Creamy Tuscan Chicken
This creamy Tuscan chicken recipe is the chicken dinner of your dreams! Juicy breasts are bathed in a dreamy sauce of sun dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and Parmesan. Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s a dinner idea that’s both easy and impressive!
If we could eat just one dinner for the rest of our lives, this might be it: a skillet of creamy Tuscan chicken! What is it that makes it so outrageously good? Maybe it’s the dreamy sauce of sun dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and Parmesan. Or maybe it’s the savory flavor explosion from the pan seared chicken breast. Either way, it’s beyond delicious, you can whip it up in 30 minutes, and it will please absolutely everyone. Get ready for the chicken dinner of your dreams!
Ingredients in this Tuscan chicken recipe
We’re not exaggerating when we say this is one of the best chicken recipes we’ve made; it ties with Chicken Piccata for our favorite meal to impress. It’s great for weeknight meals, but it’s fancy enough that it’s great for dinner parties and special occasions like Valentine’s Day or Christmas dinner. Each ingredient here packs a flavor punch, so try not to substitute here. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Protein: Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Pantry: Olive oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper
- Dairy: Salted butter, milk, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese
- Fresh ingredients: Garlic, spinach, lemon (for garnish)
- Special ingredients: Sun dried tomatoes, capers
Tips for butterflying the chicken
This Tuscan chicken recipe uses chicken cutlets, or you can butterfly the breasts yourself. Chicken breasts are often very thick, making them tricky to cook evenly. Slicing the chicken breast in half horizontally (butterflying it) makes thinner pieces that cook quicker and more evenly, are easier to eat, and are better seasoned. You can buy a chicken breast already butterflied, which is marked on the package as butterflied or “cutlets”. If you buy regular chicken breasts, you can butterfly them yourself:
- Place your hand over the top of the chicken breast. Use a sharp knife to carefully slice the breast horizontally, leaving the edge intact so it can open up like a book.
- Unfold the chicken breast, then cut along the fold to separate the two halves (each half is a cutlet).
How to make creamy Tuscan chicken: an overview
This Tuscan chicken recipe is quick and simple to make: it takes just about 30 minutes to pull it all together, making it a rock star fast and easy dinner recipe. Because the chicken is butterflied first, it cooks extremely quickly. Here’s an overview of the process (or jump to the recipe below):
- Prepare the chicken: Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to butterfly them.
- Season the chicken: Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with the kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano.
- Pan fry: Add olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until browned on both sides. Remove to a plate.
- Make the sauce: In the same skillet, melt the butter. Add the minced garlic and sun dried tomatoes and cook for 1 minute until the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant. Add the capers, cream, milk, and remaining kosher salt. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach and cook about 1 minute until wilted, then return the chicken to the pan and warm it for 2 minutes.
Buy organic chicken if possible
When shopping for this Tuscan chicken recipe, keep in mind: the best chicken to buy is organic. This makes sure that it is the highest quality meat that was raised sustainably. It is also free of chemicals and additives, and overall: it just tastes better! Per the USDA, organic chicken must be raised in living conditions that accommodate their natural behaviors, fed 100% organic feed and forage, and not given antibiotics or hormones.
Leftover storage
This Tuscan chicken recipe stores well, if you do end up having leftovers! (Honestly we never do.) Store in a sealed container for up to 3 days, refrigerated. Re-warm in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through. If the sauce becomes dried out, add a splash of milk or cream.
Sides for creamy Tuscan chicken
Add a few sides to this creamy Tuscan chicken and it’s a simple meal! Here are a few side dishes for chicken that are simple to whip up while making the chicken. Since the oven is free, you can make quick baked or roasted vegetables easily! Here are a few ideas:
- Couscous or orzo: Try easy couscous or orzo, which come together in just 15 minutes.
- Rice: Opt for white rice, basil rice, or lemon rice, ready in about 25 minutes.
- Pasta: Make garlic butter noodles, angel hair pasta, or any of these pasta side dishes.
- Polenta: Add creamy polenta as a simple side.
- Green beans: Try green beans almondine, roasted green beans, or haricot verts.
- Brussels sprouts: Make fan favorite crispy Brussels sprouts.
- Asparagus: Opt for roasted asparagus or broiled asparagus.
- Broccoli or broccolini: Try roasted broccoli, roasted broccolini, or pan fried broccolini.
- Salad: Make chopped salad, kale salad, apple salad, or these salad recipes.
- Potatoes: Go for our best mashed potatoes, garlic mashed potatoes, or garlic roasted potatoes.
More great chicken recipes
Love chicken dinners? Here are a few more tasty ways to turn this protein into
- Make classic Chicken Piccata
- Try one-pan Greek Chicken or easy Pan Fried Chicken Thighs
- Whip up creamy Lemon Garlic Chicken, Creamy Garlic Chicken, or Pesto Chicken
- Bake a pan of Chicken Enchiladas or crispy Baked Chicken Thighs
- Fire up the grill for Grilled Chicken or Grilled Chicken Thighs
Tuscan Chicken
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 1x
Description
This creamy Tuscan chicken recipe is the chicken dinner of your dreams! Juicy breasts are bathed in a dreamy sauce of sun dried tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and Parmesan. Ready in just 30 minutes, it’s a dinner idea that’s both easy and impressive!
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds, organic if possible), butterflied or cutlets
- 1 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- ¼ cup julienne cut sun dried tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
- Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
- 2 lemon wedges, for serving
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, then slice it in half horizontally (if not already butterflied). Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and a few grinds of black pepper.
- Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side, until browned on both sides. When the internal temperature is 165°F or the center is no longer pink, remove to a plate.
- Place the pan over low heat and melt the butter. Then add the minced garlic and sun dried tomatoes and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the garlic is lightly browned and fragrant. Add the capers, cream, milk, and remaining ¼ teaspoon kosher salt. Simmer for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Add the spinach and cook until wilted, about 1 minute, then return the chicken to the pan and warm it for 2 minutes, spooning the sauce over the chicken. Serve topped with the sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Gluten Free
Keywords: Tuscan chicken, Tuscan chicken recipe, Creamy Tuscan chicken
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