Feta Baked Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

2 delicious Feta Baked chicken tenderloins over a bed of sautéed garlicky spinach on a black plate.

4.97 from 29 votes

Feta Baked Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Feta BakedChicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes is an easy one pan dinner made with juicy chicken tenderloins pan seared with aromatics, herbs and sun-dried tomatoes. It’s topped with melty feta cheese all cooked in one pot in under 30 minutes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Mains

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 335kcal

Author: HWC Magazine

Equipment

iron skillet or oven proof pan

Ingredients

3 oz sun dried tomatoes (soaked in warm water to soften) *see notes for sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup onions chopped
2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
8 chicken tenderloins
salt and pepper to taste (remember the feta is salty so delicate on the salt)
1 teaspoon paprika
⅓ cup white wine (or can use tomato water from softening sun-dried tomatoes)
⅓ cup residual water from soaking sun-dried tomatoes
4 oz feta cheese
1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning mixture of oregano, basil, thyme or 2 tablespoons of fresh Italian herbs.
2 tablespoon fresh basil or parsley optional for garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius or 375 F.
Rehydrate Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Option 1: Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Heat water in kettle or pan to boiling and pour water over the sun-dried tomatoes to cover. Leave sun-dried tomatoes sit for about 15 minutes or until softened.
Option 2: Alternatively, you can place your sun-dried tomatoes in a microwave safe dish and cover with water. Microwave on high for about 2-3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and leave sit for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sun-dried tomatoes are soft and plump.
Do NOT throw out the water the sun-dried tomatoes are soaking in! We are going to use ⅓ cup to deglaze the pan. Reserve and set aside. If you forget, no worries, just increase the white wine to ⅔ cup instead of ⅓ cup in recipe.
Cool and chop rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and set aside.
In your iron skillet (oven proof pan or Dutch oven) add your olive oil, onions and fry until aromatic and softened and starting to caramelize. Add salt, pepper, paprika and Italian seasoning to your chicken on both sides and add to the hot skillet. Sear the chicken gently on each sides just to make golden brown. (about 2 minutes). Add minced garlic to the pan.
Add chopped rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes to the chicken. Then, add white wine and residual soaking water from your sun-dried tomatoes to deglaze the pan. (If you forgot to reserve the liquid from your sun-dried tomatoes, don't sweat it. You can either add another ⅓ cup white wine or water to the pan so it equals ⅔ cup of liquid.) Sprinkle your chicken with crumbled feta cheese and bake for about 10-12 minutes just until the chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear and the feta cheese is nice and melty.
Serve your Feta Baked Chicken with sun-dried tomatoes over sautéed garlic spinach, pasta, zucchini noodles or risotto. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days in a sealed containers or can be frozen up to 2 months.

Substitutions:

We used chicken tenderloins as they cook quickly. However, you can also use chicken thighs or chicken breasts, but you will need to increase the cook time.

Feta cheese is super delicious, delivers a nice ‘crust’, and has a high melt temperature. Feel free to exchange with Mexican cotija cheese or other crumbly cheese of choice.

Sun-dried tomatoes (hint) steep or rehydrate in hot water to soften. These are really good in this recipe. They are sweeter compared to fresh tomatoes. We used the water the sun-dried tomatoes were steeped in, to finish off the recipe and make that delicious broth.

You can also use sun-dried tomatoes prepared in OIL and skip the soaking in water. However, you will need to increase the wine or water in recipe so that the deglazing liquid equals ⅔ cup.

Dried or fresh herbs like oregano, basil and thyme (like an Italian herb blend) are all perfect.

When are chicken tenderloins done cooking?

One way to check to see if your chicken tenderloins are cooked through is to cut into it. If the juices run clear and the chicken is no longer pink, then it is cooked. However, for more stringent parameters, use a meat thermometer. If the temperature reads 165 degrees F or 74 degrees C in the center of the chicken tenderloin it is finished cooking.

Nutrition