little oil over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until it reaches 165ºF and then remove it to a plate.
- Make the sauce. Add the onions to the pan and let them sweat down for a few minutes while you preheat the oven. Then add garlic and give it 30 seconds before adding the remaining ingredients. Allow the sauce to reach a simmer, and then let it thicken for a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Assemble. place the cooked seasoned chicken breasts into the sauce and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Place a slice of mozzarella cheese on top of each chicken breastportion. We’ll broil in the oven for the last 1-2 minutes to give it some color. Sprinkle with fresh herbs before serving with homemade garlic bread, pasta, rice or even some mashed potatoes.
FAQs about this recipe
Undoubtedly some garlic bread to soak up all that tomato sauce and maybe a house salad. You can also do pasta (any shape) rice, or even some garlic and asiago mashed potatoes.
Keep leftovers in an airtight containers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. This makes it a great recipe to meal prep!
If you like this recipe, you might also like:
- Roasted Garlic Italian Couscous Salad
- Warm & Cozy Italian Meatball Soup
- Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
- Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs in Homemade Marinara
30 Minute Mozzarella Chicken in Homemade Tomato Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 small chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic pressed or minced
- ½ cup chopped onions
- 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning see notes
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomato pesto homemade or store-bought
- salt and pepper + ¼ cup water
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese or 1 cup shredded
To serve:
- chopped parsley or basil
- Garlic Bread
- House Salad for serving
- Pasta for serving
Instructions
- SEASON: Sprinkle the chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil.
- SEAR: Add the chicken to the skillet and cook for about 3-5 minutes per side or until the chicken is completely cooked through, remove to a plate. If you are planning on serving this with pasta, get the water going and cook the pasta according to package directions.
- SAUTE: Preheat the oven on the broiler setting. Add the onions to the oil remaining in the pan. If there isn't any, add in about ½ teaspoon and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes until they soften, add the garlic and let cook for 30 seconds.
- SIMMER: Add the crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, dried basil, and pesto and stir to combine. When the sauce reaches a simmer, add a ¼ cup of water, lower the heat, cover and allow to simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce thickens a bit. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- BROIL: Nestle the chicken breasts into the sauce and using a spoon, cover the chicken with sauce. Top each breast with a slice of cheese. Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese gets nice and bubbly and just melts.
- ASSEMBLE: Top with chopped parsley or basil ribbons. Serve with pasta or crusty bread and a salad.
Notes
- Though I do recommend using sun-dried tomato pesto for this recipe as it really enhances the flavor of the sauce and makes it taste like it was simmered all day, basil pesto will also work in the recipe.
- Also, you can use more or less red pepper flakes to taste. Omit for a milder sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
can you use skin on bone in chicken
thanks, sandra
Hi Sandra! You can, but you may need to adjust the baking time by quite a bit. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend timing as I’ve only tested it with boneless chicken. Would love to know how it went if you decide to give it a try 🙂
I do love this recipe, very easy and the Homemade sauce is Delicious.
One thing, I think the nutritional info is a little off, there’s no way each serving has 25 grams of fat.
I added all my ingredients up (minus the garlic, onion and spices) and divided by 4 and here are my nutrition totals per serving:
Calories-286
Fat-11g
Saturated Fat-2.5g
Cholesterol-95mg
Sodium-690mg
Total Carb-10g
Dietary Fiber-2g
Sugars-4.5g
Protein-33g
Hi Glen! Thanks for pointing that out. This is exactly why we no longer provide nutritional information on our new recipes as it can vary quite a bit based on, for example, the tomato pesto, size of chicken breast, and the type of mozzarella cheese one may use when preparing the recipe. A whole milk mozzarella vs. a part-skim mozzarella will definitely change the fat content of the recipe significantly! For this reason, we ask our readers who would like to get the most accurate nutritional information to simply plug the URL of this page into myfitnesspal and it auto-populates the nutritional information for you, then you can edit the recipe with specific brands of products, and it will give you more accurate results! I hope that helps 🙂
Doubled sauce. Used thighs. Put over cauliflower rice and baked til cheese melted. Good.
Made this for dinner tonight.. Quick & simple & very delicious. Family loved it ! Thanks for the recipe !!
Do you use boneless, skinless chicken breasts? Thank you!
Yes, that’s correct! 🙂
How many ounces of chicken are in a “small” chicken breast? I want to make sure I get the measurements right for the calorie count.
Absolutely amazing. Husband loved it so that’s always a win win. Our ovens broken so i had to leave it on the pan a bit longer for the mozzarella to melt. I also didn’t have pepper flakes ai used chillie ones. Did ot with spaghetti. Yum yum
I didn’t have crushed tomatoes so I used Prego traditional pasta sauce that I had. It was still very good with the change. I did season the chicken with other seasonings, along with salt and pepper, so it would have a lot of flavor. I served this over pasta and with garlic bread.
Omg…to die for! So simple, yet, sooo amazing,
What kind of mozzarella did you use? Sliced? Fresh, packed in water? Pizza mozzarella? Thank you!
I used mozzarella slices from the deli. But you can use fresh (packed in water) as well here! I just suggest not using anything that comes preshredded as that may not melt too well.
My niece and I made this. It came out very well we added our own seasoning to the chicken. We also both love cheese so we went heavy there. Great recipe
It was delicious. We are on keto so even without the noodles it was very good!
I was tired of just plain baked or fried chicken breast. Was looking at some mozzarella cheese in the refridge, and wondered: what can I prepare with this? So I typed in “recipes for chicken breasts and mozzarella cheese, and voila! This (among other delicious looking dishes) came up. This one was supposed to be simple and quick (30 minutes it said). so I tried this recipe tonight, but had to improvise: crushed a can of diced tomatoes; used garlic powder; had NO pesto; and only had angel hair pasta, and no red pepper. With all the substitutions and missing ingredients, this dish was still amazing! I will make this again very soon, when I have all the necessary ingredients. Can’t wait. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Thanks for recipe!
This was so incredibly delicious !! I made it at home & 3 days later I made it for my niece & her husband, & they loved it
Thank you for this recipe
I made this today and it was da bomb! Was freaking out a little bit since I wasn’t entirely sure what to lower the heat to, so I just lowered it to 350 threw the chicken and cheese and there and prayed for the best. It came out perfect. I think next time I’ll make the sauce in the crockpot that way when i wake up I can just whip up the chicken real quick and then pour on the cheese so that way I can bring it in for lunch. Thank you for bringing a new flavor to my kitchen!
Thanks for sharing this fabulous recipe.
Made this today with the homemade pesto. Used chicken tenderloins in a pressure cooker, threw together the sauce (had to add a bit more water as it was too thick). Shredded mozzarella on to in the broiler. To keep this low carb, I used edamame spaghetti. Good flavor.
What should the broiler setting be on? 500?
I think it would be fine anywhere between 500-550ºF.
This sauce was amazing! Does it also work as a meat sauce (adding ground beef)?
Glad you enjoyed it, Paige! Yes, I think it would work well as a meat sauce too, you may need to play around with it a bit to get the right consistency though, maybe more tomato or a little more liquid but I do think it should work!
Recipe is amazing! Tonight I am making it for the second time. Everyone in my family loved it.