This chicken giardiniera skillet is a seriously satisfying one pan meal, with plenty of fresh mozzarella cheese, veggies, spice and flavor! Kick that plain chicken dinner up a notch, and make this delicious home cooked meal in no time.
As you may know, we are based and Chicago, where giardiniera is sort of a right of passage. While it's usually found on Italian beef sandwiches, we continue to find uses for this tasty condiment all the time! We love adding it on top of hot dogs, in tuna salad, on top of salads, and more.
This is one of those giardiniera recipes where it's truly the star. Juicy chicken, melty mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, bell peppers and plenty of this zesty, flavorful condiment make this skillet meal absolutely irresistible.
This giardiniera chicken skillet is simple to make, and we also included lots of process pictures in the body of the text, as well as ideas for substitutions and more. Feel free to skip to the recipe card if you'd like to get right into it. This recipe is also available as a Google Web Story here!
Ingredients:
- Olive oil - Something delicious here. You could also use the reserved olive oil from the giardiniera, but it will definitely pack more heat!
- Chicken thighs- Chicken breasts can also work totally fine if you prefer. We generally just prefer thighs over breasts! Boneless and skinless will be the way to go here, since it will get smothered with veggies and cheese and baked.
- Seasonings - Use a mixture kosher salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, dried oregano& dried basil. Feel free to add in more spice if you want, like red pepper flakes or cayenne. We opted not to, only because our giardiniera itself was quite hot.
- Onion & garlic - You could sub for onion and garlic powder if you prefer, but honestly nothing beats this combo in our opinion.
- Bell pepper - We used half a red, half green for color, but feel free to use any variety you want!
- Cherry tomatoes - Juicy and sweet. Feel free to use any variety of tomato you prefer here, even canned tomatoes if that's what you have on hand.
- Giardinera relish - Mild giardiniera or hot will work fine, it just depends on your preference. As you may know, we prefer things a little spicy, so we opted for hot.
- Fresh basil - We add some in with the veggies to create some really great flavor.
- Mozzarellacheese - It's hard to beat! You could use shredded or slices of course if you want.
- Parmesan cheese - Freshly grated is best, but again, shreds or whatever you want work just fine.
- Parmesan cheese & fresh basil to garnish
How to Make A Giardiniera Chicken Skillet:
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add half of the olive oil, and season the chicken breasts very well with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, oregano and dried basil, reserving some for the vegetables.
Once skillet is hot, cook the chicken until brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side. Work in batches if needed to avoid over crowding the pan. Once all of the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, remove from the skillet and set aside.
Add remaining oil to the skillet, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Immediately add onions, bell peppers and tomatoes with remaining seasonings and salt. Cook until everything softens, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in the giardiniera and fresh basil to heat through, reserving some to top the chicken later.
Add the chicken back to the skillet.
Heat the broiler of your oven on high. Sprinkle the chicken with parmesan cheese, and top with mozzarella slices. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Garnish with fresh basil, more parmesan, and the remaining giardiniera. Enjoy!
Can I Make This In A Slow Cooker?
Yes, you can! We do recommend searing the chicken on the stovetop for the best flavor, but it's not 100% necessary.
Add all of the veggies to the bottom of the crock pot, then layer chicken on top. Ladle some of the oil and veggies over the top of the chicken. Cook on high for 30 minutes, then reduce to low for 2-4 hours. When it's done, remove from the crockpot, add cheese overtop of the chicken, and broil on high for 3-5 minutes to melt the cheese until golden brown.
What Is Giardiniera?
Giardiniera is an Italian-American style of pickled vegetables. Italian Chicagoans popularized the condiment. It generally consists of a few different pickled vegetables, including carrots, sports peppers, chile peppers, celery, cauliflower, and/or bell peppers that is then marinated in olive oil.
Depending on the heat level you prefer, you will find a different variations with different peppers. This delicious condiment is super versatile, but you will most often find it on a Chicago style Italian beef sandwich.
More Keto Recipes To Try:
- Keto Eggplant Milanese
- Cast Iron Cheesy Meatballs
- Keto Lasagna Soup
- Keto Antipasto Salad
Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this massive list of over 85+ low carb and keto friendly recipes on our site!
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
Giardiniera Chicken Skillet
Briana
This cheesy chicken giardiniera skillet is a seriously satisfying one pan meal, with plenty of fresh mozzarella cheese, veggies, spice and flavor! Kick that plain chicken dinner up a notch, and make this delicious home cooked meal in no time.
5 from 4 votes
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 40 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian, Italian-American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 544 kcal
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds chicken thighs, boneless skinless
- 1.5 teaspoons kosher salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 12 ounces hot Chicago style giardiniera
- 1 ounce fresh basil
- 1 ounce parmesan cheese
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella
- basil and parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add half of the olive oil, and season the chicken thighs very well with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, oregano, and dried basil, reserving some for the vegetables.
Once skillet is hot, cook the chicken until brown on both sides, about 3-5 minutes per side. Work in batches if needed to avoid over crowding the pan. Once all of the chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F, remove from the skillet and set aside.
Add remaining oil to the skillet, then add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Immediately add onions, bell peppers and tomatoes with remaining seasonings and salt. Cook until everything softens, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in the giardiniera and fresh basil to heat through, reserving some to top the chicken later.
Heat the broiler of your oven on high. Add chicken back to the skillet with the vegetables. Sprinkle the chicken with parmesan cheese, and top with mozzarella slices. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Garnish with fresh basil, more parmesan, and the remaining giardiniera. Enjoy!
Notes
- Heat levels vary for different giardinieras so keep this in mind.
- Fresh tomatoes can be substituted for canned.
- Onion and garlic can be substituted for onion and garlic powder.
- Fresh mozzarella can be substituted for shredded or slices, and you can use any parmesan variety.
- Season to taste, and add any spices you see fit. We opted to leave out red pepper flakes and cayenne because we used hot giardiniera, but add them if you like.
Nutrition
Calories: 544kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 40gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 177mgSodium: 1657mgPotassium: 631mgFiber: 4gSugar: 4gVitamin A: 1490IUVitamin C: 41mgCalcium: 298mgIron: 3mg
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