Lemon and Garlic Chicken With Cherry Tomatoes

Lemon and Garlic Chicken With Cherry Tomatoes
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 30 minutes
Rating
5(1,711)
Notes
Read community notes

This is a summery dish to make in the middle of a cold winter (or early spring), but you can find decent cherry tomatoes even now, from Florida or from Mexico. I marinate the breasts in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and rosemary before I pound them. This makes them very flavorful, a great savory contrast to the sweet tomato topping.

Featured in: One Chicken Breast, 2 Servings and Lots of Vegetables

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 4
  • 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2garlic cloves, minced or pureed
  • 1teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2boneless skinless chicken breasts (most weight 8 to 10 ounces)
  • ¼cup dry white wine
  • 2heaped cups cherry tomatoes, – about ¾ pound
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 2tablespoons all-purpose flour or a gluten- free flour such as rice flour or corn flour
  • 2tablespoons grapeseed, sunflower or canola oil
  • 1tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • ¼cup freshly grated Parmesan (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

375 calories; 20 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 654 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Stir together the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cut each chicken breast into 2 equal pieces (3 if they weigh 12 ounces or more) and place in the bowl. Stir together and refrigerate 15 to 30 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towels (discard marinade). Place two sheets of plastic wrap (1 large sheet if you have extra-wide wrap) on your work surface, overlapping slightly, to make 1 wide sheet, and brush lightly with olive oil. Place a piece of chicken in the middle of plastic sheet and brush lightly with oil. Cover the chicken with another wide layer of plastic wrap. Working from the center to the outside, pound chicken breast with the flat side of a meat tenderizer until about ¼ inch thick. (Don’t pound too hard or you’ll tear the meat. If that happens it won’t be the end of the world, you’ll just have a few pieces to cook.) Repeat with the remaining chicken breast pieces.

  3. Step 3

    Season the pounded chicken breasts with salt and pepper on one side only. Dredge lightly in the flour (you will not use all of it) and tap the breasts to remove excess.

  4. Step 4

    Turn oven on low. Heat a wide, heavy skillet over high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, place one or two pieces of chicken in the pan – however many will fit without crowding. Cook for 1½ minutes, until bottom is browned in spots. Turn over and brown other side, about 1½ minutes. (Do not overcook or chicken will be dry.) Transfer to a platter or sheet pan and keep warm in the oven. If there is more than a tablespoon of fat in the pan, pour some off into a jar or bowl.

  5. Step 5

    Turn heat on burner down to medium-high. Add wine to pan and stir with a wooden spoon to deglaze. Add cherry tomatoes and cook, stirring often or tossing in the pan, until they begin to shrivel and burst. Add sugar and salt and pepper to taste and continue to cook, tossing the tomatoes in the pan and stirring often, for 5 to 10 minutes, until tomatoes have collapsed but are still intact. Top chicken breasts with the tomatoes, sprinkle with parsley and with Parmesan if using, and serve.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: The chicken breasts can be pounded several hours ahead – but don’t marinate them until shortly before cooking – and kept between pieces of plastic in the refrigerator.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,711 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I will never make basic fried chicken again. And that's saying a lot since I'm a black woman from the South.

Delicious. Parchment paper works as well as plastic wrap for pounding chicken breasts and doesn't add plastic to the waste stream and our oceans.

Easy and tasty. I didn't pound either, just sliced one breast in half. It was tender and juicy. Will add to the rotation. Might throw in some preserved lemon next time.

It was a great recipe, the sauce turned out thick. The only difference I'd do is add rosemary and garlic while cooking the tomatoes. As well as maybe adding basil and thyme. Other than that I'd add a little chicken stock or more wine to deglaze the pan. I found that using a 12inch skillet helps thicken the sauce since it has more surface area.

Made this twice. First time I pounded with a cast iron skillet and got it quite thin, prob 1/4” as instructed. Cooked in the time specified and it was crisp and delicious, almost a different beast from chicken breast. Second time I used a rolling pin and ended up with 1/2” thick pieces, which cooked much more slowly. The result was more like pretty good chicken breast, but not nearly as good as the first time. So: pound thin!

I added pre-cooked, al dente rigatoni to the tomatoes while they cooked. This resulted in a bed of pasta upon which the chicken cutlets could be served. The rigatoni absorbed the tomato juices as well as the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Fantastic.

Am I the only one who found 1.5 minute/side a grossly inadequate amount of time to cook the chicken? I had to cook for at least 4 min/side!

Loved this recipe...I would have added capers just to add a little salty taste. Also you could cut up chicken to bite size and mix with linguine, just increase amount of sauce you use with tomatoes

Made this with boneless, skinless chicken thighs...so didn't have to pound the chicken and it was delicious and moist! Also eliminated the sugar from the recipe....when I see sugar and tomatoes in the same recipe - my Southern Italian heritage creeps through and I disregard the sugar. This was easy, delicious and the people I had over for dinner asked for and received the recipe!

I was left a bit confused with this recipe. Several people mentioned that they were left with a thick cherry tomato sauce, however, my cherry tomatoes barely collapsed and were a bit more like the ones in the picture. How did the rest of you do it and do you recommend smashing the tomatoes and/or adding anything else?

To all you folks who don't want to bother pounding the chicken breasts, there is another way:
Skip the step to cut each breast in half. Lay the marinated breast flat on a cutting board, and using a sharp knife slice horizontally through the breast while holding it in place with your hand lying on top of it. You may also separate the "tenderloin" and remove the tendon that runs through it. This doesn't tenderize the meat like pounding but I've never found that necessary.

Tasty but doesn't make nearly enough sauce. Ended up using much more oil and wine to get some real "sauce" to pour over the chicken. Suggested capers made the sauce way too tart so added chicken broth to cut the acidity - would not use capers again. Next time will cut tomatoes in half before heating to get more flavor - after 10 min of cooking they were still in tact and not blistering enough. Cooking time is also much longer than stated. And why not cook the chick in the left over marinade?

I had doubts about this recipe and procedures, and yet it turned out incredible. A few notes that helped me: - it doesn’t make any sense to refrigerate the chicken as it marinated, if it’s only for 30 minutes. It’s easier to pan fry if the meat is not cold. - I needed closer to a half (or more!) cup of white wine, and a drizzle of olive oil for the tomatoes. The sauce was definitely great as-is, but I’ll try out using capers and a squeeze of lemon or some garlic next time.

My grandmother used to make something like this -- she was from Naples. Not only was it easy, but it is great for serving a crowd. All the work can be done ahead of time, then the chicken fried at the last minute as guest entertainment.

This was so delicious and easy--I will be adding this to the repertoire for sure. Followed the recipe as written this time, but I think I will try it with halved cherry tomatoes next time. There will be more sauce--yum! My only comment is that I wish it had said "non-stick pan."

Oh, and definitely add the capers!

I am a note reader & all about easy. This is completely delicious. You should definitely make it. My husband listened to me laughing & cursing, but this is definitely in the rotation. Did not pound. Bought thin sliced breasts. Next time: boneless skinless thighs since I prefer them & they're pretty thin. Tried flour without drying the chicken - I'm an experienced enough cook to have known better. What a gunky mess. Next time, no flour. Added marinade to tomatoes; totally the pro move.

Any suggestions for a side dish and or salad and dessert to serve this with? I am considering making this for mother's day.

Took me 3x the time quoted to make this and it was ok

Ran out of lemon juice so added lime juice instead, and used dried rosemary in place of fresh -- still turned out absolutely delicious. Like someone else said, will never make basic chicken again -- this is my go-to recipe for a quick and delicious dinner. Served with roasted broccoli and quinoa salad, worked out well.

So good. Added 3 cloves of garlic to tomatoes and Leo adding more wine and chicken stock as needed. Also cut the tomatoes in half. Add some rosemary next time

Delicious. Increased the wine to get additional sauce, and would do so next time. Served with rice and green beans, which were great compliments.

Delicious. Increased the wine to ensure enough sauce. Served with rice and green beans. Will make this again.

Not bad, totally credible, however

This was delicious! I added some arugula for a nice idea salad with the tomatoes and chicken and parmesan cheese…great!

This was delicious. Even my child liked it. Will definitely make again. Notes: I didn't refrigerate while marinating. Needed extra wine / olive oil to get a decent sauce. Added basil to the tomatoes, served over rigatoni. Didn't have fresh herbs, but dried worked fine.

Cut tomatoes in half

If you want to impress guests and/or your significant other with an uncomplicatedly impressive meal, this is the one.

I skipped the flour and braised in my Dutch oven.

Excellent. Sliced the breast horizontally instead of pounding, cooked almost 3 minutes per side and checked temperature with a meat thermometer to not under or overcook. Tomatoes took a really long time to cook down but in the end the result was perfect.

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