Name: One Pan Balsamic Italian Chicken
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar; 2 tsp Italian seasoning; 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder; 1/2 tsp black pepper; 1/2 tsp salt; 2-3 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts; salt to taste; 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes; 1 medium zucchini; 2 cups whole green beans, fresh or frozen; grated parmesan cheese to taste; 1/4 cup fresh parsley

Jump to Recipe

I love one-dish dinners, as they’re so easy to put together and easy to clean up afterwards. With fall sports, classes, and extracurriculars entering full swing, it’s reassuring knowing dinner can go straight from the fridge to the oven with minimal dishes afterwards. More so, the family has a more nutrient-dense dinner than they would get at the drive-thru. This one-pan balsamic Italian chicken recipe marinates in the fridge prior to cooking, which gives it it’s amazing flavor.

How long should it marinate?

The chicken should marinate between 4-8 hours. Some marinades can sit for up to 24 hours, but I wouldn’t recommend this as the balsamic marinade will start to break down the chicken the longer it sits past eight hours and makes for a mushier texture. I suggest marinating the vegetables for an hour, but these can sit for as little as 15-20 minutes if you’re short on time. For this recipe, I marinated the chicken in the morning before getting work done, then marinated the vegetables shortly before preparing the oven and sheet pan.

Start by gathering the ingredients for the marinade and the chicken. Pat the chicken dry, and cut in half to allow for even cooking. While the recipe calls for about two full chicken breasts, I increased this to three as we have a house of teenagers.

Whisk the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl for the marinade. Place half of the marinade in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and the other half in a tupperware container with a lid. Lightly season both sides of the sliced chicken with salt, then place in the ziplock bag and seal while removing the air from the bag. I love using ziplock bags for marinades and coatings as it makes clean-up so easy. Turn the chicken over in the bag to fully cover in the marinade, then place in the fridge with the remaining marinade container to sit for 4-8 hours.

About an hour before you plan on heating the oven, pull the vegetables and the covered marinade container from the fridge. Leave the grape tomatoes whole, but cut the ends from the zucchini and slice into 1/2-3/4″ size pieces. If using fresh green beans, wash and cut the stem ends. For this recipe, I realized last minute that I did not have fresh green beans so substituted frozen whole green beans, but rinsed under lukewarm water to partially thaw. Add all ingredients to a separate gallon-sized ziplock bag with the remaining marinade, and seal the bag before turning the coat the vegetables. Stick these in the fridge for the last hour before cooking.

When ready, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and cover a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. The Nordic Ware 21×15 baking sheets are my favorite as they can fit a full one-pan meal and cook evenly. Place the marinated chicken in the center of the pan, and line the edges with the marinated vegetables. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is cooked in the center and reaches 165 degrees.

While the chicken and vegetables are baking, gather the parmesan and parsley and thinly slice the parsley for topping. Grate the fully-cooked chicken and vegetables with parmesan to taste with your favorite grater and top with parsley when finished.

One Pan Balsamic Italian Chicken

Course: DinnerCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

Ingredients

Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Dinner:
2-3 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
salt to taste
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
2 cups whole green beans, fresh or frozen
grated parmesan cheese to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley

Directions

Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt. Place half in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, and the other half in a tupperware container with a lid.
Pat dry chicken breasts and slice in half for even cooking, sprinkle with salt to taste. Place in gallon-sized ziplock bag and seal closed while removing excess air. Turn chicken to cover. Place bagged chicken and tupperware with marinade in fridge for 4-8 hours.
An hour before cooking, trim and wash green beans if fresh and cut zucchini into 1/2-3/4″ pieces. Place tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans in separate gallon-sized ziplock bag with remaining marinade. Seal shut and turn to coat. Place in fridge for remaining hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place marinated chicken in center and line edges with marinated vegetables. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center at 165 degrees.
While chicken is cooking, thinly slice parsley. Grate parmesan to taste over cooked chicken and vegetables and top with parsley.

Notes

Marinate the chicken between 4-8 hours to maximize flavor absorbency but prevent the chicken from becoming mushy from over-marinating.
Slice the chicken in half to allow for more even cooking and reduce baking time.
Vegetables require less marinate time than chicken, up to an hour but for at least 15-30 minutes.