The Best Marinated Bruschetta Chicken

Do you love the bruschetta appetizer from Italian restaurants? If so, you’re going to love it even more served over top of this juicy marinated chicken. It’s fresh, healthy, full of flavor, and completely addicting. 

Some of the best recipes are the simplest. Bruschetta has been topped over french bread crisps for a very long time and it’s one of the most popular appetizers. Just recently I’ve seen it being used in other ways like on top of chicken or in addition to pasta making it very versatile in any way it’s used. 

Using this popular tomato topping over chicken is extremely delicious 

What ingredients make up this bruschetta topping? 

• Tomatoes - Tomatoes are the biggest highlight in this recipe. Any type of tomato that you use is going to be delicious, especially if it’s home grown or heirloom. To keep things simple, I went with a roma tomato. I love roma tomatoes because they’re not quite as juicy and not as messy while chopping.
• Sweet onion - Onions are not typically found in all bruschetta recipes. I feel like it’s an absolute must in this one. I use sweet onions instead of yellow onions, they’re a lot more palatable raw. Also, don’t be afraid that they will overpower your dish because the acid from the balsamic glaze is going to remove the strength of the onion and make it sweet and delicious. 
• Basil - This is one of my favorite herbs and it’s a staple in bruschetta. If you don’t have this growing in your back yard you should consider it as it goes well with almost any italian recipe. In this bruschetta, I like it cut chiffonade which is just a fancy term for sliced thinly long ways. I do this by stacking all of the leaves on top of one another, rolling them together and then slicing. 
• Garlic - I love garlic and would put it on everything if I could. It’s potent but settles down the longer it sits much like the onion. 
• Dried Oregano - Adding only a little bit of this does make a difference. It’s not enough to overpower the basil but just enough to accent it. I suggest dried over fresh. 
• Salt and Pepper - Go lightly on the salt and pepper. These should enhance the flavors of all of the other ingredients and should not be so overpowering that you don’t taste the sweetness from the balsamic glaze 
• Balsamic Glaze - This is the ingredient that pulls everything together. Balsamic glaze is a thicker and sweeter version of balsamic vinegar. It’s made by reducing balsamic vinegar and cooking it down with sugar to thicken it. It’s more sweet than it is tangy and reduces the potency of the onion and garlic. 

Marinating the chicken 

You definitely need to give yourself time to marinate the chicken for about 5-6 hours. The less time you spend marinating the less flavorful it can be. However, marinating it for much longer can cause your chicken to toughen due to the acidity in the marinade. 

One thing I love doing when I’m marinating chicken is I like to poke the chicken with a fork so the marinade seeps in to the middle of the chicken instead of only the outside. 

Storing the Bruschetta Chicken 

The bruschetta topping typically stays most fresh for the first 2-3 days. If you make bruschetta chicken, try to make enough to eat within the same night or the next. Because all of the ingredients are fresh and since the vinegar from the balsamic glaze will continue break down the tomatoes. If you do have left overs, they can be stored in the refrigerator with the chicken separate from the bruschetta topping. 

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do.