Juicy and Flavorful Grilled Chicken Caprese Sandwich
Brining chicken breasts is the secret to the most flavorful chicken sandwiches, including this homemade grilled chicken caprese sandwich! A quick 30-minute brine ensures the grilled chicken breast comes out juicy and flavorful every time. Serve with ciabatta bread, fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, and pesto aioli for the ultimate chicken caprese sandwich.
Servings 4
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 cups cold tap water
- 4 Tablespoons kosher or table salt
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts trimmed of excess fat
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder I use roasted garlic powder but not necessary
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the Pesto Aioli
- 1 Tablespoon mayonnaise light ok
- 2 Tablespoons Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons premade pesto I use Costco's pesto. Adjust to your taste.
- juice from ¼ of a lemon
For the Roasted Tomatoes
- 4 Roma tomatoes cored, sliced into 4 slices * [see note]
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- salt/black pepper
Toppings and Bun
- 4 ciabatta buns sliced in half and lightly toasted
- ½ lb fresh mozzarella sliced
- 4 oz. arugula washed and dried
- balsamic glaze see Notes
Instructions
For the chicken
- In a large bowl, add salt to the cold water and stir until the salt is dissolved, about 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken breasts. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove the chicken and rinse under cold water. Pat completely dry.
- Season both sides of the chicken with ground black pepper and garlic powder.
Make the aioli
- While the chicken is brining, combine the mayonnaise, pesto and lemon in a small bowl and set aside. Taste for seasoning. Add a little salt, if needed. Cover and refrigerate.
Grill the Chicken
- Heat a gas grill to 400°. LIghtly oil the grates using an olive oil dipped paper towel.
- Place the chicken on the grill and cook for approximately 4-5 minutes on each side, or until a meat thermometer registers 165°.
- Drizzle some oil on the insides of the split ciabatta rolls. Grill cut side down during the last minute or so of the chicken cooking over indirect heat or an upper level of your grill if you have one. You can also turn off the grill to toast the bread after the chicken has finished cooking.
To slow roast the tomatoes
- Preheat the oven to 300°
- Place the sliced tomatoes on a baking sheet. Don't crowd the tomatoes.
- Drizzle with olive oil and a healthy sprinkle of salt and black pepper.
- Roast for approximately 2 hours until the tomatoes are rich in color and smell.
Assemble the sandwich
- Place 1-2 tablespoons of aioli on both sides of a ciabatta roll.
- Top with the grilled chicken followed by the fresh mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, a sprinkling of arugula and a drizzle of balsamic glaze.
- Close up the sandwich. Slice in half and serve.
Notes
For large chicken breasts:
- If your chicken breasts are really thick, they'll take longer to cook. Feel free to pound them thinner with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer and cut them in half to fit on your roll easier.
- as an alternative, you can use jarred sun dried tomatoes
- For a single serving: use 1 Roma tomato per person, ½ heirloom or 5 cherry tomatoes.
