Margherita Chicken

  • 5MINS
  • 45MINS
  • Serves 4
  • 241KCAL

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best! Delicious chicken breast cooked in a tomato and basil sauce, and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese.

  • Bakes and Roasts pinchofnom.com
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  • Dairy Free pinchofnom.com
Easy Peasy Margherita Chicken pinchofnom.com
5

NutritionPer Serving

  • Calories241
  • Carbs6.1g
  • Protein39g
  • Fat5.8g
  • Saturates3g
  • Sugars5.3g

Margherita Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best! This Margherita Chicken is the perfect flavour combo of basil and tomato and is topped with delicious, melty mozzarella cheese.

We’ve taken all of the flavours of a classic Margherita pizza, but used a few clever swaps like reduced fat mozzarella cheese to keep the calories lower without compromising on flavour. Perfect for those days when you’re craving the pizza flavour but fancy something a little lighter!

Serve with a crisp mixed salad for a light dinner, or our Homemade Oven Chips or Orzo Primavera Pasta Salad for a more filling meal. If you’ve got a busy week coming up, then you can even prepare this dish in advance as it stores and freezes really well!

What diets is this Margherita Chicken suitable for?

This Margherita Chicken can be made suitable for gluten free diets by swapping the following ingredients for gluten free alternatives:

  • Chicken stock cube

It can also be made suitable for dairy free diets as long as you use a dairy free substitute in place of the following:

  • Reduced fat mozzarella

Please make sure to double or triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

Do you need any special ingredients to make this Margherita Chicken?

This recipe really couldn’t be simpler to make and doesn’t require any special ingredients!

Hints & Tips

Below we added some of our communities most common hints and tips. We hope you find them useful.

NEW TIP
Marvellous Margherita
In the same pan you sear the chicken I fried off some onions and peppers
Didnt need water
I found you dont need the water with the stock, just a few ml to mix the stock cube but with the juice from the tomatos and the chicken cooking, i didnt need any other liquid at all.
Sooo tasty!
We added some diced chorizo to the sauce before pouring on which gave it a tasty smokey flavour!
Easy to make and totally tasty
Didnt have mozzerella so used some grated low fat cheese instead.
Use the sauce for gorgeous pasta!
I cooked some rigatoni and, once it was cooked, I took out the sauce from the chicken (there was quite a bit) and added it to the drained pasta. I then brought it high heat to reduce the sauce so it coated the pasta. Super scrummy!
Scrummy!
I added dried thyme and baby spinach at the stage where you add basil leaves. Served with fresh salad and garlic ciabatta bread... Delicious!
A tasty easy to make dish !
Went really nice with a salad, and a slice of my home made Foccacia for a real Italian touch.
Throughly enjoyed this, served with wholemeal pasta.
I did it in the slowcooker then put in the oven with the cheese. Chicken fell apart!
Blend the sauce if you prefer it smoother
Make in individual mini roaster to easily pop into the oven for a speedy meal.
So simple to make
Tender chicken breasts in a simple tomato based sauce topped with cheese. I substituted grated low fat cheddar for the mozzarella.
Absolutely amazing! Just added a extra chicken breast as were a family of 5! More than enough topping to go round!
I added oregano and served it with tagliatelle
Yum yum
Use Passatta if fussy eaters don’t like the lumps!
Restaurant quality
Amazing taste. I used Italian herbs in this too and it was divine
This margarita chicken was delicious. I just added a teaspoon of tomato purée to the sauce to thicken it a bit more. Will make again.
It was delicious! I added a teaspoon of tomato purée to the sauce to thicken it slightly.

We love hearing from you, submit any tips or tricks you have for this dish and we’ll review them and add some of them here. Just click here.

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‘So tasty yet quick and easy to do. Versatile too, lovely with pasta or plenty of veg and new potatoes.’

Sarah Mulkeen

How many calories are in this Margherita Chicken?

There are 241 calories per portion in this Margherita Chicken which means it falls into our Everyday Light category. 

This Margherita Chicken is perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers. 

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Step 2

Spray a saucepan with low calorie cooking spray, and sauté the onions over a medium to high heat for 5-6 minutes until golden brown.

Step 2 pinchofnom.com

Step 3

Add the tomatoes, garlic powder and stock, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes.

Step 3 pinchofnom.com

Step 4

While the Margherita sauce simmers, spray a non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place on a medium to high heat.

Step 5

Place the chicken breasts in a hot pan and seal for about 2 minutes each side, until golden, then arrange them in an ovenproof dish.

Step 5 pinchofnom.com

Step 6

After 15 minutes simmering, stir the chopped basil into the sauce and season with black pepper. Spoon over the chicken breasts.

Step 6 pinchofnom.com

Step 7

Tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter over the top.

Step 7 pinchofnom.com

Step 8

Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted and golden.

Step 9

Scatter a few basil leaves on top and serve with your choice of accompaniment.

Step 9 pinchofnom.com

Margherita Chicken - Pinch of Nom Slimming Recipes

What could I serve with this Margherita Chicken?

This Margherita Chicken works really well when served with a crisp, mixed salad or any of the following accompaniments:

Homemade Oven Chips pinchofnom.com
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  • 35MINS
  • 96KCal
Parmentier Potatoes pinchofnom.com
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  • 40MINS
  • 168KCal
Garlic Green Beans pinchofnom.com
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  • 5MINS
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How do you know when this Margherita Chicken is cooked?

The sauce needs to be cooked until thickened and piping hot, for around 20 minutes.

Your chicken breasts will need to be piping hot and cooked through which should take around 25 minutes.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep this Margherita Chicken in the fridge?

Once you’ve put it out, ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill.  You can keep leftovers of Margherita Chicken in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze this Margherita Chicken?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

  • Freeze it as soon as it is cold enough.
  • Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat this Margherita Chicken?

From chilled: Reheat in the oven or microwave until piping hot throughout.

From frozen: Defrost thoroughly and then as above.

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Margherita Chicken

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best! Delicious chicken breast cooked in a tomato and basil sauce, and topped with gooey mozzarella cheese.
  • Prep Time
    5 MINS
  • Cook Time
    45 MINS
  • KCals 241
  • Carbs 6.1G

Ingredients

  • 4 chicken breasts
  • 1 small onion finely diced
  • 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • handful of fresh basil roughly chopped
  • 1 chicken stock cube dissolved in 200ml boiling water
  • 140 g reduced fat mozzarella
  • low calorie cooking spray
  • freshly ground black pepper

We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check out our oven temperature conversion guide.

Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC.
  2. Spray a saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and sauté the onions over a medium to high heat for 5-6 minutes until golden brown.
  3. Add the tomatoes, garlic powder and stock, stir and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes.
  4. While the Margherita sauce simmers, spray a non-stick frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and place on a medium to high heat.
  5. Place the chicken breasts in a hot pan and seal for about 2 minutes each side, until golden, then arrange them in an ovenproof dish.
  6. After 15 minutes simmering, stir the chopped basil into the sauce and season with black pepper. Spoon over the chicken breasts.
  7. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and scatter over the top.
  8. Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted and golden.
  9. Scatter a few basil leaves on top and serve with your choice of accompaniment.

Looking for Slimming World Syns or Weight Watchers (WW) Points?

With ever-changing plans and point calculations, we have made the decision to remove WW Points from the website - referring to your individual plan or advice from your consultant is always going to give the most accurate results.



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37 comments

See what others have to say

SarahTuesday 21st May 2024

Could I use Passatta instead of tinned tomatoes?

Reply

    HollyTuesday 21st May 2024

    Hey Sarah, you could swap the chopped tomatoes for passatta but you may need to simmer for longer to thicken the sauce. Hope that helps!

    Reply

LesleySunday 3rd March 2024

Hi
Can you freeze this recipe

Reply

    LisaMonday 4th March 2024

    Hi Lesley
    Yes, you can! Instructions for freezing and reheating are about halfway down the recipe page. Hope this helps.

    Reply

LindaTuesday 14th March 2023

Hi can this recipe be cooked in the air fryer?

Reply

    SharonWednesday 12th July 2023

    Hi Linda, we haven’t tested Margherita Chicken in the air-fryer but think it should be fine. We have an article here which you may find useful: How to Convert Recipes to an Air Fryer Hope you enjoy the recipe!

    Reply

RosieTuesday 7th March 2023

Hi there,
Would you be able to use chicken thighs rather than chicken breasts?

Thank you x

Reply

    SharonWednesday 12th July 2023

    Hi Rosie, yes, you can use chicken thighs instead of breasts if you prefer. They will take a little longer to cook so you may need to add a little water if the sauce starts to dry out. Enjoy the recipe!

    Reply

JoWednesday 29th June 2022

Can I make this in the slow cooker?

Reply

    SharonThursday 30th June 2022

    Hi Jo, we haven’t tested making Margherita Chicken in the slow cooker so can’t say for sure if it would be successful. We have a slow cooker conversion article here:How to Convert Recipes to a Slow Cooker which you might find helpful.Hope that helps!

    Reply

LeahTuesday 22nd March 2022

Could this be made in the slow cooker?

Reply

    HollyWednesday 30th March 2022

    Hey Leah, we haven’t tested this recipe cooked in a slow cooker so can’t say if it would be successful. We have a slow cooker conversion article HERE which you might find helpful if you’d like to try this recipe cooked that way. Hope that helps!

    Reply

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