Chicken Pomodoro is the dinner we make when we want something that tastes like a restaurant dish and comes together in one skillet. Seasoned chicken breasts get seared until golden, then whole cherry tomatoes go into the hot skillet and burst on their own, with shallot, garlic, and white wine cooking down around them. Smash about half the tomatoes, tear in fresh basil, and the sauce is done. No jar, no long simmer, nothing to dredge. Just one pan of sweet blistered tomatoes clinging to chicken, with enough sauce left behind that somebody always goes back for bread.
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What Is Chicken Pomodoro? Our Fresh Tomato Skillet Version 🍅
Chicken pomodoro is a simple Italian-American skillet dish of seared chicken in a bright tomato sauce, named for the Italian word for tomato. Most versions build that sauce from a can. Ours doesn't.
We use cherry tomatoes, whole, dropped into a hot skillet and left mostly alone until the skins split and they collapse into their own juice. You end up with a looser, sweeter sauce than canned gives you, with skins and seeds still in it instead of a smooth purée. There's no cream and nothing to dredge the chicken in, but the wine reduction gives the sauce enough body to coat everything on its own.
We like using fresh cherry tomatoes from our garden, and we use whatever's ripe at once. Sungolds are the ones we get excited about - they burst golden-orange instead of red, and they're sweet enough that we built a whole Sungold Tomato Pasta around them, no chicken, just tomatoes and noodles.
🍅 Ingredients for One Pan Chicken Pomodoro
Short list, and most of it is already in your kitchen. The tomatoes and the basil are the two things worth buying. If you can grow them yourself, even better!
How to Make Chicken Pomodoro with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes ✨
Six steps, one pan, and the tomatoes do most of the work themselves.
- Step 1: Pat the chicken cutlets dry and season both sides with the dry spice blend.
🧂 Dry chicken sears, wet chicken steams. Take a minute with a paper towel here. It's the difference between a golden crust and pale, disappointing chicken.
- Step 2: Sear the breasts in olive oil over medium heat, flipping every few minutes, until deeply golden on both sides. They won't be cooked through yet. Move the chicken to a plate.
🔥 Medium, not screaming hot. Whole breasts need real time to build color, and medium heat lets the crust develop without scorching the fond you're about to turn into sauce. Flipping every few minutes gets you more even color than leaving them alone, and also helps you keep an eye on them so they don't burn.
- Step 3: Add the shallot to the pan and cook until softened.
Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Step 4: Add the cherry tomatoes whole. Let them sit over medium-high heat, mostly undisturbed, until the skins blister and split.
Let them sit over medium-high heat, mostly undisturbed, until the skins blister and split.
🍅 Resist stirring. High heat splits the skins fast, before the tomatoes have time to collapse, so you get burst tomatoes still holding their shape rather than a smooth sauce. It's the opposite of what we do with cherry tomato confit, where low and slow in olive oil breaks them down completely.
- Step 5: Pour in the white wine, add the oregano sprigs if using.
Let the sauce bubble and reduce, scraping up the browned bits from the chicken.
🌿 Fresh oregano, if you have it. Whole sprigs go in with the wine and work like a bay leaf - the leaves perfume the reduction without shedding into the sauce, then come out before serving. Skip it if you don't have fresh on hand. The sauce is very good without it.
- Step 6: Pull out the oregano sprigs. Smash about half the tomatoes against the pan and add in the torn basil.
Stir to wilt the basil.
Nestle the chicken back in with any resting juices. Cover and cook until the chicken is cooked through.
🌡️ Covered is where it finishes. The lid traps steam and brings the breasts up to temperature gently, so they stay juicy instead of drying out from more direct heat. Check the thickest part for 165°F.
What to Serve with Chicken Pomodoro🍅
There's more sauce here than the chicken alone can carry, which is the whole point. Give it something to land on.
We love serving it with garlicky linguine. The flat strands hold onto a loose pan sauce better than a round noodle does. Cook the pasta while the chicken finishes under the lid, then either spoon the chicken and sauce over the top or add the drained noodles straight into the skillet and toss everything together. A splash of pasta water loosens the sauce if it's tightened up.
Crusty bread does the same job with less effort, so we do that often too! Slice the chicken, spoon the tomatoes over it, and put something in reach for the sauce at the bottom of the pan.
For something green alongside, our Arugula Spinach Salad is the easy answer. Peppery and lemony against a sweet tomato sauce, and it takes about two minutes while the chicken rests.
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If you make this Easy Chicken Pomodoro Skillet, we'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below and rate the recipe. Share with us by tagging us on Instagram! We love seeing your creations! 📸
📖 Recipe
Chicken Pomodoro Recipe with Burst Cherry Tomatoes (One Pan!)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1½ to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts 3 to 4 breasts
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Pomodoro sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large shallot diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes to taste
- 1½ pounds cherry tomatoes about 4 cups, left whole
- ½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt to taste
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper to taste
- ¾ cup dry white wine 6 ounces, such as pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc - avoid oaky chardonnays
- 3 to 4 sprigs fresh oregano optional
- Handful of fresh basil torn
Instructions
- Pat the chicken breasts dry and season both sides with the salt, Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper.1½ to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Sear the chicken, flipping every few minutes, until deeply golden on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes per side. The chicken will not be cooked through. Transfer to a plate.2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add the remaining olive oil and the shallot to the skillet and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 large shallot, 8 cloves garlic, ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add the cherry tomatoes whole, along with the salt and black pepper. Cook over medium-high, stirring only occasionally, until the skins blister and split, 8 to 10 minutes.1½ pounds cherry tomatoes, ½ to 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Pour in the wine and add the oregano sprigs, if using. Simmer, scraping up the browned bits, until reduced and glossy, 4 to 5 minutes.¾ cup dry white wine, 3 to 4 sprigs fresh oregano
- Remove the oregano sprigs. Smash about half the tomatoes against the pan. Stir in the basil, then nestle the chicken back in with any juices. Cover and cook until the chicken registers 165°F at the thickest part, 5 to 8 minutes.Handful of fresh basil
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Notes
- Salt: This recipe uses Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If using Morton's kosher or fine sea salt, use half as much.
- Tomatoes: Leave them whole - they burst on their own and hold their shape better than halved tomatoes, which collapse into a smoother sauce. A mix of Sungold and red cherry gives the best color. Grape tomatoes work, though their thicker skins take slightly longer to split.
- Oregano: Optional. Add whole sprigs rather than chopped leaves so they perfume the sauce and pull out cleanly before serving.
- Wine substitute: Chicken broth with a squeeze of lemon works in place of the wine. The sauce will be slightly thinner and less glossy, since the wine reduction is what gives it body.
- Chicken: Thin cutlets work and cook faster. Reduce the sear to about 3 minutes per side and check for doneness sooner.
- Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 3 days. Reheat gently, covered, over low heat with a splash of water or broth to loosen the sauce.
- Serving: Excellent over linguine. See our Sungold Tomato Pasta for a meatless version, and Arugula Spinach Salad alongside. For a low-and-slow take on the same tomatoes, try our Cherry Tomato Confit.
Aseia says
I made this last night and it was so good! 10/10 will make again!
Briana says
Hey Aseia! We're so glad to hear this!! Thank you so much for trying it and for taking the time to leave a review. It means a lot to us!!
Sydney says
SUPER good recipe. I added more parmesan and red pepper flakes (just because I love them) and I could not rave about this more. My whole family (even the picky ones) loved it!!!
Briana says
Hi Sydney! This is great news!! We love that you added extra red pepper flakes - we do too, but tend to tone down the amount on the blog so that the average person doesn't find it too spicy. 😂 We're so thrilled that your whole family loved it!
Sharyl says
Delicious! I paired with your mashed potato recipe and steamed broccoli with lemon and garlic. Will make again!
Briana says
That is so great to hear, Sharyl! Thanks so much for the sweet message! 🙂