Honey Balsamic Chicken

This Honey Balsamic Chicken is so tender and flavor filled, you won’t believe how simple it is to make!  This recipe was made to impress.  It has the best combination of seared chicken breasts, delicious tangy balsamic glaze, along with fresh tomatoes and basil to top it all off.  This dish looks and sounds irresistibly fancy, but it is so simple to make you can have it on the table in as little as 30 minutes, which makes it perfect for everything from a weeknight family meal to a nice dinner for company.  This recipe is one that you will want to keep handy so it can make a regular appearance in your meal rotation!

This post is sponsored by GREEN GIANT® VEGGIE SPIRALS™ and Martha Stewart Living.  All opinions and recipes are cooked up right here at The Pinning Mama.

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Honey Balsamic Chicken Recipe

Do you want to know what magic in the kitchen looks like for me?

It looks like my husband going back for seconds.

Whether I spend 30 minutes or 3 hours cooking a dinner, my husband is usually a great sport and will clean his plate and thank me for filling it.  He is the definition of a good guy and I am very thankful for him every day.  Being the good guy that he is though, sometimes it can be hard to tell if he really likes something, it’s just okay, or he is mostly just being polite.

The real medal of honor of any dinner is when the hubs goes in for seconds.  If the kids go for seconds too, then it is pretty much like hitting the dinner jackpot.

And friends, with this recipe, we have hit the JACKPOT!

The chicken itself is super simple to make.  Instead of piling it on top of pasta, we kept it light and healthy by pairing it with Green Giant® carrot Veggie Spirals™.  The carrots taste like heaven when they are tossed with the balsamic glaze and when you get a bite with the chicken, glaze and carrots, it is hard to believe something so wholesome can taste so good!

The Green Giant® Veggie Spirals™ were a huge hit with the whole family!  I loved that they were so easy to get on the table.  You pick them up in the freezer section of the grocery store and they are prepped and ready for the pan.  All you have to do is pop them in the pan for a few minutes and they are ready to go.  They are a great substitute for pasta with 65% to 90% fewer calories than leading pasta brands and they are even gluten free!  In this recipe I even used the same pan after the chicken was done so they picked up some easy flavor and there were literally no extra dishes!

How to Make Honey Balsamic Chicken

This recipe is super simple!  Just a handful of ingredients and a skillet and you are on your way to a delicious dinner.  I am going to walk through the recipe with you here step by step to answer any questions that may come up while you are cooking.  There is a full printable recipe at the bottom of this post for your convenience.  If you have any other questions, let me know in the comments!

Honey Balsamic Chicken Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin cutlets- This will end up to be about 3-4 regular sized chicken breasts that you cut into about 6-8 total thinly sliced chicken breasts.  To cut it into a “cutlet” just slice the chicken breast in half so that it is half the thickness it was.
• 1/2 cup chicken broth- You can use canned, or fresh chicken broth here.  It helps to add flavor but mostly cooks off as the glaze is reduced.
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar- Your favorite brand will do!
• 2 tbsp honey- Honey is what will cut the acidity of the vinegar and bring out all the flavor in the glaze!
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed- Use fresh garlic!  The combination of using the dried seasonings with the fresh garlic makes the whole dish taste like it was made from the freshest ingredients!  This is one that makes a difference!
• 2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning- You probably have this on hand, but if not you should be able to find it in the seasoning section of any grocery store. It is a combination of basil, parsley, marjoram, thyme, and other Italian flavored spices.
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the plate

• 1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Carrot Veggie Spirals™ – Find these in the freezer section of your local grocery store with the Green Giant veggies.
• 6 oz fresh arugula- This is optional but a really simple and delicious addition!
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 10 basil leaves, chopped

Honey Balsamic Chicken Instructions

1. In a large dish whisk the chicken broth, vinegar, honey, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together until the honey is dissolved.  Submerge the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate for 10 minutes.  Using a whisk really helps to make sure that honey is distributed and dissolved into the marinade.  I like to use a fork to poke holes throughout the chicken breast so that the marinade can really soak into the chicken and add as much flavor as possible. Try to submerge the chicken in the marinade as much as possible.  You can soak them for as little as 10 minutes or as long as a couple of hours, but if you leave them for more than 10 minutes, make sure to cover it in the fridge!
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the chicken into the skillet piece by piece so that they are flat over the bottom of the pan and not overlapping to sear the chicken.
3. Let them cook over high heat for 4-5 minutes then flip each piece over, reduce the heat to medium high, and add the remaining balsamic marinade to the pan and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (165˚F internal temperature) and the glaze has reduced by half.  Using high heat will help the moisture to cook off quickly and the bottom to get that nice golden brown sear.  Because each stove heats differently, you may want to keep an eye on the chicken and make sure that it doesn’t start to get more dark than you want it.  If it does, you can lower the heat to medium.
4. Remove the chicken and glaze from the pan and add the carrots and cover.  Let them cook for 2-3 minutes, stir and cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until they are to your desired softness.  I cooked mine on the lower side of the time range because I do like to have a little more texture to them.  With the leftover sauce in the pan, they are already sweet and pick up that bit of additional sweet and tangy flavor from the glaze for perfection!
5. Plate the dish by placing a handful of arugula on each plate, a serving of carrots, then a chicken breast.  Spoon the glaze over the chicken, and top with tomatoes and fresh basil. Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

I really hope that this Honey Balsamic Chicken is as huge of a winner with your family as it was with mine!

If you do get a chance to try it, I would love it if you let me know!  You can leave me a comment below, or if you post a picture on Instagram, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see what you are cooking up! It makes my day to see others enjoying the recipes that I share!

Oh and before you go!… If you need a regular rotation of recipe inspiration like me, make sure to sign up to get our emails!  I send out my new favorites, the recipes my family has been devouring, and some of the best tried and true recipes.  It is easy and free of course!  You can click here to sign up.

Print

Honey Balsamic Chicken

Prep 5 mins

Cook 12 mins

Inactive 10 mins

Total 27 mins

Author Kimber

Yield 6 servings

This Honey Balsamic Chicken is one of the most flavor filled quick and easy meals I have ever made.  The tender chicken is marinated in a honey balsamic glaze then seared to perfection in a skillet and finishes cooking while the sauce reduces to the perfect balsamic glaze.  If you have 30 minutes, then you have time for this delicious meal.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into thin cutlets
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed
• 2 tsp dried Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

For the plate

• 1 bag (12 oz) Green Giant® Carrot Veggie Spirals™
• 6 oz fresh arugula
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
• 10 basil leaves, chopped

Instructions

1. In a large dish whisk the chicken broth, vinegar, honey, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper together until the honey is dissolved.  Submerge the chicken breasts in the marinade and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the chicken into the skillet piece by piece so that they are flat over the bottom of the pan and not overlapping to sear the chicken. 
3. Let them cook over high heat for 4-5 minutes then flip each piece over, reduce the heat to medium high, and add the remaining balsamic marinade to the pan and bring to a boil. Continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (165˚F internal temperature) and the glaze has reduced by half.
4. Remove the chicken and glaze from the pan and add the carrots and cover.  Let them cook for 2-3 minutes, stir and cook an additional 2-3 minutes or until they are to your desired softness.
5. Plate the dish by placing a handful of arugula on each plate, a serving of carrots, then a chicken breast.  Spoon the glaze over the chicken, and top with tomatoes and fresh basil. Serve immediately.  Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe is naturally gluten free, dairy free, and low calorie.  If you are gluten free, make sure that you use gluten free chicken broth.

Nutrition facts provided based on my best estimation for the recipe and may not be accurate depending on what brands you use or modifications you make to the recipe.  I recommend using a nutrition calculator with the exact brands and measurements you use for the most accurate calculation.

©2018 The Pinning Mama- Recipe found at: https://www.thepinningmama/honey-balsamic-chicken/

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Courses Dinner

Cuisine Balsamic

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 chicken cutlet (about 5 oz) with glaze, 2 oz of carrots, 1 oz of arugula

Amount Per Serving
Calories 258
% Daily Value
Total Fat 9 g		14%
	Saturated Fat 1 g	5%
	Unsaturated Fat 5 g
Cholesterol 74 mg		25%
Sodium 360 mg		15%
Total Carbohydrates 15 g		5%
	Dietary Fiber 3 g	12%
	Sugars 11 g
Protein 30 g		60%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.