Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Creamy Tuscan Chicken has juicy chicken, sundried tomatoes, and spinach all nestled in the most luxurious parmesan and garlic sauce. Have it alone, with some grilled vegetables, or on top of your favourite pasta for an easy, one-pan dinner!
How long does Creamy Tuscan Chicken take to make?
If you’re quick with your meal prep, the Creamy Tuscan Chicken takes about 30 minutes!
A tip for quick meal prep: in the morning, prepare all your ingredients. Chop your herbs, sundried tomatoes, and butterfly the chicken. Then, when you’re ready to cook dinner, you can get started right away.
Let’s talk about the ingredients for Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Chicken – Start with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I like to cut them in half horizontally — or butterfly — to try and get the chicken to be an even thickness. You could use chicken thighs as well.
Sundried tomatoes – I use the sundried tomatoes that are packed in olive oil. They have great flavour and you can use the oil when you’re sautéing the chicken breasts for an extra flavour boost!
Baby spinach – Wash and dry your spinach before using. Tip: Use a salad spinner to make this job super easy! This is a very rich dish, so the addition of spinach gives you points for being healthy. 😉
Can I Make Substitutions?
Chicken – This recipe is very flexible and would work with any number of light proteins, such as chicken thighs, pork roast, salmon, prawns, or tofu.
Spinach – If you can’t find baby spinach, you could use frozen spinach (just squeeze out the extra liquid). I would try asparagus, or snow peas, or baby bok choi.
Heavy cream – To lighten up this dish, try substituting the heavy cream with Half & Half, or canned evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed milk). If you’re not cool with dairy, there are some interesting oat milk-based creamers on the market now; make sure it’s not a flavoured version.
Can Creamy Tuscan Chicken be Gluten-Free?
Yes! This recipe is gluten-free, as written.
The Creamy Tuscan Chicken Method
First, you cut the chicken breasts in half horizontally — also known as butterflying — so you get about four pieces of even thickness. Season that chicken and brown it in olive oil (add a bit of the sundried tomato oil for extra flavour). Set the chicken aside while you make the sauce.
Melt some butter in the pan and add diced shallot and minced garlic. When that becomes deliciously fragrant, add chicken stock to the pan and scrape all those browned bits up. This is called deglazing and you’ll see the stock change colour and begin to thicken. Add the sundried tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until the tomato paste melts into the sauce.
Pour in the cream, parmesan, spinach and herbs; continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken and the spinach is wilted.
Add back the browned chicken, and continue cooking the chicken in the sauce until it’s cooked through — about 10 minutes. The chicken should read at least 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
To serve the Creamy Tuscan Chicken, spoon the sauce over the chicken pieces and garnish with more parmesan and fresh basil. Enjoy the chicken on its own, or over your favourite pasta. You could also accompany the chicken with some grilled vegetables, or mashed potatoes would be lovely.
Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Equipment
- Large frying pan
Ingredients
- 2 Large Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- Salt & pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp sundried tomato oil optional
- 1 shallot diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes chopped
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 3 cups baby spinach washed & dried
- 2 Tbsp fresh basil chopped
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves chopped
Instructions
- Cut the two chicken breasts in half horizontally to make four pieces of approximately equal thickness. Season both sides with salt & pepper.
- In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add olive oil and sundried tomato oil (if using). Once heated, add the chicken and cook on both sides until golden brown. Remove to a plate and set aside while making the sauce.
- Reduce pan heat to medium and add butter. Once melted, add the shallots and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze.
- Add sundried tomatoes and tomato paste, stirring until paste is melted into the sauce.
- Add heavy cream and parmesan cheese, stirring until cheese is melted.
- Add spinach and stir until wilted. Add herbs and continue stirring the sauce until it start to thicken.
- Add back the browned chicken pieces, and cook until chicken is cooked through (internal temperature 165° F), about 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts.
- To serve, spoon sauce over chicken. Add more parmesan and basil to your liking. Serve over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes; or alone with grilled vegetables.
Notes
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