This delicious Baked Chicken With Feta & Tomatoes is baked until the chicken is juicy and the feta and tomatoes meld together in a rich and creamy sauce that can be spooned over the chicken.
Sometime mid 2020 there was a Tik Tok video about this baked feta and tomato pasta that took the social network by storm. Everyone was talking about it! I love that dish, but wanted to make it a main dish without pasta so it’s low carb. Adding chicken is just the thing!
This dish is made with fresh tomatoes, feta, chicken, olive oil, and basil all baked together to make a really satisfying dip that can be served over grilled vegetables or with pasta. It’s amazingly good, just like this baked feta tomato dip.
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Ingredients You Need
You should aim to use the best quality ingredients you can for this dish. The higher quality the tomatoes, feta and olive oil, the better the dish will be. If you use tomatoes that aren’t very ripe and don’t look great, or you use a low-quality olive oil, or a low-fat feta, it’s just not going to be very good.
- Chicken breast – Slice the chicken in half lengthwise to get 2 pieces from one large breast. This is a more reasonable serving size.
- Cherry tomatoes – You can use any variety of tomatoes, but make sure they’re firm and ripe!
- Feta cheese – Full-fat feta is the only way to go here. Buy a high-quality Greek or Cypriot feta, if you can.
- Extra Virgin Olive oil – Also go high quality here. A spicy, flavorful Italian or Greek olive oil is best.
- Basil – Throwing on some freshly slices basil at the end makes this dip really come alive.
- Salt & pepper
How to Make Baked Chicken With Feta & Tomatoes
Start by preheating the oven to 400° F. It seems pretty high for this dish, but it’s important in order to roast the tomatoes and leave a bit of char on them and the feta as they cook. Maximum flavor!
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet over medium high heat, pour in half a tablespoon of the olive oil and place the chicken breasts in the skillet to cook for about 4 minutes on one side. You just want to get some nice browning on one side, which will give the chicken so much more flavor. You’re not trying to cook it though here, so take it off the heat after 4 minutes and set aside.
Pour the tomatoes into a 9″x13″ oven-safe dish. Add the olive oil and stir the tomatoes to coat them in the oil. Drop the pieces of chicken right into the middle of the tomatoes.
Sprinkle the whole dish with the crumbled feta, basil, salt and pepper and put it in the oven. It needs to bake for 30 minutes. The tomatoes and cheese got nice and browned on the tops. And the chicken has a chance to cook through.
Do test the chicken internal temperature with a meat thermometer after 20 minutes, just in case your chicken pieces are smaller than the ones I used. When they reach 165° F, you should take the dish out of the oven. It’s better to take it out after 20 minutes than to overcook the chicken.
Now you can remove the chicken from the dish and stir together the feta and tomato to make a creamy sauce if you like. I don’t like to stir too much because the sauce just becomes a cream sauce. You want to preserve some of the crumbles of feta, rather than mixing it all in.
The aroma of the dish fills the house and it’s a truly irresistible meal.
Substitutions
- It’s really important to use cherry tomatoes for the best, most vibrant flavor, but you can use canned cherry tomatoes (drained well) if you absolutely have to. Chopped fresh vine tomatoes would be the better choice.
- You don’t have to use basil. It can be subbed with thyme or oregano, which are both quite good in this recipe. You don’t need to add as much. Add 1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano. Or use 1/2 a teaspoon dried.
- The feta cheese is the star of the show, so I don’t recommend substituting it with any other type of cheese. In fact, you should find the highest-quality feta you can. I also don’t recommend using low or no-fat feta. It’s just not the same.
- Likewise, I wouldn’t use a different type of oil. The highest quality Extra Virgin olive oil you have will yield the best result.
How Many Carbs Are in This Dish?
Each serving of this dish has 4 grams of carbs and 1 gram of fiber, so a serving has 3 net grams of carbs. That makes it a great low-carb option for a keto diet or anyone who is trying to watch their carb intake.
If you add pasta or rice to the dish, you’ll obviously be adding quite a bit more carbs, but you can keep it low carb by making some sauteed spinach or a salad to go with it.
Serving Suggestions
To keep this dish low-carb, you can serve it on its own as a main dish. It doesn’t need to be served over anything. However, if you want to make it more substantial you can serve it in a number of ways:
Zucchini noodles – Another way to keep the dish low-carb is to serve it over zucchini noodles or another type of spiralized vegetables noodles.
Sauteed spinach or cabbage – Sauteed spinach gives a good boost of nutrients to your diet, and cabbage is a great source of Vitamin C.
Pasta – Prepared any type of pasta you like, such as spaghetti, fusilli, or even ravioli. There is plenty of sauce in this recipe to serve over the chicken and pasta.
Side Salad – You can serve a side garden salad with this chicken to make an easy 2-course meal.
How do you bake chicken breast and not dry it out?
Chicken breast is notorious for drying out when you baking it, but in this recipe we add olive oil to the dish and surround it with tomatoes and feta so it stays moist as it cooks. Another way to ensure the chicken doesn’t dry out is to make sure you don’t overcook it. If you insert a temperature probe into the chicken, it will help you remove the chicken at the right temperature (165 degrees F) so it isn’t dry.
What happens to feta cheese when it bakes?
Feta cheese doesn’t really melt like other cheeses. It will stay in its block or crumbled form, until it is mixed in with the olive oil and tomato, then it will become creamy.
Can I reheat baked chicken with feta?
Yes, if you have leftover chicken, put it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When you’re ready to reheat it, cover it with any leftover tomato and feta and microwave it for one minute, or put it in a pan on the stovetop for 3-5 minutes on medium heat, until the chicken is warmed through.
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Baked Chicken With Feta & Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced in half lengthwise
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 8 ounces grape tomatoes sliced in half
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- Fresh basil sliced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of an 9×13” baking dish. Set aside.
- Season the chicken on both sides with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for 4 minutes on each side.
- Transfer the chicken to the baking dish. Pour in the grape tomatoes and sprinkle on the feta cheese and basil. Place the baking dish in the oven for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through to 165° F.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and stir together the tomatoes and feta. Return the chicken to the pan and serve.
Notes
- If you have a cast-iron skillet that’s large enough to fit the chicken, you can brown the chicken in it and cook in the oven in the skillet to save on dishes.
- You can serve this on its own or over pasta or pasta alternatives.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Laura is dedicated to a low-carb lifestyle after losing 52 pounds on the keto diet. As many of us do, she struggles with her weight and has found that one of the only diet lifestyles that allows her to maintain a healthy weight is a low-carb diet. She shares her favorite low-carb recipes here that are both easy to make and full of flavor, so you don’t even miss the carbs.
I thought the chicken might dry out, like you mentioned, but it was super moist and delicious.
Happy to hear that Arnold.
I’ve made that tomato feta dip before. Why not add chicken!
Our thoughts exactly, Richard!
It’s good. We all enjoye d it.
I’ll make it again, but I won’t crumble the feta next time. It just became kind of messy for me.
Can I substitute the feta with mozzarella or will that make it too stringy? I don’t like feta.
The feta really is the star of the show in this recipe. The texture of it really changes as it cooks to make a smooth and cream sauce. You could probably substitute half the feta for mozzarella but I would say you would be disappointed if you removed it all together.
I used sliced tomatoes and added extra oregano and some basil from my garden. Also didn’t have any olive oil, because I like to use avocado oil. It was good.
Sounds delicious Maris.
I would suggest covering the dish with foil so the cheese doesn’t burn. My burned a little bit.
Great suggestion, Todd. Thanks.