Creamy Tuscan Chicken

Our Marry Me Chicken will always be at the top of our most-loved recipes, but this creamy Tuscan chicken is right up alongside it. The creamy sun-dried tomato sauce is the definition of simple perfection, and our desire to add it to everything has inspired countless other Tuscan-inspired recipes. The best part? This chicken dinner comes together in under an hour with minimal effort, but tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen. Serve it when you’re looking for an extra special weeknight dinner or date nightstar, and you'll see why we come back to it again and again.

What People Are Saying:
“Great recipe! I made it last night with my fingers crossed because my family is quite judgy when it comes to food, but they all loved it, even my 8-year-old daughter who is very picky, especially with new food. Thank you very much for sharing!” -Cubanitalita

“I try one new recipe per week for years on top of my staples. This is the first thing I've ever made that my wife commented on how good it was like every 5 minutes throughout dinner. Even for good stuff, I'll usually get 1 'this is really good'. The flavor of the sauce was exceptional. Only thing I did was brine the chicken and have some parmesean and butter spaghetti noodles on the side. Recipe was extremely easy as well. 100/100” -Pthebes

How To Make Creamy Tuscan Chicken

INGREDIENTS

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, but you can use chicken thighs if you prefer. Chicken breasts are leaner than thighs, and tend to be thicker as well, which works very well in this recipe.
• Oregano: Oregano has an aromatic, earthy flavor that helps to round out the flavor profile of a dish while also adding a slight hint of pleasant bitterness.
• Butter: There is a reason everyone loves butter. I am using it here to add an extra layer of creaminess to the sauce. It is also going to help deglaze the pan of some of those stuck-on brown bits from your chicken, which is great because they hold so much flavor.
• Garlic: Punchy and aromatic, garlic adds so much flavor to every dish and is a classic Tuscan ingredient.
• Cherry Tomatoes & Baby Spinach: I added cherry tomatoes and spinach to my skillet (like I do in most of my Tuscan-inspired recipes), but you can add even more additions if you have them on hand, or swap out the cherry tomatoes for sun-dried tomatoes. Either way, using bright, fresh veg is important to achieving a convincing Tuscan flavor.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream is really what carries this simple sauce, creating a rich, silky base for your chicken.
• Parmesan: Rich and nutty, Parmesan carries double weight in this recipe, lending flavor and texture to the sauce. Here, it acts as a thickener that will help the sauce hold to the chicken.
• Lemon Wedges: This will add some acidity to the dish that really balances well, but feel free to leave it out if lemon isn’t your thing!

STEP-BY-STEP-INSTRUCTIONS

I start this recipe off by heating olive oil in a skillet over medium heat until the oil looks slick and begins to glide across the face of the pan. Once the oil is ready, I add my chicken breast, spacing properly to fit all four in the skillet at once, and season with salt, pepper, and oregano. We can season the chicken beforehand, but seasoning in the skillet allows for any extra seasoning that doesn’t immediately stick to be mixed back into the chicken and sauce. Cook the chicken for about 8 minutes on each side. A golden crust on both sides is a good indicator that your chicken is cooked through and no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside, covered, until ready to reintroduce.

Next, I add my butter to the same skillet and stir it as it melts, making sure to scrape any stuck-on chicken and seasoning bits back into the mix. Then I stir in my garlic and cook it until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Then, I add in my cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Cook the tomatoes until the skin begins to burst, then add the spinach and cook until it begins to wilt.

Once the spinach wilts, I add in the heavy cream and Parmesan and stir the mixture to combine until it reaches a simmer.

Then I reduce the heat to low and allow the sauce to continue to simmer until it is slightly reduced and thickened. This should take about 3 minutes.

When the sauce has reached our desired consistency, return the cooked chicken to the skillet and allow it to cook in the sauce until heated through completely, about another 5 to 7 minutes.

Plate, serve with lemon wedges, and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

What To Serve With Creamy Tuscan Chicken

I love this dish served with bread, but you can also serve it over rice or pasta, or with creamy mashed potatoes. Whatever you do, I highly recommend serving this alongside something to sop up all of that incredible Tuscan sauce—let’s be honest, it’s the real star of the show here.

Tuscan Chicken Variations

• Tuscan Chicken Pasta: We already love to serve this saucy chicken with pasta, so we decided to combine the two for the pasta version of this chicken dinner.
• Slow-Cooker Tuscan Chicken Meatballs: The slow cooker works its magic in many ways, but it works especially well for these saucy meatballs.
• Tuscan Butter Salmon: Not feeling chicken? No worries—try our Tuscan butter salmon instead.

Storage

Feel free to store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The Tuscan sauce can also be batched ahead of time and frozen in the freezer for up to 3 months before use.