Air Fryer Chicken Caprese – Easy and Delicious

Tasty air fryer chicken caprese is a delicious way to make chicken breast! Chicken cooks quickly in the air fryer and is topped off with fresh mozzarella cheese and red, ripe tomatoes for a delicious, healthy and easy dinner, ready in about 20 minutes.

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Fresh tomatoes taste amazing, especially when they are sweet and ripe. This year I planted six tomato plants and they are providing me with an over abundance!

I’m making a bunch into Instant Pot marinara sauce and making things like spinach tomato frittata so I can use tomatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

This is the perfect recipe for using up garden fresh tomatoes because it is very fast to make and delicious. Using an air fryer means you can have dinner ready in about 20 minutes!

Chicken Caprese

Caprese salad is an Italian favorite consisting of tomatoes and mozzerella cheese topped with basil and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. It is a classic summer side dish.

Chicken Caprese is essentially just chicken breast cooked and topped off with a Caprese salad. It combines the meat with the salad for an easy one dish meal.

While this is easy to make it looks fancy. The gooey cheese melting down over the chicken and the bright red tomatoes make this a very visually appealing dinner. That makes it my favorite kind of dinner – elegant but easy!

Chicken Breast Cutlets

I prefer to use chicken breasts cutlets for this air fryer chicken caprese. A chicken breast cutlet is a chicken breast that has been cut in half so it is of a thin, even thickness.

You can cut a chicken breast in half yourself or buy it already cut from the grocery store. To cut it in half just use a sharp knife and cut it lengthwise into two pieces.

Find More Air Fryer Recipes!

I have also made this with full sized boneless chicken breasts and it is still tasty, it just needs to be cooked a bit longer. But I find that a whole chicken breast is too large for one person.

Also the tomatoes and cheese are more likely to slide off a whole chicken breast, because it isn’t as flat. So using chicken breast cutlets makes it easier to serve, because everyone gets their own piece of chicken topped off with their own cheese and tomato.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast cutlets
• Italian seasoning
• salt & pepper
• mozzarella cheese
• fresh tomato

Fresh is Best

For both the mozzarella cheese and the tomato fresh is best because they are the stars of this air fryer chicken caprese recipe. Sadly large, fresh tomatoes aren’t always available at the grocery store.

If tomatoes aren’t in season you will probably get better flavor by using grape or cherry tomatoes for the chicken caprese, since they tend to be sweeter.

Step by Step Instructions

1. Season the Chicken

Take the chicken out of the package and cut it in half if necessary. Then pat it dry with a paper towel.

Season the chicken by sprinkling on the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Sprinkle spices on both sides of the chicken.

2. Cook the Chicken

Set the air fryer at 380 F for 10 minutes. Put the chicken in the air fryer basket, making sure to leave space for the air to circulate.

If you have a small air fryer you might only be able to cook 2 pieces at once, so make this in batches if necessary. Flip the chicken over after 5 minutes.

While the chicken cooks slice the cheese and tomato into slices. Once the chicken is done cooking test it with an instant read thermometer to make sure it has reached 165 F. If it isn’t done put it back in for another 2-3 minutes and check it again.

Always use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, don’t try to cook based just on time. A thermometer is not expensive and the peace of mind they give you is priceless. Food poisoning is not fun! This is my favorite inexpensive meat thermometer, which you can buy on Amazon.

3. Top the Chicken

Once the chicken is done leave it in the basket and carefully top each piece with a slice of mozzarella followed by a slice of tomato. Use a fork or tongs to put the toppings on, because the sides of the basket will be hot!

Then put the basket back in the air fryer and set it to cook at 200 F for 1 minute. This will allow the cheese to melt some, but not so much that it drips all over the air fryer basket and makes a big mess.

After the 1 minute is up leave the basket in the air fryer for another minute, then take it out and serve the chicken.

How to Serve

To make this air fryer chicken caprese even more like a caprese salad sprinkle some fresh basil on top and drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar on it. The chicken breast is juicy and tender and smothered in gooey cheese and fresh sweet tomato on top.

You can complete the dinner with some Italian bread, some grilled vegetables, rice or pasta if you like. If you are looking for a light dinner you don’t need to add anything to this meal!

Find More Air Fryer Chicken Recipes

• Air Fryer Fried Chicken
• Air Fryer Chicken Breast with Proscuitto
• Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls