Olive Garden Chicken Margherita Copycat

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Olive Garden Chicken Margherita Copycat

This Olive Garden Chicken Margherita Copycat is inspired by Olive Garden's grilled chicken, but made easily in a skillet. This copycat recipe features juicy chicken breasts, a silky lemon butter sauce, melted mozzarella, and bright basil pesto. It's a bright, fresh, restaurant-style chicken dinner you can make at home in under 30 minutes.

Prep Time5

Cook Time25

Total Time30

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: chicken margherita, olive garden chicken margherita, olive garden copycat, olive garden recipe, tomato basil chicken

Servings: Servings

Calories: 730kcal

Author: Sunena

Equipment

Large skillet

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken breasts boneless, skinless
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon Black pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
16 oz Mozzarella cheese fresh, sliced
¼ cup Basil pesto storebought or homemade
½ cup Grape tomatoes halved
4 cloves Garlic finely minced
1 large Lemon juiced
½ cup Chicken broth low-sodium
2 tablespoon Salted butter
Kosher salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Instructions

Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
2 lbs Chicken breasts, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon Black pepper, 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
Heat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides. Remove the seared chicken from the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the minced garlic to the skillet and lightly saute for 1 minute.
4 cloves Garlic
Add the chicken broth and lemon juice to the garlic, and scrape the brown bits from the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Turn the heat off, add the cold butter to the sauce, and stir. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste.
1 large Lemon, ½ cup Chicken broth, 2 tablespoon Salted butter, Kosher salt, Black pepper
Add the chicken breasts back to the skillet, into the sauce. Top the chicken breasts with sliced mozzarella and place the skillet under the broiler on high, until the cheese is melted.
16 oz Mozzarella cheese
Take the chicken out from under the broiler, and spread a layer of basil pesto on each chicken breast. Top with halved grape tomatoes, and serve.
¼ cup Basil pesto, ½ cup Grape tomatoes

Notes

Searing the chicken: Chicken breast can cook quickly and dry out easily. To keep the chicken juicy, do not cook the chicken more than needed.

Use oven-safe cookware: This chicken comes together in one pan, so be sure your skillet is oven-safe. If it is not, transfer the sauce and chicken to a baking dish before adding and broiling the cheese.

Regulate the heat: When making the lemon butter sauce, keep the heat low so that the sauce does not separate.

Cold butter: Add cold butter off the heat and stir continuously to create a glossy, emulsified sauce.

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