Grilled Chicken Margherita
On March 20, 2023 (Updated December 05, 2024)
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Are you ready for a fresh take on boring grilled chicken breasts? This grilled chicken margherita brings all the flavor to the table with juicy chicken, bright pesto sauce, melted mozzarella, and heaping spoonfuls of balsamic marinated tomatoes.
What is Grilled Chicken Margherita?
Grilled chicken margherita is the most delicious and flavorful meal. It’s perfect for a protein-packed lunch or dinner and is fancy enough for a date night in with your loved one.
This entree starts with grilled chicken breast and piles on the flavor with fresh mozzarella cheese, punchy pesto, and marinated tomatoes. The final result is like grilled chicken parmesan’s fresh best friend.
Ingredients for Chicken Margherita
Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. Begin with the following four ingredients.
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon Hey Grill Hey Chicken Rub
- 1/2 cup pesto
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
You can purchase Hey Grill Hey Chicken Rub from the Hey Grill Hey Store. It’s sent straight to your doorstep and is delicious on all your chicken recipes. If you don’t have any Chicken Rub on hand, you can make a similar chicken seasoning using my recipe for Lemon Herb Chicken Seasoning.
Next up, you’ll need these ingredients to make the marinated tomatoes.
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
How to Make Grilled Chicken Margherita
Okay, enough jibber jabber. Let’s make this chicken! It’s fast and easy and results in the tastiest chicken meal ever. Here’s how to make grilled chicken margherita.
- Fire up that grill! Preheat your grill to 350 degrees F. This chicken can be cooked in just about anything you have on your back porch. I really like to cook my chicken over charcoal, but a gas grill is a great, fast option as well.
- Make some tasty marinated tomatoes. Combine all ingredients for the marinated tomatoes in a medium-sized bowl. Set it aside.
- Season. Grab your Hey Grill Hey Chicken Rub and season the chicken breasts well on all sides.
- Grill. Once your grill is fully preheated, place the seasoned chicken directly on the grill grates. Close the lid, and cook for around 15 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue to cook until the internal temperature reads 155 degrees F.
- Add pesto and cheese. Top each chicken breast with 2 Tablespoons of pesto and then a slice of fresh mozzarella. Continue to cook the chicken until it reaches 160 degrees F.
- Rest and dig in. Remove the grilled chicken from the grill and rest for 5 minutes. Add a heaping scoop of the marinated tomatoes to the top of the chicken and serve immediately.
Tips for Making Grilled Chicken Margherita
Here are some tips for making this delicious entree.
- Choose your own flavor adventure! I love the ease of pre-made seasonings and pesto sauce, choosing to spend my efforts on the fresh marinated tomatoes. However, if you love doing everything from scratch, feel free to whip up your own chicken seasoning blend and homemade pesto sauce.
- Use a thermometer. This recipe uses time as a guideline for cooking chicken breasts, but there are a lot of variables that will affect the cook time from my backyard to yours. The size of your chicken breasts, the temperature of your grill, and the outside temperature can all slightly change how long your chicken will take to cook. Using a good thermometer can help you know for sure when your chicken is finished cooking and safe to serve.
- Cook to the correct temperature. There are a few key temperatures in this recipe to watch for. First, you want to add your sauce and cheese when your chicken hits 155 degrees F internal temperature. Then, you want the cheese to melt while the chicken finishes cooking to 160 degrees F. Removing the chicken to a platter will allow the carry-over cooking to bring the chicken up to 165 degrees F for safe serving.
More Grilled Chicken Recipes
Grilled chicken breast recipes don’t need to be bland or boring. Hey Grill Hey has a handful of recipes that will kick up the flavor of your chicken breasts to give you a meal that packs a punch of flavor. Check out a few of our popular grilled chicken recipes from the site below!
Grilled Chicken Margherita Recipe
Hey Grill Hey is here to ensure you master a BBQ recipe like a total pro. In fact, we hope each recipe and tutorial makes you feel like a backyard BBQ hero so you can feed the people you love.
If you loved this recipe, be sure to rate it 5 stars and leave us a comment below! You can also access this amazing smoked lamb shoulder recipe and over 500 other recipes on the Hey Grill Hey App.
Grilled Chicken Margherita
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 Tablespoon Hey Grill Hey Chicken Rub recipe in notes section
- ½ cup pesto
- 8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese
Marinated Tomatoes
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 Tablespoons fresh basil chiffonaded
- 2 cloves garlic grated
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat. Turn on your grill and allow it to fully preheat to 350 degrees F.
- Make the marinated tomatoes. Combine the halved tomatoes, basil, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Season. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the Chicken Rub.
- Grill the chicken. Place the seasoned chicken breasts on the grill grates. Close the lid and cook them for 15 minutes. Flip the chicken, close the lid, and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reads 155 degrees F.
- Add the cheese and pesto. Spoon 2 Tablespoons of pesto sauce over each chicken breast and top with slices of fresh mozzarella cheese. Close the lid and cook the chicken for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the temperature of the thickest part of the chicken breast reads 160 degrees F.
- Rest and serve. Remove the grilled chicken margherita to a serving platter and allow it to rest for 5 minutes. Top the cooked and rested chicken breasts with the fresh marinated tomatoes and serve.
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Chicken Rub
- Make a similar rub using this RECIPE: Lemon Herb Chicken Seasoning
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
