Italian Chicken Skillet

Italian Chicken Skillet is your go-to dish if you are looking for a juicy and filling meal. Italian cookery is quite diverse and if you are still making basic pastas, lasagnas or pizzas then it’s time to make space for some delicious and wholesome recipes on your menu.

You will notice that tomatoes are a huge part of Italian cuisine along with aromatic and flavorsome herbs like oregano and parsley.

If you want to steer clear of the common Italian dishes that can be eaten at any restaurant and want to impress the guests or the family with something else, this dish fits perfectly on the menu.

Health benefits

This is a very healthy dish as one serving only contains 350 calories. The cheese provides calcium, vegetables antioxidants and chicken the protein that your body needs. White pasta can be substituted with whole-wheat if you are watching your weight.

Ingredients

olive oil: 1 tbsp

skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (cubed): 4

cloves garlic (chopped or to taste): 2

balsamic vinegar: 1/2 cup

Honey: 1 tbsp

can diced tomatoes: 1

small seashell pasta: 8 ounces

fresh spinach (chopped)

shredded mozzarella cheese: 1 cup

fresh white button mushrooms: 1 cup

zucchinis (chopped into medium sized cubes): 1 cup

How To Make Italian Chicken Skillet

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add in the garlic and sauté it for a minute.
3. Add in the chicken and cook for 5-8 minutes or until it is white.
4. Pour the balsamic vinegar, honey and tomatoes and keep stirring. Bring the sauce to a boil and let it simmer for 5 more minutes and set aside.
5. Boil lightly salted water in a large pot and add in the shell pasta when it reaches to a boil. Cook the pasta for 10 minutes or until al dente. Add in the spinach over the pasta and cover the lid. Let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle the cheese over the skillet and add the white button mushrooms and zucchini. Cook until the cheese has melted completely.
7. Drain the pasta and spinach and add it to the skillet.
8. Stir until all the ingredients are completely mixed well.
9. You can also use fresh tomatoes instead of canned ones and just add a tsp of Italian seasoning to it.

Trivia

• Do you know that the tomato is originally from Peru? Who knew that this common ingredient that is now used all over the world was only found in South America?
• Tomatoes were thought of as poisonous plant due to it being related to Belladonna plant which is very dangerous.
• Chicken is the second largest meat consumed in the world.
• There are an estimated 23 billion chickens in the world. They outnumber humans on a 3 to 2 ratio.

Mushrooms are closely related to human being skin as they absorb vitamin D on their skin from sunlight.