Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Tangy balsamic glazed chicken with pasta tossed with fresh mozzarella, basil and grape tomatoes. This balsamic chicken pasta dinner is a fresh and flavorful summer dinner.

Post, photos and recipe updated from the archives. First published June 2016.

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I first shared the balsamic glazed chicken with caprese pasta a few years back and, like a lot a of things in life, it’s evolved a bit so I’m popping in today to share some changes I’ve made since I first share it.

What’s changed isn’t so much the dish itself – it’s still a tangy balsamic chicken pasta dinner – but a few of the how-to steps (including both stovetop and grill cooking instructions for the chicken), a new shortcut (store-bought balsamic glaze!) and a pasta shape swap-out (farfalle instead of fettuccine).

It’s the sort of dinner I like to eat on repeat this time of year, so I thought I’d give it a little refresh just in time for summer.

It starts with the chicken that is cooked and coated in a balsamic glaze, which is just balsamic vinegar that has been boiled down until it thickens.

I used to make my own balsamic glaze – there are only two ingredients and 15 minutes needed to make it – but these days I buy premade balsamic glaze at the store. There are usually a few different brands and the one I use is Bertolli.

That said, if you want to make your own read on – you really can’t go wrong either way.

How to Make Balsamic Glaze

Balsamic vinegar and honey. That’s all you need to make a glossy glaze to brush all over the grilled chicken and it couldn’t be easier to make.

Combine the balsamic vinegar and honey in a saucepan, bring it to a boil, and simmer it for about 10-15 minutes until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

How to Prep the Chicken

Whenever I cook chicken, I like to prep it first so it cooks evenly and fast. If you just toss a whole chicken breast in a pan won’t cook evenly because one end of it is usually thicker than the opposite end. So, I take a couple of minutes to prep the chicken so it comes out the pan evenly cooked and tender.

• First, place the chicken breasts on a cutting board.
• Using a sharp knife, slice the chicken in half through the middle.
• You can slice all the way through so you have 4 separate chicken pieces or, and this is what I like to do, you can stop short of slicing all the way through and unfold the chicken breast into one larger piece. This is called a “butterfly” cut, which is often used when grilling meat.
• Once you’ve sliced the chicken, cover it with plastic wrap. Use a meat mallet to pound the chicken until it’s approximately 1 to 1 ½-inches thick. This ensures it will cook evenly and it also tenderizes the chicken so it has a really nice texture once it’s cooked.
• I also like to season the chicken with salt and pepper before cooking it.

How to Cook Balsamic Chicken

Once you have your glaze ready and your chicken prepped it’s time to cook the chicken! I’ve tested this recipe several times both on a grill and on the stove top, so I’m sharing both methods.

Stove Top Method

You will need a large non-stick skillet to cook the chicken. You don’t want to overcrowd the pan, so you may need to cook the chicken in two batches to ensure it browns properly.

• Heat some olive oil in the pan over medium-high heat.
• Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. Don’t move it around, just let it cook on one side for five minutes or so. Once it’s developed a nice golden crust flip it over and turn the heat down to medium.
• Brush a light layer of balsamic glaze on the top of the chicken.
• After three minutes or so, flip the chicken over again so that the side with the glaze is in direct contact with the pan. Brush a light layer of glaze on the side facing up.

• After about a minute or so, turn the chicken on more time and cook it for another 30 seconds.
• At this point, the chicken should be cooked through. Chicken that is fully cooked will be firm to the touch or, if in doubt, you can cut into the chicken to make sure it’s not pink.
• Transfer the cooked chicken to a clean cutting board to rest.

Grill Method

This balsamic glazed chicken is easy to cook on the grill, too! It’s also a little faster because there is plenty of space to cook all of the chicken at the same time instead in batches like on the stove.

• Heat the grill to high heat.
• Place all of the chicken on the grill and cook each on the first side for 5 to 6 minutes.
• Flip the chicken over and grill it on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes. Turn off one set of burners and move the chicken over that spot.
• Brush a thin coat of the balsamic glaze on one side of each breast and flip the chicken over. Glaze the other side.
• Flip the chicken one more time, add another thin coat of glaze and remove the chicken from the grill and place it on a cutting board to rest.

Caprese Pasta

I like to serve the balsamic chicken with a caprese salad-inspired pasta. It’s so easy to toss together.

Caprese Pasta Ingredients

• Farfalle (bowtie) pasta
• Olive oil
• Grape tomatoes: I used red and gold tomatoes
• Fresh mozzarella: I like to buy small mozzarella balls also called “mozzarella perline”. If you can’t find the little balls, you can use a whole mozzarella ball and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
• Fresh basil leaves

I like to get the pasta boiling while the chicken is cooking. Once the chicken is done, you can use the same pan to combine the ingredients for the caprese pasta. That way, the pasta picks up all the flavor left behind by the balsamic chicken.

I like to slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and then either top the pasta with the chicken or toss the balsamic chicken with the pasta.

Garnish with a little more basil, add a drizzle of balsamic glaze and dinner is ready to serve.

Happy cooking,

More Chicken Recipes

Looking for more boneless, skinless chicken breast recipes? Here are a few of my favorites!

• Lemon-Garlic Chicken
• Cranberry Chicken Walnut Wraps
• 29 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Recipes
• Broccoli Rabe Chicken Pasta
• Fajita Chicken Burgers
• Pesto Chicken Pasta

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