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One-skillet Chicken Vesuvio is a hearty, comforting 30-minute meal. This easy weeknight dinner idea offers a taste of Chicago culinary history no matter where you live. Think of it like meat and potatoes with an Italian makeover!
If you’re stuck in a chicken breast recipe rut, Chicken Vesuvio is about to be your supper savior. Exploding with flavor and made entirely in one pan, this 30-minute meal is named after the Mount Vesuvius volcano near Naples, Italy.
Food historians believe that Chicken Vesuvio originated in Chicago’s Italian-American restaurants, and its classic form calls for bone-in chicken, potato wedges, and vegetables sautéed with garlic, herbs, white wine, and olive oil.
Those final two ingredients are likely where this chicken dinner gets its name; adding white wine to the olive oil can make the pan smoke like a volcano. Others speculate that the entrée was popularized in the 1930s at a Chicago restaurant called Vesuvio. No matter where or why it was named, I call it delicious. And I might just call it dinner tonight.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Red baby potatoes: Cleaned and halved. Another small- or medium-sized waxy potato, such as baby blue or purple potatoes or fingerlings, works in a pinch too. Simply slice into similar-sized 3/4-inch pieces for even and quick cooking.
- Chicken broth: Use homemade chicken broth or your favorite store-bought brand.
- Dry white wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier are my favorite varieties of dry cooking wines. You’ll need 4 ounces; a small portion of the 25.4-ounce bottle. (A beverage pairing for this chicken dinner is a wise way to put the rest to use, don’t you think?) For an alcohol-free substitute, use ½ cup more chicken broth.
Step by step instructions
- Dry the chicken breasts with a paper towel, then season with salt and pepper. In a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over until just smoking. Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and keep warm.
- In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add potatoes to the skillet, cut side down, and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, rosemary, oregano, and ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth and deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Return the chicken to the pan, along with any juices. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the thickest part of the chicken breast is done (165 degrees on an internal thermometer). Transfer the chicken and the potatoes to a serving dish and tent with foil.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the sauce until it reduces to about 1 cup, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until heated, about 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter and the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and potatoes and serve.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Chicken Vesuvio recipe makes four adult servings, each with 6 ounces of chicken and 6 ounces of potatoes. Add a garden salad or fruit salad and dinner is done.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. Vesuvio-ify pork chops, boneless chicken thighs, or turkey breast cutlets. Use the USDA’s safe cooking temperatures as your guide to know when each is done.
This is a cooking term that refers to adding liquid, such as broth and/or wine, to a hot pan that has already been used to cook something else. Using a whisk, spoon, or spatula, you’ll then scrape along the bottom of the pan to release any of the residual bits of seasoning, meat, or fat, as we do here in Step 3. Rather than rinse them down the drain and start with a new pan (because who needs more dishes to do?), deglazing puts these hidden treasures of flavor to great use in the resulting pan sauce.
In addition to this Chicken Vesuvio entrée, you can try practice deglazing by making Chicken Scallopini, Classic Pot Roast, and French Onion Soup.
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Chicken Vesuvio
Ingredients
- 4 (6 ounce) boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds red baby potatoes scrubbed and halved (see note 1)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (see note 3)
- 1 cup frozen peas thawed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Dry the chicken breasts with a paper towel, then season with salt and pepper. In a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over until just smoking. Cook the chicken until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes, flipping halfway through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and keep warm.
- In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add potatoes to the skillet, cut side down, and cook until golden brown, about 7 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, rosemary, oregano, and ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth and deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the sauce until it reduces to about 1 cup, approximately 5 minutes. Stir in the peas and cook until heated, about 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat and whisk in the butter and the lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the sauce over the chicken and potatoes and serve.
Notes
- Red baby potatoes: Cleaned and halved. Another small- or medium-sized waxy potato, such as baby blue or purple potatoes or fingerlings, works in a pinch too. Simply slice into similar-sized 3/4-inch pieces for even and quick cooking.
- Chicken broth: Use homemade chicken broth or your favorite store-bought brand.
- Dry white wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viognier are my favorite varieties of dry cooking wines. You’ll need 4 ounces; a small portion of the 25.4-ounce bottle. (A beverage pairing for this chicken dinner is a wise way to put the rest to use, don’t you think?) For an alcohol-free substitute, use ½ cup more chicken broth.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Excellent, especially when I don’t want to use the oven. I always add a pinch of red pepper flakes for some volcano heat. Directions clear and good – don’t over cook the peas! One minute is perfect.
Thanks Jake, so glad you enjoyed! – Meggan
I’m definitely trying this recipe. I have always wanted to make Vesuvio Chicken , but all the recipes I found were made with chicken thighs. Thank you
This recipe just didn’t work. I was hoping it would be a new weeknight go-to. I love chicken Vesuvio, but I’ll stick to the usual method. The chicken boiled in this recipe, it took the potatoes a very long time to cook.
Hi Sara, I’m sorry about that. I’m going to kick it back to my test kitchen and try it again. I’ll see how it goes… so sorry again!!! It definitely worked when I made it, but maybe I got lucky??
What is the amount of butter used? It’s not listed in the ingredients. Thanks.
2 tablespoons! Sorry about that. I just updated the recipe. Thanks for catching the typo Carol. And sorry again. Have a great day!
This sounds delicious! There are never enough chicken recipes one can have. And potatoes, well anyone who reads my blog or knows me knows Im a sucker for potatoes!
I love one skillet meals, and this chicken Vesuvio looks right up my alley. Definitely looks like a hearty meal. I have one question, what plugin are you using to get the nutrition information?
Hey there! I’m using Nutrifox. Sometimes it gets wonky and I have to double-check that it pulled all the right ingredients, so if you see anything crazy please do tell! But usually I have no issues. :) There is a recipe plugin called WP Recipe Maker premium (which is the plugin I have, actually) will also can provide nutrition info if you buy the premium version. But I love Nutrifox! Thanks for your comment. :)