I’m always on the lookout for quick dinner ideas to get me through the week. While I very much enjoy my dinner party prep and multi-recipe dinners, that’s not practical for our house every day of the week. (Not to mention that would be way too much food for two people.) I generally fall back on quick combinations of my favorite ingredients. A tasty combination of chicken, spinach, tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto, this Caprese Chicken Spinach Skillet makes a great one-pan dinner.
A Note on Scaling and Quantity
The recipe as written below is for 4 servings. However, you can easily scale it up for a larger crowd (like a dinner party) using the “servings slider”. If making this for a crowd, a couple of time saving tips you might want to consider are as follows:
- Use Pre-Cooked Chicken Cubes or Strips
- I usually get these in 2-pound bags at Sam’s or 22-ounce bags at the grocery store.
- I recommend ¼ pound per serving.
- Use Canned Diced Tomatoes (Drained)
- I would suggest 1 (14.5-ounce) can for the 4 serving version and just scale up from there.
What You Need to Make Caprese Chicken Spinach Skillet
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Meat Tenderizer
- Zip top bag
- Large Sauté Pan or Skillet
- Rubber Scraper – Or other stirring utensil.
- Tongs – Optional
- Fine Mesh Strainer – Optional
Ingredients
- Fresh Spinach – If you want or need to use frozen, just make sure it’s thawed and drained / squeezed as dry as possible.
- Avocado Oil – This is just for cooking the spinach and the chicken. You can also use Regular Olive Oil if you prefer.
- Tomatoes – I usually get the ones that are on the vine from the grocery store, but you can use any that you want. I do call for removing the seeds and “guts” before chopping them so that you don’t wind up with a bunch of undesirable liquid. To save time, you can use a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes well drained.
- Chicken Tenderloins – You can also use Chicken Breasts or Chicken Thighs as long as they are skinless and boneless. To speed things up, you can alternatively use pre-cooked chicken cubes or strips. In that case, just skip the chicken cooking step.
- Garlic Powder
- Pesto – I just buy the jarred pesto from the grocery store. If you are concerned about sodium, you should compare the sodium content between brands or make your own.
- Fresh Mozzarella Pearls – You could really use any version of fresh mozzarella for this recipe. I chose and suggest the pearls because they are already bite-size and don’t require you to cut them down any further. Since this recipe is all about saving time, that’s my recommendation.
- Kosher Salt – This is just to taste. You could also just spoon on some more pesto if you prefer.
- Ground Black Pepper – This is also just to taste.
Getting Started with Making Caprese Chicken Spinach Skillet
Making this Caprese Chicken Spinach Skillet is pretty quick and easy to toss together.
Preparing the Spinach
First, we’ll start giving the spinach a rough chop. You can skip this step if you’re in a hurry. However, I like to roughly chop my fresh spinach (even if it’s baby spinach) before cooking it so that I don’t have stringy pieces.
Once that’s done, we need to thoroughly wilt the spinach. I do this by heating about 1.5 tablespoons of Avocado Oil in a large sauté pan and tossing in the spinach. If I need to speed things up, I add ¼ cup of water and put the lid on the pan. You’ll need to stir the spinach periodically to get it all wilted. I like to use tongs for this part of the process.
Chopping the Tomatoes
While the spinach is cooking, you can prep the tomatoes. I do this by slicing them, removing the seeds and “guts”, and then chopping them. You could get away with not removing the seeds and guts if you’re in a hurry, but I like to keep all that extra liquid out of my final dish. Once they’re chopped, you can set the tomatoes aside.
Preparing the Chicken
Don’t forget to give your spinach a toss. Then you can move on to the chicken. If you are taking the shortcut of using pre-cooked chicken, just make sure it’s in roughly bite-sized cubes. If you’re cooking your chicken, we’ll first do a little tenderizing. I place my chicken in an unzipped zip top bag and lay it flat on the cutting board or another even surface. Then using the flat side of a meat tenderizer, I pound the chicken flat. This doesn’t usually take much effort.
After that, I remove the chicken from the bag and cut it into bite-sized pieces. I place them in another zip top plastic bag and toss them with ½ teaspoon of Garlic Powder and ½ of the Pesto (approximately 2 ounces).
Cooking the Chicken
At this point, the spinach should be done cooking. You’ll want to remove it from the pan and set it aside. I suggest placing it in a fine mesh strainer if you have one to help it drain while you cook the chicken.
In the same pan, you’ll cook the chicken pieces until they’re done. This usually takes me about 6 minutes, turning halfway through.
Finishing the Caprese Chicken and Spinach Skillet
Once the chicken is cooked, we’ll add the spinach back in and stir until combined.
Then we can turn off the heat and add the remaining pesto, the diced tomatoes, and 12 ounces Fresh Mozzarella Pearls. You’ll want to toss the mixture very thoroughly to evenly distribute the ingredients.
You can then serve it immediately.
Related Recipes
Looking for some other easy dinners? You might like one of these:
- Caprese Chicken Skewers
- Chicken Italian Sausage with Zoodles
- Chilled Keto Shrimp Scampi with Shirataki Noodles
- Easy Herb-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin
- Lamb Lollipops
- Sausage and Shirataki Noodles
Caprese Chicken Spinach Skillet
Ingredients
- 32 ounces Spinach Fresh
- 1.5 tablespoons Avocado Oil Or Regular Olive Oil
- 4 Tomatoes De-seeded and chopped. I use the medium-size, on-the-vine ones. To save time, you can use a 14.5-ounce can of diced tomatoes well drained.
- 1 pound Chicken Tenderloins You can also use Chicken Breasts or Chicken Thighs as long as they are skinless and boneless. To speed things up, you can alternatively use pre-cooked chicken cubes or strips. In that case, just skip the chicken cooking step.
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 4 ounces Pesto Divided: ½ when cooking the chicken. ½ at the end when combining all ingredients. I use store-bought.
- 12 ounces Fresh Mozzarella Pearls
- Kosher Salt To Taste
- Ground Black Pepper To Taste
Instructions
- Give 32 ounces Spinach (Fresh) a rough chop. Heat approximately 1.5 tablespoons Avocado Oil in a large skillet and toss in the Spinach. Continue tossing and cooking until it’s thoroughly wilted. You can cover it with a lid to speed up the cooking.32 ounces Spinach, 1.5 tablespoons Avocado Oil
- Dice 4 Tomatoes (Medium), removing the seeds in the process, and set them aside.4 Tomatoes
- Using a meat tenderizer, flatten 1 pound Chicken Tenderloins, then cut them into bite-size pieces. Place them in a zip top bag and toss them with ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder and 2 ounces Pesto until coated.1 pound Chicken Tenderloins, ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder, 4 ounces Pesto
- Once the spinach has wilted, remove it from the pan and allow it to drain.
- In the same pan, cook the chicken pieces. About 6 minutes, turning halfway through.
- Add the spinach and stir until combined.
- Turn off the heat and add the remaining pesto, the diced tomatoes, and 12 ounces Fresh Mozzarella Pearls. Toss to evenly distribute the ingredients.4 Tomatoes, 12 ounces Fresh Mozzarella Pearls, 4 ounces Pesto
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
- Measuring Spoons
- Zip Top Bag
- Rubber Scraper Or other stirring utensil
- Fine Mesh Strainer or Sieve Optional
Notes
- Time Saving Substitutions
- Use Pre-cooked Chicken Cubes or Strips
- Use canned Diced Tomatoes
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