Roasted Tomato Basil Chicken Sandwich

This was one of my family’s favorite meals BEFORE I started macros… and like so many delicious things, we parted ways for a time. Until I figured this whole macro-counting thing out and realized I didn’t have to eat only rice cakes and zoodles. Now this roasted tomato and basil chicken sandwich is like one of the lightest dinners I make! And for sure one of my all-time favorites.

I was so shocked and thrilled when I took my first bite of the lightened-up version and it was just like I remembered! Just so much flavor.  I honestly didn’t miss a thing.  And I miss a lot of things. But I think the flavor comes so much from the herbs and garlic and ROASTED TOMATOES!  They’re like candy.  Oh and bacon. Obviously the bacon. You don’t need tons of cheese or real mayo to make the magic.

MAKE this one. For real. And if you have leftover roasted tomatoes, caramelized onion, and basil aioli, you’re set for fancy lunch sandwiches the rest of the week.

Both my girls ask for basil mayo at every deli we go to now. Poor things are always disappointed that it’s not always a thing.

Super simple.  You’re just grilling some chicken, making a super quick basil mayo, caramelizing onions and roasting tomatoes (both of which you could do ahead of time), and throwing it all together on a toasty bun with bacon, cheese, and arugula.  They both add SOOO much flavor for little macro-damage so you should just keep them on hand to make your whole life better anyway.

You’re welcome.

Roasted Tomato Basil Chicken Sandwich

Easily my favorite chicken sandwich.  Don’t skip on toppings, SO GOOD together.

Print Pin Rate

5 from 4 votes

Author Lillie

Course Sandwich

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Calories 423 kcal

Ingredients

For the Sandwich

• 4 oz Grilled chicken breasts or tenderloins I always use tenderloins like this recipe
• Kaiser buns or “hard rolls”- with the top hollowed out came to 50 g
• 2 tbs light basil garlic “aioli” see below
• Roasted tomatoes see below (30 g roasted, logged 60 g raw)
• 1 slice of bacon
• Arugula
• Fresh basil
• 2 tbs Caramelized onion see below
• 1 slice extra thinly sliced provolone or light provolone
• For the Basil Garlic Aioli I know this is the most inauthentic “aioli” ever made and I’m cool with that.
• 2 frozen Dorot garlic cubes
• 2 frozen Dorot basil cubes
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream or you can use greek yogurt or light mayo
• pinch of salt and pepper

For the Roasted Tomatoes

• 2 garlic cloves or cubes
• 2 tbs dried basil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil I used to do 5 in case you’re not watching fat- go for it.
• 6 to matoes I used roma

Instructions

For the Basil Garlic Aioli

• Mix 2 frozen Dorot garlic cubes, 2 frozen basil cubes (I get both at Trader Joes), and a little salt and pepper into ½ cup fat free sour cream, greek yogurt, or light mayo (I use fat free sour cream because I like the macro and the texture best… I thought it wouldn’t come close to the original but I swear I didn’t even miss it!)

For the Roasted Tomatoes

• Mix together everything but tomatoes. Quarter the tomatoes lengthwise and put in a big ziplock with the marinade for five minutes.
• Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Arrange tomatoes on the pan and roast at 425 for about 35 minutes till they’re blistered and super tender. These are now ready to make EVERYTHING better.
• *(When logging roasted tomatoes, add as recipe, or for a shortcut, I cut into pretty even fourths and made a note of what the romas weighed raw on average.  Then I knew if I took three quarters, I logged ¾ of the weight of a roma and an estimated percentage of those 2 tbs of olive oil.)

For the Caramelized onion

• Slice a white onion thin and throw it in a pan sprayed with cooking spray.
• Spray onions with cooking spray and give a generous sprinkle of kosher salt.
• Cook over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until super soft and caramelized. If I’m in a hurry I’ll crank the heat but usually they can just stay under a lid while I prep everything else.  Just stir occasionally
• Save your leftover caramelized onions! I use them for this pizza, my favorite turkey burger, or any other flatbread, sandwich.. wrap or pretty much anything. Such a flavor-maker.
• *(For macro counters, these shrink by about half so you’re pretty safe if you just log, in raw white onion, TWICE what you take. Read this if you care, but don’t know what I’m talking about!)

Build your Sandwich!

• After your chicken comes off the grill, I usually have two tenderloins together, top immediately with one slice of extra thin or light provolone and cover.
• Slice the bottom of your roll as thin as possible and hollow out the top (this is getting redundant if you’ve read through another recipe I know. Saaaaarrie. It will look uglier but save you carbs AND even make the sandwich taste better and leave room for all your yummy toppings to nestle in there… )
• Spray inside of bun with cooking spray (I prefer olive oil spray) and pan toast.
• Spread bun with basil garlic aioli. (I don’t worry about the tiny add-ins and just log the sour cream.) Top with cheesy chicken, roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, one slice of bacon, caramelized onion, and arugula.. These are SO good. Like you feel like a chef good.

Notes

This is TOTALLY something we’ll use leftover chicken tenderloins for, just brought to room temp or BARELY warmed in microwave to take the edge off but avoid the reheat flavor. Added to a toasty bun and crispy bacon etc… it’s like brand-new I promise!  So make extra of everything to have a second time in the week…

Nutrition

Serving: 1sandwichCalories: 423kcalCarbohydrates: 38.9gProtein: 49.6gFat: 8.8gSaturated Fat: 2.9g

Tried this recipe?

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