Tuscan Chicken
Tuscan Chicken – deliciously creamy one-pot chicken meal served in a rich garlic cream sauce with flavor punches from sun-dried tomatoes and Italian seasoning. Fantastic weeknight family meal loaded with flavor!
Don’t let the usual question, “What’s for dinner?“, intimidate or frustrates you. Cause today’s recipe is an incredible family weeknight meal all made in one pan yet packs with so much flavor.
You know me, I’m in love with my one-pan chicken recipes just like this Honey Mustard Chicken and One Pot Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Rice. They’ve saved me countless of times, so it is just rightful to bring in more dishes that you’d gladly have on a weekly rotation. Ready for this EASY chicken recipe? Let’s go!
What is Tuscan Chicken?
This chicken recipe is not actually authentic Italian Tuscan Chicken, per se. Made with just a few pantry staple ingredients, this creamy Tuscan Chicken is sure to please the palate of everyone in the family. It has a rich and delicious garlic cream sauce packed with flavors from the sun-dried tomatoes and with my homemade Italian Seasoning with spinach for that added texture.
Tuscan Sauce
Ahhh. the sauce! Two words to describe it – It’s EVERYTHING! You’re guests and neighbors will be wondering if you’ve recently hired a personal chef. Yes, the garlic cream sauce for this dish is absolutely spot on delicious! You’ll just need:
- garlic
- sundried tomatoes
- fresh spinach
- heavy cream
- chicken broth
- Parmesan cheese
- Italian seasoning (check my HOMEMADE HERE)
- salt to taste
Substitute for Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Adding sundried tomatoes to this recipe definitely elevates the flavor of the usual creamy chicken sauce. Sundried tomatoes are fresh tomatoes that are dried down under the sun or with a dehydrator with intensified tomato flavor. You can buy it packed in olive oil or dry-packed. But in case you don’t have it handy, you can use seeded and chopped fresh plum tomatoes with a rough estimate of 1 oz. sun dried tomatoes = 10 ripe tomatoes.
What to Serve with Tuscan Chicken?
You don’t need to ask me’ cause we all know that it’s absolutely best paired with pasta. But aside from pasta, you can serve it with…
- Homemade Garlic Bread to soak up all those creamy sauce
- Rice, of course, I had two servings of rice when I had this. I swear you’ll be begging for more!
- Cauliflower rice for low-carb option
- Zucchini Noodles instead of regular pasta
Can You Make Tuscan Chicken Ahead of Time?
This meal is actually pretty easy. But if you wish to cut back on time, you can make it ahead. What I do is prepare the garlic cream sauce, let it cool and store it in the fridge for 2-3 days. When ready to use, simmer it over medium heat and add the cooked chicken into the pan.
How to Store Leftovers
For any leftovers, simply store it in an airtight container and refrigerate within 2 hours of cooking for up to 3 days. Make sure to stir well when reheating to prevent the cream from curdling.
More Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes
- Easy Chicken Piccata
- Chicken Marsala
- Chicken Curry
- Coq au Vin
- Brown Stew Chicken
- Baked Crispy Chicken Legs
How To Make Tuscan Chicken
In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and paprika. Lightly sprinkle each side of the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper. Next season chicken with spice mixture.
In a large skillet or cast-iron, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. add the chicken and cook flipping once, until golden and cooked through – about 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Melt another 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pan; add garlic and Italian seasoning,sauté for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Pour in chicken broth, and scrape any browned bits from the bottom or sides of the skillet. Add cream and Parmesan cheese. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the sauce slightly thickens.
Stir sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach and simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Return chicken fillets back to the skillet. Let it heat for about 2-3 minutes, then spoon some sauce over chicken. Remove from the heat and serve with pasta.
Watch How To Make It
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Tuscan Chicken
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2 chicken breasts , sliced in half, or 4 thin chicken breasts
- 1 cup flour , optional
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- salt and Pepper
Garlic Cream Sauce
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3-4 cloves)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes , roughly chopped
- 4 cups fresh spinach
- lemon wedges, for serving
- salt to taste
Instructions
- In a medium shallow bowl, whisk together, flour (optional), Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and paprika.
- Lightly sprinkle each side of the chicken breasts with salt and black pepper. Next season chicken with spice mixture.
- In a large skillet or cast-iron, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. add the chicken and cook flipping once, until golden and cooked through - about 3-4 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness of the fillet. Transfer chicken to a plate.
- Melt another 1 tablespoon of butter in the same pan; add garlic and Italian seasoning, sauté for about 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Pour in chicken broth, and scrape any browned bits from the bottom or sides of the skillet.
- Add cream and Parmesan cheese. Cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently until the sauce slightly thickens.
- Stir sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach and simmer for about 2-3 minutes or until spinach wilts.
- Return chicken fillets back to the skillet. Let it heat for about 2-3 minutes, then spoon some sauce over chicken.
- Remove from the heat and serve with pasta.
Tips & Notes:
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Nutrition Information:
Hi,
Could I use cubed chicken rather than whole chicken breasts? If so, would I have to change anything in the way it’s cooked?
Dave
Wonderful! I served this with baked Parmesan zucchini fries and it was a hit.
That’s a great combination . Thanks for sharing.
Is heavy whipping cream the same as cream
Yes. Either would work in this recipe.
This was delicious! I substituted milk for cream and it was great. Thank you for the recipes, you make so many good meals.
It was great !
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback.
Thank you for taking the time to let me know. I appreciate it.
As you say, it isn’t a typically ‘Tuscan’ recipe, so why call it that? Nor do any Italians serve main courses with spaghetti or any pasta. Having said that, it’s a garic/sundried tomato cream sauce, & absolutely superb. It has endless possibilities for variations/additions, mushrooms/sweetcorn are my usuals. I made it the first time with pasta as suggested & served with courgettes & more spinach alongside. I added courgettes, mushroom & aubergine the second time & served, again with more spinach & boiled potatoes. Next time, I’ll serve with rice. I’ve tried with coconut milk as you suggested, superb also, & just used plain whole milk once. As you can now tell, this sauce is a favourite with me, it’s also popular with my friends after I made it for a get-together. Thanks!
Outstanding recipe! I confess I did have to make an emergency substitute as sadly I realized that my heavy cream was spoiled after I opened up my can of chicken stock. Fortunately I had half and half on hand so I used that combined with 1 Tbsp of cream cheese and 1 Tbsp of butter and this was the perfect stand in for heavy cream. I will be sure to have heavy cream the next time I make it as I will definitely make this again. It really is a delicious dish although mine may have a bit more of a tang due to addition of the cream cheese. Still, I cook enough to know that the flavor profile was not drastically changed as the sun dried tomatoes add a bit of tang even without the cream cheese. This really has a wonderful flavor profile and is visually appealing as well! Thanks for sharing!
I will be making this soonest. It looks Felix and easy to make. Thanks for the recipe and prep methods.
I can’t wait for you to make this! Do let me know how this turns out for you! 🙂
This was superb! I made it for my family last night for dinner and received excellent reviews from them. The minute my hubby and stepson tasted it they immediately said it was good…real good! Everything was easy to assemble and prepare AND on a work night…..it did not take long at all! Thank you for your immaculate recipe!!
That is great Vangie! Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us. Appreciate it.
Omg! I made this tonight and I am putting my review as I am still eating! I am a huge fan of cream and sundried tomatoes, the two pair so elegantly! This dish was easy to make and so absolutely tasty!
I can tell by reading the ingredients that this is going to be great. I had something similar in Germany with saffron risotto balls and addition of porcini mushrooms. Their tomato flavour baguette was super.
Thats sounds Delicious!! Thanks for taking time out to share your thoughts with us,
I will be making this tomorrow as I have a cut up chicken I need to use, since what I have is bone in would you suggest use twice the amount of liquid since it will be cooking longer? Thank you, I LOVE your recipes.
Thanks Michele, Yes you should… adjust as you go. Happy Cooking!!!
I gave this 4 stars because the taste buds in my mind told me that it sounds excellent. I’ll be making it in the next couple of days and will change my rating depending on how it tastes to my real taste buds.
I have a question first. Is their any reason I can’t make it with boneless thighs cut in half rather than breasts? I fine the flavor of the thighs much richer than the flavor of the breast meat.
This sounds excellent. Is their any reason I can’t make it with boneless thighs cut in half rather than breasts? I fine the flavor of the thighs much richer than the flavor o the breast meat.
I always opt for thigh over breast because the flavor is richer. Go for it you won’t be disappointed!
Agree with Sally. Chicken thighs would work out just fine Liz . Happy Cooking
This receipe looks delicious and sounds wonderful. My problem is that Hubby won’t eat anything containing dairy of any sort (outside of milk). No mushrooms, eggplants, dark poultry meat nor nuts (allergic to all types). Any suggestions for me? Any/all suggestions greatly appreciated Thank You
Hi Senoria,
You can easily switch out the cream with full fat coconut milk.
Can hubby handle soy? I substituted Tofutti ‘Better than Cream Cheese’—about 6Tbsp—for the heavy cream. Melt it into the broth mix. Did use Parmesan-Romano, but you could sub nutritional yeast. Came out great!! And about 40 calories less!
I thought cream WAS milk! People often use milk as it’s less calories, or you could use non-dairy ‘milk’. He obviously isn’t allergic to milk/cream, how does he know the difference? I wouldn’t go without cream, mushroom or egglplants, you only live once; cook 2 pots & get hubby to cook his some of his own food regularly. I don’t like dark poultry meat myself, but I don’t expect others to do without.