A big pan of baked chicken and veggies makes for a delicious weeknight dinner. And this recipe is so good you’ll be making it for all your guests too!
What could be better than creating a delicious meal in just one dish? If you’re like me and the dishes never seem to end, recipes like that can be a real life-saver especially in the middle of the week.
One of my favorite one-dish meals is baked chicken with lots of tomatoes, chilies, and basil. Add some bread to soak up the tomato and chicken juices and you’re good to go. It’s not only an easy and healthy meal, it’s also one of the most delicious things that I cook.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
Video: How To Make A One Pan Chicken Dinner
Perfect Dish For Company
Even though this chicken recipe is pretty simple, it works great for when you have company over. Put everything together and throw it in the oven and you get to actually visit with your guests instead of watching over pans in the kitchen.
Tons of flavor. Juicy chicken. A tiny bit of heat from red chilies. The fresh flavor of basil tying it altogether. Plus, the red of the tomatoes and green from the fresh basil look very appetizing!
How To Make Easy Baked Chicken With Tomatoes
While the oven preheats, arrange the skinless, bone-in chicken thighs in a single layer in the dish you’ll be baking in. I use my 12″ cast iron skillet. You can use boneless chicken thighs if you prefer, but you’ll reduce the baking time.
Topple in the grape or cherry tomatoes and sprinkle in the chili slices and 15 large basil leaves. (The chilies and basil will get blackened during the bake, that’s okay.) Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake until chicken is cooked through to 165°F, 45 minutes to an hour, and then add some more fresh basil leaves on top to serve. That’s it, one pan in the oven and you’re done!
Try serving this over pasta with a nice side salad for a complete meal.
More One Dish Recipes
I have a whole category of One-Dish Dinners to make your life easier.
Podcast Episode About Making Baked Chicken With Tomatoes, Basil, And Red Chilies
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this chicken, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Baked Chicken with Tomatoes Recipe
- Prep Time: 6 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 51 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
There’s nothing as easy as a big pan of baked chicken and veggies for a delicious weeknight dinner. And this recipe is so good you’ll be making it for all your guests too! If using boneless chicken thighs instead of the bone-in ones called for in the recipe, reduce the cooking time from 45 to 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 3.5 lbs. skinless bone-in chicken thighs (about 8)*
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1–2 red chilies, sliced (don’t even bother to remove the seeds)
- 15 large basil leaves (torn up a bit), plus 10-12 smaller ones for garnish
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Arrange chicken pieces in a single layer in a large rimmed pan or baking dish (I use my 12″ cast iron skillet). Topple in the tomatoes. Scatter everything with the chili slices and the 15 large basil leaves. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes to an hour. The chilies and basil leaves will be blackened. But they taste good, don’t worry.
- Scatter the remaining 10-12 basil leaves over top before serving.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
This post originally appeared in April 2014 and was revised and republished in September 2023.
Paige says
I made this and absolutely loved it! I’ve shared with a few friends and am excited to make it again soon. Thanks for an easy and delicious recipe! Makes me feel like I can cook. ;)
Tammy says
Can you use a Dutch oven?
Christine Pittman says
Hi Tammy,
I don’t think a Dutch oven would be the best option here. You want everything in a single layer because you want the chicken to brown a bit and you don’t want the tomatoes to get squished. I’ve used a really big cast iron skillet. But you could instead use a 13×9″ cake pan or a large casserole dish (like a lasagna pan) or anything with a large surface and a rim so that any juices don’t spill out into your oven as it cooks. I hope that helps! -Christine
Diane says
I am not a fan of chicken thighs, but love the way this dish is prepared. Have you ever tried it with skinless, boneless chicken breasts?
Andy says
I accidentally bought boneless thighs instead of bone-in, should I do anything differently when making this?
Stacy says
All i can say is this meal is out of this world it’s simply delicious, thank you so much for this recipe my family loves it. I used our garden tomatoes and basil and I’m not too big on heat so i only used one chili and it was the perfect balance!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Stacy,
I am so so so happy that your family likes this recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know. One of my favorite things is to have a big pan of chicken pieces and add some other ingredients, like with this dish. So much so that I’m in the process of developing two similar (yet very different) recipes right now. They’re not finished yet but it looks like one has butternut squash and sage instead of the tomatoes, basil and chili and the other is with broccoli that you top with a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and cheddar cheese. So do stay tuned! And thanks again for the comment. You made my day!!
Kathy @ Olives & Garlic says
Such a gorgeous dish. I can taste all the flavors. Pinning
★★★★★
laly says
wow! what a great one! My family loves this simple but spicy hot picks!
★★★★
Sherry Evans says
Christine…….this looks and sounds very good. What kind of red chilis did you use?
Carolyn Ketchum says
This is gorgeous! And I happen to have two packs of chicken thighs on the freezer. I have my eye on this for the coming week!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Carolyn! It’s become a total family favorite. (Last time I made it with broccoli instead of tomatoes. Just as good!)
Jenn @ Mother Thyme says
This looks incredible! I love how easy it is too!
Jeanette | Jeanette's Healthy Living says
Love how easy and elegant this dinner looks Christine – perfect for family or friends!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Jeanette! I love when delicious food is this easy.
★★★★★
Laura @ Laura's Culinary Adventures says
Delicious! I think this looks really elegant. I like a little eat in my food too!
Christine Pittman says
Laura, agreed! A little heat makes it interesting.
★★★★★
JanetFCTC says
I have a definite weakness for baked chicken. Throw in the other ingredients in this and I’m in heaven. YUMMY!
Christine Pittman says
Janet, I have the same weakness. The smell of chicken baking always makes me happy.
★★★★★
Rachel Cooks says
Love all the fresh flavors in this! Great weeknight (or weekend!) meal!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Rachel!
Cassie says
These flavors sound incredible together. I especially love the heat from the chilies!
Christine Pittman says
Cassie, I think it’s the red chillies that make this dish. With the sweet basil and sweet tomatoes. So good!
Miriam @ OvertimeCook says
Such a delicious looking supper recipe!
Katerina says
This is such a delicious meal Christine and with so many familiar and loved flavors!
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Katerina!
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles says
Delicious!!
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Brenda!
Jane's Adventures in Dinner says
A one pan-gorgeous dinner. that sounds and looks like a total dream.
Jane's Adventures in Dinner says
I would totally make this for company and they would be thrilled.
★★★★★
Christine Pittman says
Thanks Jane! I know, I love when most of dinner is in one pan. So easy :)
Becca from ItsYummi! says
I love that you added a kick of spice from the red chiles! To answer your question, I usually leave a lot of heat spices out when I’m having company, just in case there’s an intolerance to the heat.
Christine Pittman says
Becca, I tend to ask people if they have any food dislikes. I’ll even saw specifically, “Do you like heat? Stinky cheeses? Olives?” to let them know that I mean even the stuff that they might assume everyone dislikes. (When I make this for my family, I do it as listed above. But for my kids, I scrape off the chillies and the outside layer of meat from the chicken. The heat doesn’t seem to penetrate.)