Marry Me Chicken

Marry Me Chicken – Chicken breasts are pan seared until beautifully golden brown then smothered in a creamy and abundantly flavorful sun dried tomato and basil sauce. It’s an easy chicken recipe that’s sure to impress!

Sun Dried Tomato Chicken

So what is “marry me chicken” anyway? It’s said that this popular chicken dish is so good your partner will be asking for a marriage proposal after tasting it.

Of course that’s just an over the top statement that’s just a joke, but its name is basically saying this is one of the tastiest chicken recipes you’ll make. It’s simply creamy sun dried tomato chicken but that title just doesn’t do it justice.

It comes together quickly and doesn’t require a hot oven, chicken breasts are just quickly cooked on the stove and finished with the best pan sauce.

Those sun dried tomatoes bring bold, concentrated tomato-y flavor and the cream balances it perfectly. And let’s not forget to mention there’s also a fair amount of garlic and parmesan included in the sauce as well to really build up layer after layer of flavor.

In other words no more boring chicken dinners! This sun dried tomato chicken sets the bar high.

Watch the Video!

What Goes with Marry Me Chicken

I recommend serving this with:

• Pasta, I like it with lemon orzo or plain orzo
• White rice or risotto
• Steamed or roasted asparagus or broccoli
• Fresh rustic bread or breadsticks

Marry Me Chicken Recipe Ingredients

• Bottled sun dried tomatoes in oil
• Boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• Italian seasoning
• Flour
• Garlic
• Low-sodium chicken broth
• Heavy cream
• Tomato sauce
• Parmesan cheese
• Cornstarch
• Fresh basil
• Red pepper flakes (optional)

How to Make Marry Me Chicken

1. Pound chicken breasts to even 1/2-inch. Season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
2. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp of the oil from sun dried tomatoes in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
3. Pour flour in to a shallow dish and dredge each chicken piece in flour to coat and transfer to skillet. Cook through about 4 to 5 minutes per side.
4. Transfer chicken to a plate. Reduce skillet to medium-low heat and pour remaining 1/2 Tbsp oil into skillet.
5. Add garlic and saute about 15 seconds. Pour in chicken broth while scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add sun dried tomatoes and red pepper flakes.
6. Let chicken broth simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Whisk together remaining 1 Tbsp chicken broth with the cornstarch and pour into skillet while whisking, cook 30 seconds
7. Reduce to low heat, add heavy cream, tomato sauce, parmesan cheese and season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Cook just until cheese has melted. Stir in 2 Tbsp basil.
8. Return chicken to sauce, spooning sauce over chicken. Serve garnished with remaining 1 Tbsp basil.

Possible Recipe Variations

• Chicken thighs: Boneless skinless chicken thighs will work great in place of chicken breasts you’ll want about six (4 oz each) thighs.
• Fish: You could also make this with salmon in place of chicken.
• Reducing fat: For a slightly lighter sauce replace heavy cream with half and half, increase cornstarch to 2 tsp. Also be sure to drain the sun dried tomatoes well from the oil.
• Dairy free: Replace heavy cream with coconut cream and then replace parmesan with vegan parmesan or with 1 – 2 tsp nutritional yeast.
• Tomatoes: A fresh tomato blitzed in the food processor or canned crushed tomatoes would also work in place of tomato sauce.
• Cheese: Romano cheese would also be delicious in place of parmesan cheese.

Helpful Tips

• Evenly cooked chicken: Pounding the chicken with a meat mallet to an even thickness will ensure it cooks evenly throughout. Don’t skip this step.
• Browned chicken breasts: For nicely browned chicken preheat the pan before you begin cooking the chicken and don’t move chicken around as it cooks, just turn once. Also cooking over a fairly high temp gives it that nice color.
• Juicy chicken: Cook chicken breasts just to 165 degrees in center so they don’t dry out. You’ll need an instant read food thermometer to test the temperature.
• Mince tomatoes: Finely chop up the sun dried tomatoes otherwise they are overly chewy and are distracting in the dish.

Storage and Reheating

• Store chicken in the fridge in an airtight container.
• It should keep well there for up to 3 days.
• Rewarm in a 350 degree oven in a baking dish (just large enough for chicken) covered with foil until warmed through.
• Or reheat in microwave on a microwave safe dish at 50% power until warmed through.

More Skillet Smothered Chicken Recipes

• Chicken Marsala
• Chicken Piccata
• Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken
• Garlic Herb Sauce Chicken
• Smothered BLT Chicken

5 from 7 votes

Print Recipe

Marry Me Chicken

Chicken breasts are pan seared until beautifully golden brown then smothered in a creamy and abundantly flavorful sun dried tomato and basil sauce. It's an easy chicken recipe that's sure to impress!

Watch the video

Servings: 4

Prep15 minutes minutes

Cook15 minutes minutes

Ready in: 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 4 (6 oz each) boneless skinless chicken breasts*
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp oil from jar of sun dried tomatoes, divided
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional for heat)
• 1/3 cup (slightly packed) sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained well, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup (1 oz) finely shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with an additional 1 Tbsp chicken broth
• 3 Tbsp chopped fresh basil, divided

Instructions

• Cover chicken breasts on cutting board with a sheet of plastic wrap and pound to an even 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet. Season both sides with salt and pepper and Italian seasoning.
• Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp of the oil from jar of sun dried tomatoes in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.
• Pour flour in to a shallow dish and dredge each chicken piece in flour to coat both sides and transfer to skillet. Cook through about 4 to 5 minutes per side (chicken should be 165 degrees F in center).
• Transfer chicken to a plate. Reduce skillet to medium-low heat and pour remaining 1/2 Tbsp oil into skillet.
• Add garlic and saute until just deepening in color but not browning, about 15 seconds. Pour in chicken broth while scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan. Add sun dried tomatoes and red pepper flakes.
• Let chicken broth simmer until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Whisk together remaining 1 Tbsp chicken broth with the cornstarch and pour into skillet while whisking. Cook 30 seconds while stirring.
• Reduce to low heat, add heavy cream, tomato sauce, parmesan cheese and season sauce with salt and pepper to taste. Cook just until cheese has melted. Remove from heat and stir in 2 Tbsp basil.
• Return chicken to sauce, spooning sauce over chicken. Serve garnished with remaining 1 Tbsp basil.

Notes

*You can also just use 2 large (12 oz each ) chicken breasts and cut through their thickness to create to pieces from each portion rather than using 4 (6 oz each).

Nutrition Facts

Marry Me Chicken

Amount Per Serving

Calories 480 Calories from Fat 243

% Daily Value*

Fat 27g42%

Saturated Fat 10g63%

Trans Fat 0.05g

Polyunsaturated Fat 4g

Monounsaturated Fat 11g

Cholesterol 147mg49%

Sodium 489mg21%

Potassium 1125mg32%

Carbohydrates 16g5%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 2g2%

Protein 43g86%

Vitamin A 1041IU21%

Vitamin C 25mg30%

Calcium 150mg15%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Keyword: marry me chicken, marry me chicken recipe, Sun Dried Tomato Chicken

Author: Jaclyn