High proteinLow carb

Baked Chicken with Tomato & Mozzarella

No breadcrumbs, no frying, same idea.

35 min Serves 2 Oven, Stove, Frying pan

Per serving

509

kcal

56.4 g

protein

11.9 g

carbs

24.9 g

fat

11.1 g protein per 100 kcal · 1.9 g fibre. Calculated from the exact weights below using standard food composition data, so they are close estimates rather than lab values.

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Ingredients

For 2 servings.

  • Chicken breast250 g
  • Passata250 g
  • Mozzarella100 g
  • Garlic10 g
  • Olive oil12 g
  • Parmesan(optional)25 g

Method

  1. 1Sear the seasoned chicken briefly on both sides.
  2. 2Simmer the passata with garlic until thick, pour into a dish, chicken on top.
  3. 3Mozzarella over, bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

New to cooking? Read this first

The techniques and safety points this recipe uses, explained from scratch.

Chicken and turkey: cook it all the way throughShow

Raw poultry often carries campylobacter and salmonella. They are killed by heat, not by washing — so the one rule is: cooked right through, every time.

  1. Do NOT rinse raw chicken under the tap. It does not clean it; it splashes bacteria around your sink, worktop and clothes. Take it straight from the pack to the board or pan.
  2. If it is wet, pat it dry with kitchen paper, bin the paper, then wash your hands.
  3. Check the thickest piece, not the thinnest. Cut into it: there should be no pink meat at all, and the juices should run clear, not pink.
  4. Most reliable: a food thermometer pushed into the thickest part should read at least 75 °C.

Ready when: White all the way through, juices clear, steaming hot — or 75 °C in the thickest part.

Crushing or chopping garlicShow

Garlic is added in small pieces so it spreads through the dish. It burns in seconds, which turns it bitter, so it usually goes in after the onion, not before.

  1. Pull one clove off the bulb. Trim off the hard little root end.
  2. Lay the flat of your knife on the clove and press down firmly with the heel of your hand. The skin splits and slips off.
  3. Slice it thinly, then rock the knife back and forth over the slices until the pieces are tiny. Or push the peeled clove through a garlic crusher.
  4. In the pan it needs about 30 seconds to a minute, stirring, until it smells strong — then add the next ingredient.

Ready when: In the pan: fragrant and pale gold. Brown means it has gone too far.

Browning and searing meatShow

The brown crust is flavour. It forms only on a dry surface in a hot pan — wet meat or a crowded pan just steams.

  1. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper. Season it.
  2. Get the oil hot (shimmering, maybe a wisp of smoke).
  3. Lay the pieces in, away from you so the fat doesn't spit towards you, with space between them.
  4. Then leave them alone for 2–4 minutes. Don't poke. When the underside is brown the meat lets go of the pan by itself — if it sticks, it isn't ready to turn.
  5. Turn and brown the other side. Browning adds flavour; it does not make meat safe on its own — it still has to be cooked through.
Simmer vs boil — what the bubbles tell youShow

A boil is big bubbles rolling hard across the whole surface. A simmer is much gentler: small bubbles rising lazily, a few breaking the surface. Stews, sauces and soups simmer; boiling makes meat tough and sauces catch on the bottom.

  1. Bring it up to the boil on a higher heat, then turn the heat down until the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer.
  2. Check every few minutes and adjust — a lid on makes it hotter, a lid off lets it thicken.
  3. Stir now and then, scraping the bottom, so nothing sticks and burns.

Ready when: Small, steady bubbles — not a still surface, not a rolling boil.

Thickening a sauce by cooking it downShow

Letting a sauce bubble with the lid off lets water escape as steam, so it gets thicker and tastier.

  1. Take the lid off and keep it at a lively simmer.
  2. Stir every minute or two, scraping the bottom — it catches more easily as it thickens.
  3. Season at the END, because the salt concentrates as the liquid goes.

Ready when: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger stays clear.

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A standard home version of a well-known dish, written for Solviro. Nutrition is estimated from ingredient weights and will vary with brands and portions.