Sun Dried Tomato & Artichoke Chicken Breasts is an easy and super flavorful main dish that your whole family will love! It’s a weeknight dinner recipe that is ready in under 30 minutes.
Do you watch Friends? I watch it almost nightly. The entire series is currently on Netflix, which means I don’t have to deal with my DVD’s, so I almost always put it on at the very end of my evening when I’m just about ready to go to sleep. I’ve seen the entire series at least ten times through, and that’s being conservative. It’s just the best show ever, in my humble opinion. Anyway, in season 8’s episode The One Where Joey Tells Rachel, Phoebe dates a guy named Don who she thinks is actually Monica’s soul-mate. He is a foodie too, and they talk about a restaurant that he and Phoebe had just eaten at. He says, “What’s with all the sun dried tomatoes at that place?” and Monica says, “I know! What is it, 1985?” I ALWAYS think of that reference when I’m using sun dried tomatoes, and it always makes me feel a little bit lame for using them. I know. I’m ridiculous. So, there’s a little peek inside my crazy brain. You’re welcome.
Despite my ridiculous feelings of shame from a 90’s tv show character, I absolutely adore sun dried tomatoes and use them every chance I get. You should too.
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Chicken Breasts – Boneless & skinless or bone in skin on?
What kind of chicken breasts are best for this recipe? Most of the time I prefer to cook with bone in skin on chicken breasts because you don’t have to trim them and handle the floppy, slimy raw chicken. Raw chicken is really my least favorite protein to work with. However, this recipe works best with boneless, skinless chicken breasts because the sun dried tomato and artichoke relish goes on top of the chicken, and the skin would not remain nice and crispy, which is the only way you want chicken skin.
Sun Dried Tomatoes – Oil packed or not?
How are sun dried tomatoes made? All sun dried tomatoes, no matter how they are packaged, are made in one of two ways. Either they are actually left to dry in the sun OR they are put in the oven on a very low temperature until they are all dried up and their flavor is nice and concentrated. The only difference when buying them at the store is that some are left dry and put in sealed bags and others are packed in oil that is sometimes left plain and sometimes flavored with herbs. For this recipe, either would work fine. I used the dry packed ones, though, so if you are going to use the oil packed ones, you will want to either leave out the olive oil in the recipe or reduce it depending on how much you drain your oil packed sun dried tomatoes.
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This recipe makes a lot of the sun dried tomato and artichoke relish. It might seem like there is too much to pile on top of your chicken breasts, so you can do one of two things: you can either put the extra on the bottom of the pan and let it cook with the chicken breasts (this is what I do because it’s delicious and I’m a more is better kind of person when it comes to sauces and toppings), or you can save any extra and use it as a sandwich spread, put it on pasta, or smear it on a cracker for a snack.
Serve this over rice or pasta or with a side of veggies like my simple Sauteed Vegetables. I am on a cauliflower rice kick, so that’s what I make when I serve this. What are you going to make with it? Tell me in the comments!
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The Cheerful Kitchen
Yields 4 servings
Sun Dried Tomato & Artichoke Chicken Breasts is an easy and super flavorful main dish that is ready in under 30 minutes!
5 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save Recipe5 based on 1 review(s)
Ingredients
- 1 can artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 cup sun dried tomatoes, packaged dry*
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of extra fat and skin
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides, then place into a pan heated to medium/high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Sear the chicken breasts on both sides until they are nicely browned but not cooked through, about 4 minutes per side.
- While the chicken is browning, put all of your relish ingredients into a food processor and pulse until everything is combined but it is still chunky.
- When your chicken has browned on both sides, spread a heaping tablespoon of the SDT/artichoke relish on each breast, more if you want, and then scatter the extra on the bottom of the pan (it will cook up and make a nice little sauce) or save for later use.
- Turn the heat down to low, put a lid on the pan, and let the chicken cook undisturbed for another 10-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
If you use oil packed sun dried tomatoes then you will want to reduce the oil in the relish recipe by half.
For more easy weeknight dinner recipes, try:
Slow Cooker Curried Chicken & Cabbage
Goulash with Corn & Kidney Beans
Alix @A Hedgehog in the Kitchen says 
vansofia@gmail.com says 
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