Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken Recipe

Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken is the easiest gourmet meal to make ever!  One-pan stovetop chicken that is tender and juicy in a creamy tangy garlic parmesan sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.

When you want to impress anyone, whether it be company for a dinner party or a simple but crazy delicious weeknight dinner this creamy Tuscan garlic chicken recipe will hit a home run for an amazing dinner time meal!

This recipe was fun to serve to company … I got some fantastic compliments “this tastes like a fancy restaurant meal but even better because it is homemade! ”  That my friends is a day maker any time you can hear it!!

All made on one-pan on the stovetop makes for easy clean up which is a big win too.

I love meals that are super easy to make, but have that wow factor.  Seriously, this recipe has the wow in every bite. The roasted garlic, the tender juicy chicken and oh my, the velvety parmesan cheese sauce that wraps around the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach make for pure heaven in each bite.

Did I mention how quick this is to make too? Depending on how much chicken you are making it can easily be made in 30 minutes.  That’s with a simple pasta to put underneath it and a small salad.  Yes, a one-pan meal on the table in 30 minutes with EVERYTHING!  That leaves you with more time to enjoy NOT in the kitchen!  (Winning!!)

What can go into Tuscan Chicken?

• Chicken
• Spinach
• Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Parmesan Cheese
• Fresh Herbs
• Garlic
• Italian Seasoning
• Chicken Broth
• Mushrooms
• Peppers

I made this with just a few of these ingredients but you can customize to your likes and dislikes easily. Most of these items are things I have on hand but if I’m missing spinach one day and have mushrooms I’ll swap them out easily!

What kind of chicken works best?

You have complete flexibility in this recipe any chicken will work.  I chose skinless breasts and cut them down to a thinner cutlet to cut down on time.  You can use a whole breast and only have to adjust the cooking time.

Chicken Thighs or chicken legs would also work great in this recipe. The only difference would be with the amount of time it takes to cook the chicken.

Skinless chicken can be switched to chicken with the skin on in this one-pan skillet chicken dish. Actually the skin will leave more brown caramelized bits in the pan during the sautéing and it will add even more depth of flavor to your creamy parmesan garlic sauce!

What to look for when buying sun-dried tomatoes?

The one key thing I suggest in buying your sun-dried tomatoes is to be sure and purchase them already in oil.  The oil keeps them moist and the flavor is stronger.  In a pinch, if you can’t find them in oil I’d suggest adding them to olive oil and letting them sit overnight in the oil to moisten them.

Strain them from the oil before adding them to the recipe.  I usually buy them already julienned, but if you buy them whole, slice them to bite-sized pieces for the recipe.  A little goes a long way with sun-dried tomatoes so you don’t want one bite to be over powerful!

PIN THIS TO YOUR GOURMET MEAL BOARD ON PINTEREST FOR WHEN YOU’RE HAVING COMPANY OVER FOR DINNER!  

How to make Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Start with cutting the chicken to the same thickness. I went to 3/4 of an inch in this recipe for even cooking.  Ideally, you would like all the chicken to be the same size, but it’s hard when not cooking in big servings.  

In this photo, you can see I have one piece that is larger so I’ll move that to the hottest part of the skillet when I’m cooking and it will stay in the pan a little longer.

If I was cooking for a lot of people Id cook the similar-sized chicken pieces together!

I suggest using a cast-iron skillet or any pan that conducts heat evenly.  You’ll want to leave enough room in between the chicken to allow the chicken to get heat from all sides.

Swirl a little olive oil in the pan then get it nice and hot.  Add the chicken pieces in and sauté until just cooked through.  Your chicken will sear and turn a golden brown color if you set it in, and leave it until you see the chicken turning opaque from the side.

Trust me, resist the urge to keep moving the chicken, you’ll end up with all one color on your chicken and although it will still taste very good, you won’t get the caramelized and pretty look in your chicken!

Once you’ve cooked the chicken you’ll remove the chicken from the skillet and place it on a side plate (covered to keep it warm,) while you make the creamy garlic sauce in this same pan.

Start by adding a little more oil to the pan and then cooking very slowly the minced garlic to a deep brown and caramel color.  You will do this on low to medium heat so you don’t burn the garlic. If the garlic burns it becomes very bitter and unappetizing.  If you cook it on low-medium it will still cook within about 8 minutes… I know its hard, but be patient!

Then you will deglaze the pan by adding chicken broth and using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the browned cooked bits from the chicken and the garlic to add even more yummy flavor to your sauce!  It will bubble up and steam at once, so be careful as you are adding the broth.

Once the bits are all off the bottom you will add the milk, the parmesan and the secret ingredient to give it a nice tang. Sour Cream!  It acts as a thickener for the sauce without adding a flour-based roux and also adds a slight sour taste!  It pairs perfectly with the sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes.

Once your sauce is thickened you will add the add-ins you choose (in my case, the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes) and stir.  Then return the chicken to the pan to rewarm for a few minutes, spooning sauce over the top.

How easy is that?  Seriously when you have a bite of that tangy sauce with the caramelized garlic and the sweet tomatoes with the chicken…. it is simply a flavored bite of deliciousness!

Looking for more easy chicken recipes?

• Healthy Chicken Picatta
• French Onion Chicken
• Greek Lemon Roasted Chicken Thighs
• Chicken & Mushrooms with Asiago Cream Sauce
• Pistachio Crusted Baked Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Mini Pizzas

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Yield: 8

Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken

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Creamy Tuscan Garlic Chicken is the easiest gourmet meal to make ever!  One-pan stove top chicken that is tender and juicy in a creamy tangy garlic parmesan sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound linguini
• 3 pounds chicken breasts, skinless, boneless
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 cloves garlic, minced finely
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chicken broth, (or white wine)
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 2/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained, julianned
• 2/3 cup spinach
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bring a stock pot of water to boil and cook the pasta to al dente according to the package instructions.  Drain pasta, leave in pot on stove to keep it warm.
2. While the pasta is cooking start the chicken.  Trim chicken breasts of any excess fat, then cut diagonally across the grain into 3/4" slices.  Try to keep all the chicken pieces similar in size.  
3. Season generously with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning in both sides of the chicken breasts.
4. Heat a skillet to high, once hot add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat the entire pan.  Once oil is hot place chicken with 2 inches in between into the pan. 
5. Cook chicken, without moving it, until you start to see the chicken turning to solid white along the sides.  Once you see that (about 4-7minutes depending on the size of your chicken pieces) flip the chicken.  Reduce the heat to medium high and let it continue to cook until the juices run clean when you cut a knife into the center of the chicken.  My smaller pieces took about 4 more minutes, the larger pieces took an additional 8 minutes.  
6. Cook the chicken in batches until all chicken is cooked removing to a side plate to hold until you are ready to add it back to the sauce.
7. Once all the chicken is removed, reduce the heat to medium and add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan. Once the oil is hot add the garlic.  Cook for 6 -8 minutes until softened. 
8.  Add the chicken broth to the pan to deglaze the pan. Raise the heat back to medium high heat. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon scrape up all the browned bits to bring in all of the extra flavor to your sauce.  
9. When you add the chicken broth to the pan with will bubble up and boil really quickly, be careful to not burn yourself in the steam.
10. Once you have the bits all scraped up and the bubbling up has stopped, add the sour cream, milk and whisk until combined.  Continue to stir while adding the parmesan cheese.  Cook for about 5 minutes to allow the sauce to combine and thicken.
11. Add the julienned sun dried tomatoes and spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes to warm and wilt the spinach.  Taste the sauce at this point and add any salt or pepper depending on your tastes.
12. Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes to rewarm the chicken.
13. Serve over the cooked pasta immediately.  Spoon extra sauce over the pasta too.  

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

8 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 568Saturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 129mgSodium: 800mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 3gSugar: 7gProtein: 51g

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