This recipe for a Chicken Caprese Sandwich is made of deliciously seasoned chicken breast, fresh tomatoes, Ciabatta rolls, balsamic reduction, fresh basil leaves, and slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. It’s a sandwich recipe that’s perfect for the summer months and you can get the ingredients at almost any grocery store.
A delicious, traditional Caprese salad is perfect during the summer and is made up of mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil. It’s a cool dish that has a ton of flavor, even with a few ingredients.
So with my love of Caprese salads, I loved the idea of turning it in to a sandwich with this chicken sandwich recipe. Now if you’re not a fan of chicken, you’ll also love this Caprese wrap that doesn’t use any meat.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It uses simple ingredients: Although a Caprese sandwich sounds fancy, you can usually find the ingredients at most grocery stores.
- Fancy and Simple: Planning on making a lunch or dinner to impress? This sandwich is perfect for that but it’s also simple enough to make for a quick lunch just for you!
- Ready in only 20 minutes: Talk about a quick and easy dinner idea! This recipe, from start to finish, takes less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients Needed
I’ve highlighted a couple of ingredients below for this caprese sandwich recipe with some relevant notes. Aside from this, the ingredients needed are pretty basic.
- Mozzarella – You can find the fresh mozzarella in the shape of a ball, and you’ll want to slice that in to thick slices for your caprese sandwich.
- Chicken – Make sure to choose boneless, skinless, chicken breasts for this recipe. We use these in our chicken club sandwich as well and we feel it’s the best cut of meat for a juicy, tender sandwich.
- Pesto Sauce – You can make homemade pesto sauce recipe but we prefer using store-bought pesto.
Substitutions
Sometimes substitutions are necessary because of ingredients that are unavailable or needed for dietary restrictions. Here are some suggestions that can help:
- Bread – Ciabatta bread is best for this sandwich but that doesn’t mean it’s the only kind you can use. If you choose use different types of slices of bread, it’s best to make sure that you choose a thicker bread.
- Basil – if you can’t find fresh basil, it’s ok to use dried but it won’t be nearly as good as fresh!
- Skipping the Balsamic – I’m not a fan of balsamic vinegar. So I skip this when I make a sandwich for myself. However, I know how popular it is for caprese recipes, and all of my friends and family love it, so I figured you would too. However, if you don’t like it as much, you can easily skip that part.
How to Make This Caprese Chicken Sandwich
With this type of sandwich, it’s best to assemble it right before enjoying it. However, you can make the chicken ahead of time, so it’s quick to assemble when the time comes to eat.
*Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full ingredients list & instructions!*
STEP 1. Season the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. (The amounts can vary based on taste preference.)
STEP 2. Oil. Heat cooking oil over medium-high heat.
STEP 3. Raw chicken. Place seasoned chicken into the pan.
STEP 4. Cook chicken. Brown chicken on each side, flipping once, until chicken is cooked through; about 4-5 min on each side until golden brown, and/or until the internal temperature is checked with a meat thermometer and it has reached 165 degrees F.
Coat in Pesto. Place the cooked chicken in a bowl and toss with the pesto sauce.
STEP 5. Add chicken. Place pesto-covered chicken, on to a bottom piece of Ciabatta bun.
STEP 6. Mozzarella. Next, add on mozzarella slices on top of chicken.
STEP 7. Balsamic and Basil. Layer on balsamic and basil, on top of mozzarella.
STEP 8. Tomato. Lastly, adding juicy tomatoes on top and add top bun.
Recipe Pro Tips
- Leftover chicken. This is a fantastic way to use leftover chicken too!
- Tomato Slices. Using fresh garden tomatoes for this recipe are superb. However, I know not everyone has a garden. This is a great reason to stock up on tomatoes at the farmer’s market, or at least during peak season at the grocery store. However, do not refrigerate your tomatoes. This causes them to lose flavor.
Recipe FAQs
All Caprese sandwiches should have mozzarella, fresh basil, and tomato. Adding a protein or a drizzle of balsamic is common too.
A pasta salad recipe pairs perfectly with a Caprese sandwich, as well as carrot sticks and jalapeno ranch dip or even a honey lime fruit salad.
When compared to sandwiches such as a fried chicken sandwich, yes, they can be considered healthy. However if “healthy” looks like “low-carb” to you, then using ciabatta bread for this sandwich would not be a good choice.
Storage
If there are leftovers from this sandwich, it’s best to store the toppings separately in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, and then assemble before serving, so the bread does not get soggy and so you can reheat the chicken when ready to enjoy.
More Sandwich Recipes You’ll Love
If you love sandwich recipes, then you’ll love these other recipes:
Did you make this? I’d be so grateful if you left a “star” rating below to let me know what you thought! Then, the next time you need a quick and easy recipe, come back to Fantabulosity to browse all of my easy recipes!
Recipe
Chicken Caprese Sandwich
Ingredients
- 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- 2 Tablespoon cooking oil
- pinch salt -/+ based on taste preference
- pinch black pepper -/+ based on taste preference
- ½ teaspoon garlic pepper Or -/+ based on preference.
- 4 Tablespoons pesto sauce
- 4 Ciabatta buns
- 8 slices fresh Mozzarella
- fresh basil leaves
- 2 Tablespoons Balsamic reduction
- 1 large fresh tomato
Instructions
- Sprinkle salt, pepper, and garlic on each side of the chicken breast.
- Heat cooking oil over medium high heat.
- Place seasoned chicken into the pan. Brown chicken on each side, flipping once, until chicken is cooked through; about 4-5 min on each side.
- Place the cooked chicken in a bowl and toss with the pesto sauce.
Assemble the Sandwich
- Add the chicken breast to the bun. Then put the fresh mozzarella on top of the chicken. Sprinkle the mozzarella with salt and pepper to help balance the sweet from the balsamic.
- Then add as much basil and balsamic as you would like.
- Lastly add the tomato slice and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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