Feta Baked Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes is an easy one pan dinner made with juicy chicken tenderloins pan seared with aromatics, herbs and it's topped with melty feta cheese. All cooked in one pot in under 30 minutes.
ONE perfect little bite in ONE perfect little pot. We love these kinds of meals as life has just been plain old BUSY. Do you want bold flavors without any fuss? Then follow along and you can get this super easy Greek feta chicken dinner ready for your family in a snap.
Table of contents
Feta Baked Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
You are just going to love this gluten-free one-pot chicken recipe as it really brings together all the Mediterranean flavors without any effort at all. Sweet sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions and dried herbs gives the dish its gentle sweetness. However, our favorite part is how the creamy feta cheese gets toasty on top in the last moment in the oven. To top that…leftovers rock! The flavors had time to mingle, and we did not need to cook the next day. Win-Win!
Side Dishes
For extra style points, try serving our baked feta chicken on a bed of sautéed garlic spinach, zucchini noodles or you might to try our 5 Minute Stir Fried Garlic Pea Shoots. If you are craving carbohydrates, try this feta crusted chicken over our Speedy Spinach Pesto Pasta, Vegan Chickpea Lemon Rice or even with a Creamy parmesan risotto with saffron.
Looking for some refreshing salad ideas? You are going to love our Easy Summer Millet Salad, Heirloom Tomato Cucumber Salad or a nice tossed salad with a light Lemon White Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Ingredients
Chicken – 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 sundried tomatoes were steeped in, to finish off the recipe and make that delicious broth. If you have any extra sundried tomatoes left over, be sure to try our 3-Minute Vegan Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto. They are also delicious in our Flame Kissed Tomato Pesto Tapas. However, you can also use sundried tomatoes in oil and skip the soaking in water.
Dried or fresh herbs like oregano, basil and thyme (like an Italian herb blend) are all perfect. Of course, fresh herbs from your own garden provide even more style points. A little kick from dried ground paprika is always welcome. For you paprika nerds, there are three common kinds of paprika: Sweet paprika, Hot paprika and Smoked paprika. We used mild sweet paprika for our feta baked chicken.
Aromatics are always a good idea. Have you ever had a Mediterranean dish without garlic and onions? (smiling)
Simple Step by Steps
Rehydrate sun-dried tomatoes and save the juice to deglaze the pan later. Season chicken on both sides.
Add olive oil and aromatics to the pan until translucent. Sear chicken in cast iron skillet or oven safe pan on both sides.
Add white wine and/or sun-dried tomato juice to deglaze the pan.
Add chopped rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes and feta then bake. Check out the recipe and video below for full directions.
Benefits of Cast Iron Skillet
Don’t you just love that little sear that the iron skillet gives the chicken? We made this whole Greek feta chicken dish from start to finish in our trusty cast iron skillet. Cleanup was a snap!
Do you have an iron skillet? If not, no worries. You can make Feta Baked Chicken in any oven proof pan or shallow Dutch oven. However, if you already have one or in the market to buy one, there are many benefits of a cast iron skillet.
First, did you know that an iron skillet can last a lifetime if seasoned properly? (See our FAQ below on how to season your cast iron skillet) Once seasoned properly, you will not need as much oil to prevent sticking. Our favorite reason for using an iron skillet is that it distributes heat evenly and also retains heat well. In addition, you get a little extra iron in your diet when you cook in an iron skillet.
Ways to Use a Cast Iron Skillet
An iron skillet can be used in so many ways such as searing meats and fish. We use an iron skillet for a couple of our reader’s favorite recipes such as our Pepper Lunch Steak and Rice Sizzle or our Cajun Blackened Cod. From slow cooked dishes to our less than 30 minutes One Pot Paprika Pork, the iron skillet is really the only pan you will ever need.
On many occasions, we have used the iron skillet as a door stop. It is so heavy! Heck, it could be even be used as self-defense for unwanted guests. (just kidding) If you wanted to you could really do some damage... and if you dropped it on your toes. Ouch!
Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ’s)
To season a new cast iron skillet, wash and dry skillet. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F or 232 degrees C. In the meantime, slather your pan with 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil all over pan. Remove any excess oil with a piece of dry toweling. Place the iron skillet upside down over a baking sheet in case there is any oil that drips. Bake cast iron skillet for 30 minutes. Make sure to ventilate your kitchen well. There can be smoke from the oil cooking in the hot oven. Repeat this process 2-3 more times. Allow the cast iron skillet to cool and it is ready for use.
Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Heat water in a kettle or pan to boiling and pour water over the sun-dried tomatoes. Leave tomatoes sit for about 15 minutes or until softened. 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.
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 is finished cooking according to the Food and Drug Administration.
More Chicken Tenderloin Recipes
Thai Grilled Chicken Tenderloins
Creamy Chipotle Chicken Skillet
Mushroom Chicken with Brandy Sauce
Rosemary Chicken with Sautéed Onion Wine Sauce
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Feta Baked Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Equipment
- iron skillet or oven proof pan
Ingredients
- 3 oz sun dried tomatoes (soaked in warm water to soften)
- 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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 190 degree Celsius or 375 F.
- Rehydrate Sun-Dried TomatoesOption 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 garlic 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 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!
Carol says
Sounds delish. If substituting tenderloins with thighs, should they be skinless and boneless?
HWC Magazine says
Hi there Carol, not necessarily. However, it does take chicken thighs longer to cook. If using chicken thighs, they do not need to be skinless and boneless. (However, you may consider, holding off on adding the feta cheese until you have about 15 minutes left in the oven to cook, just so it does not get over browned.) You will need to probably bake the chicken thighs for about 30 minutes or until the juices run clear or the internal thermometer reads at least 165 degrees F. Take Care
Lynn says
Very good! I added a little rosemary and salt free lemon pepper. Leftovers reheated nicely.
HWC Magazine says
thanks Lynn. We are so glad you enjoyed our Feta Baked chicken with sundried tomatoes recipe. Love your ideas to add a little rosemary and lemon pepper. Will have to try that next time. Take Care
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
Using the cast iron skillet to create this entire dish was such a genius move, both for enhancing flavor and for saving time cleaning up. Cast iron helps everything taste better!
HWC Magazine says
We love using a cast iron skillet as it is also a sneaky way to get some extra iron in your diet too. win-Win. Thanks and take care
Michelle says
Such a delicious one-pot meal! Love the combination of feta and sun-dried tomato -- it just screams spring time!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Michelle. Feta baked chicken is a great dish for those super busy nights that you are low on time but want something really flavorful.
Karen (Back Road Journal) says
I don't know why I never think to use chicken tenderloins, your dish sounds great and it looks wonderful on that pile of sautéed spinach.
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Karen. Chicken tenderloins cook super fast. We love opting for these when we are low on time. Stay well and take care
mjskitchen says
Well this is a keeper. Just purchased a bag of sun-dried tomatoes and I always have chicken and feta. What a nice, easy and delicious dinner. Thanks!
HWC Magazine says
Thank you MJ! So glad you enjoyed our recipe for Feta Baked Chicken. Life has been just crazy busy. If we can't make dinner in under 30 minute, it's just not going to happen. LOL
Ian says
This will be wonderful on Med Night with a nice white wine and some soft Spanish music
HWC Magazine says
Thank you Ian. Baked feta chicken is super easy but also delicious enough for a gathering. Whenever, we all get back to doing that.
Raymund says
Wow that one of the juiciest chicken tenderloins I saw. Looks amazing
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Raymund. Chicken tenderloins cook up so fast so that is why we used them in this recipe but also delicious with chicken thighs too. Take Care