One Pan Balsamic Chicken with Peaches and Basil
Originally published August 27, 2020. Updated on 6/24/2021
If you're looking for something tasty and elegant to make with peaches, try this One Pan Balsamic Chicken with Peaches and Basil. SO good!
As you may have noticed recently, I’ve been on a peach recipe development binge.
This is normally a pretty busy time of year for me, with my costuming business.
However, with no conventions, no wrestling shows, no skating competitions... that business is pretty much toast for the next year or so.
There’s a silver lining, though! In addition to having the time to bring my entire blog up to date - you may have noticed the improvements in speed, layout, etc! - it’s also given me more time (and drive!) to develop more recipes!
I haven’t really been able to fully appreciate peach season for either of the 2 previous summers that we’ve been here for it, as I was pretty much locked away in my sewing studio, nose to the grindstone.
So, I’ve actually been able to peruse the farmers market weekly! And cook! And eat actual food that isn’t some kind of quick takeout because I have So. Much. Sewing to do!
This One Pan Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Peaches and Basil is super elegant, but deceptively easy to make. It doesn’t require a ton of time, effort, or ingredients.
That said, I’d like to talk about the ingredients a bit, before getting to the recipe:
Chicken
We made this with boneless skinless chicken breasts, which is what we tend to have on hand.
Alternatively, you can use boneless, skinless chicken thighs, you’ll just want to decrease the cooking time a little. Just keep an eye on it!
TBH, while I love chicken thighs, I think the chicken breasts work better with this, at least appearance wise.
The sliced peaches over the chicken breast looks very balanced and elegant to me - it would lose something, being closer in size to the chicken being served.
Purely an aesthetics issue, though - it would still be super delicious!
Peaches
Use fresh - not frozen - peaches. They should be ripe, but not SUPER ripe. You don’t want them to turn to mush - this is an elegant dish, and mush isn’t elegant!
So, pick firm, fresh peaches. You can peel them - or not - before pitting and slicing.
Because we’re going with not-overly-ripe ones and not cooking them down to mush, the skin isn’t much of a concern - it will stay attached to the peach slices, rather than floating around as weird disembodied strips.
Balsamic Vinegar
As I mentioned in my Balsamic Peach Bruschetta recipe, I am absolutely in love with peach white balsamic vinegar.
It’s just a beautiful, super flavourful balsamic vinegar that we pick up locally (Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario) at The Olive Oil Dispensary. We used to get it at Annona Gourmet when we still lived in Minneapolis.
I use it mostly for vinaigrettes, as it goes so beautifully on all kinds of salads - warm and cold. Anyway.
It was that love of that particular balsamic vinegar that lead to the development of this recipe... even though I ended up not using that specific vinegar in making this!
I had everything planned out, the chicken in the pan... and decided to grab one of our bottles of Olive Oil Dispensary’s traditional aged balsamic vinegars, instead.
Basil
Around the moment that I changed the choice of balsamic vinegar, I also decided to add the basil.
The basil wasn’t in the original plans - it was added to complement the aged balsamic - but we ended up LOVING where the detour took us!
Use fresh basil leaves. Stack them and cut into really thin strips - “chiffonade” - before tossing them in the pan. I like to set some nicer looking leaves aside to use as garnish.
The Result
The substitutions took the original plans from a light, fruity, summery dish... to something deeper, darker, and more elegant. Honestly, it felt pretty bougie... and would make a great option for an elegant date night dinner.
Probably a good option for impressing in-laws or employers or whatever, also... when gatherings are a thing again!
While most of this write up has focused on the aesthetics of it - kind of weird for me, to be honest! - this is actually a super simple dish to make.
There’s not a lot of prep work, there’s not really anything complicated involved with it, and - as the name says - it’s a one pan dish.
You can have this on the table in 20 minutes, so it’s a great option for busy nights.
A great way to treat yourself after a long day, maybe
Looking for More Peach Recipes?
I’ve got you covered! Here are few favourites, or type “peach” into the search field on my site to find even more!
Balsamic Peach Bruschetta
Blackberry Peach Popsicles
Boozy Raspberry-Peach Bread Pudding
Fresh Peach Daiquiri Recipe
Fresh Peach Salsa
Fuzzy Peach Candy Cocktail
Grilled Halloumi Salad
Grilled Peaches with Lime Honey
Homemade Peach Wine Recipe
Peach Cobbler Muffins
Peachy Southern Comfort Cheesecake
Rosemary Peach Balsamic Scones
Small Batch Peach Jam
Small Batch Mango Peach Jam
Southern Comfort Peaches N Cream Popsicles
Southern Comfort Peach Pie
Spicy Southern Comfort Glazed Chicken with Grilled Peaches
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Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
One Pan Balsamic Glazed Chicken with Peaches and Basil
Ingredients
- 2 Ripe peaches
- 2 tablespoon Olive oil divided
- 2 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ cup Balsamic vinegar of choice
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 Garlic cloves pressed or finely minced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoon Finely chopped basil leaves
Instructions
- Pit and slice the peaches, set aside.
- In a large nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil,
- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper, add to pan and sear on both sides
- As chicken is searing, whisk together the remaining olive oil with vinegar, honey, mustard, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, to taste
- Once chicken is browned on both sides, add peaches to the pan, and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring once in a while.
- When 5 minutes are up, add balsamic vinegar mixture and basil, stirring well to coat everything.
- Flip chicken breasts at this point
- Cook another 5 minutes or so, until chicken is cooked through, peaches are soft, and sauce has thickened and coated everything as a glaze.
- Serve immediately
Nutrition
NANCY
oh the balsamic glaze sounds yummy!
Shailaja DESAI
This chicken looks so good! Balsamic, honey and mustard blend really well to make the perfect glaze! Delish!
Kristen
Oh wow! This is so tasty, I’m so glad we still have a bunch of peaches, we are definitely going to make this again.
Terri Gilson
Balsamic chicken is one of my faves and I love the addition of peaches - yum!