This winner of a chicken dinner has all the light, flavor-packed ingredients found in the sunny region of the Mediterranean. Ready in under an hour, this Easy Skillet Mediterranean Chicken recipe makes a great healthy dinner any night of the week yet it's dressy enough for weekend entertaining!
"My husband and I LOVE this recipe. So much flavor and is very easy to put together quickly. Add a side of rice and done!"
Why This Recipe is a Keeper!
Easy Skillet Mediterranean Chicken is everything and you'll want to put it in your regular rotation!
- It's an easy, healthy and delicious weeknight dinner that's also perfect for weekend entertaining!
- It cooks up in one pan!
- You may already have many of the ingredients on hand!
- Even though many of the ingredients come from your pantry, this dish is jam-packed with fresh flavor that tastes like a quick culinary escape to the Mediterranean!
What is Considered a Chicken Breast?
The breast of a chicken is the underside of the chicken when it's up and walking around. When a recipe calls for a chicken breast, it most likely means one-half or one side of the breast. A whole breast is considered two halves of a breast.
This easy Mediterranean chicken recipe calls for four chicken breast halves.
How to Make Easy Skillet Mediterranean Chicken:
Recipe Ingredients:
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this recipe (besides the chicken) along with how to prep. See the recipe card below for the exact quantities.
Ingredient Notes:
- Olive Oil: A general use extra-virgin olive oil meant for everyday cooking is fine here.
- Tomatoes: Use cherry or grape tomatoes.
- Shallots: Shallots are related to onions and garlic. Their flavor is a bit milder and sweeter than their relatives and turn even sweeter with cooking.
- Dry White Wine: If you wouldn't drink it, don't use it.
- Kalamata Olives: Buy pitted Kalamata olives for ease, but cut in half to make sure there's not a hidden pit which automatic pitters can sometimes miss.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Crushed red pepper flakes add a nice touch of heat. If you're averse to spice, leave it out.
Step-By-Step Instructions:
- Gather and prep all the ingredients.
- Clean and trim the chicken breasts.
- Season the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and brown the chicken well on both sides until it's cooked through to 165 degrees in the center.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent to keep warm.
- Place the diced shallot in the pan and cook until it softens up.
- Add the garlic and cook briefly.
- Add the wine to deglaze the pan and bring to a boil. Let that cook a bit until it reduces slightly.
- Keep the heat on high and add the tomatoes. Cook 1 minute or until they blister, pop and release some of their juices.
- Add the remaining ingredients except for the lemon wedges and heat through.
- Add the chicken breasts back to the pan.
- Simmer briefly, spooning the pan juices over the chicken to bring it back up to the pan and safe temperature of 165 degrees in the center.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with lemon wedges. The lemon adds a lovely pop of flavor!
Chef Tips and Tricks:
- Stock up on chicken when it's on sale, get them trimmed up then place them in zipper-top bags and freeze. Place two in a quart-size bag and four to six in a gallon-size bag and freeze flat. Freezing them flat saves storage space in your freezer and they'll thaw much faster.
- THAWING HACK: Need to speed up thawing? If you have an enameled cast iron skillet such as the one shown, flip the skillet over and place the bag of chicken on the skillet. The cold from the chicken transfers to the cast iron and the pan gets colder and colder cutting thawing time in half. If all you have is black cast iron, place a piece of plastic over the cast iron first to prevent rust. Here's a photo and more information on how it works from Cuisine at Home.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Absolutely! Boneless skinless chicken thighs will take approximately the same amount of time as breasts. Just be sure they’re cooked to 165 degrees in the thickest part.
Bone-in chicken thighs will take longer so you’ll need to allow additional time. You can cook them on the stovetop in the pan until cooked through or brown them well and place them in the oven to finish cooking while making the rest of the dish.
If you prefer not to use wine or don’t have any, chicken broth can be substituted.
Wine is most often used to “deglaze” the pan in recipes. However, as you can see in the process photo above, cooking the shallot and garlic in the pan juices before adding wine will take much of that “fond” off. After cooking the shallot and garlic, add the chicken broth and proceed with the remainder of the recipe. You may wish to add a little extra lemon juice at the end.
Serve with:
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Easy Skillet Mediterranean Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves - approximately 2 pounds
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium shallot - finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts - quartered -PLUS- ¼ cup of the marinade
- ½ cup pitted and halved Kalamata olives
- 1 roasted red bell pepper - from a jar, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Lemon wedges
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and black pepper.
- Place the chicken breasts in the hot oil and cook until nicely browned on the first side, approximately 4-5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook another 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 165 degrees in the thickest part. Transfer to a plate and tent to keep warm.
- Add the shallot, and cook 1-2 minutes or until it begins to soften.
- Add the wine, bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes and cook 1 minute or until they blister, pop and release some of their juices.
- Add the remaining ingredients (except the lemon wedges) and cook until all the ingredients are heated through.
- Transfer the chicken back to the skillet. Spoon the pan juices over the chicken and cook 1-2 minutes or until the chicken is heated back through to the pan temperature.
- Adjust seasoning with salt and black pepper.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
Notes
Nutrition
These are estimated values generated from a nutritional database using unbranded products. Please do your own research with the products you're using if you have a serious health issue or are following a specific diet.
char says
Is this okay for someone who is a diabetic?
Carol says
Hi, Char, Thanks so much for your question. I've cooked for diabetics and except for the wine, I don't see anything that would suggest it is not okay for a diabetic. For the wine, you could substitute chicken broth with a little lemon juice added. Thanks again and hope this works for you!
Brian says
Wonderful, easy but elegant dish! Lemon brings out all the diverse flavors.
Brian
Carol says
Hi, Brian, Thanks so very much and so happy you enjoyed!!
Laura H says
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. Will definitely make this again. After combining the chicken back with the veg, I covered it and put it in a 350 oven for 25 minutes. The chicken was fork tender and really absorbed all the fabulous flavors. Thank you!
Carol says
Hi, Laura, Thanks so very much and glad you enjoyed!
Kelly says
I am totally making this right now for dinner, using chicken broth and lemon juice instead of wine and will put in oven on warm until hubby gets home for dinner
Carol says
Hi, Kelly, Thanks so much and hope you enjoy! Chicken broth and lemon juice is a great substitute for wine. Thanks again!