This creamy Marry Me Chicken is packed with sundried tomatoes in a creamy and thick parmesan garlic cream sauce! Ready in 30 minutes. Perfect for busy weeknights!
Marry Me Chicken Recipe
This is an awesome chicken recipe that’s so good, it’s said making it for your partner will have them bringing a ring to your next date. It’s creamy, nourishing, tasty, and bursting with flavor. You can make it in bulk if you’re out to please the family (or bring it along to a big event) and it will be a surefire crowd-pleaser.
Best of all, all you need is a few ingredients and thirty minutes. That’s right, this delicious dinner will be ready to eat in only half an hour. Let’s take a look at how to make chicken so good it will have your guests saying “marry me!” - hopefully after they’re done swallowing.
What Is Marry Me Chicken?
You might be wondering about the name, and that’s totally fair. Normally our recipes are named after ingredients, regions, or famous people. They do say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right? Well, making a chicken dinner so good it reminds him of the best home cooking from growing up… how could he resist putting a ring on your finger?
You’ll Need
- Chicken breast. Slice the chicken breast into cutlets by halving them lengthways. This makes the chicken thinner, which reduces cooking time, and improves the consistency of cooking throughout the chicken flesh. You can use the whole breast if you want, but you’ll need to finish it off in the oven and it will take a bit longer to cook. If you want to save even more time on this recipe, you might even be able to find pre-cut chicken cutlets at your local supermarket.
- Flour, Salt, and Pepper. Flour for that crispy, gorgeous chicken crust, and salt and pepper for a subtle extra flavor. All-purpose flour is great for this recipe, as it is for many other cooking adventures.
- Olive oil. Preferably extra virgin, as it tastes better and it’s better for you. Extra virgin olive oil is packed with antioxidants which are great for your long-term health. Olive oil and butter are the main fats we use in this recipe and they are key to the overall flavor palate of your “Marry Me” chicken.
- Butter is to brown the chicken and give it that lovely crisp flavor. One tip we love for this recipe is, if your sundried tomatoes come preserved in oil, use the oil from the jar with the olive oil for extra flavor kick.
- Garlic. Obviously. Italian food wouldn’t be the same without it and garlic makes everything taste better.
- Chicken or vegetable stock. Stock is one of the secret flavor heroes. We highly recommend chicken stock as it will match the flavor profile. However, vegetable stock will do just as well, it can change the overall palate of your dinner somewhat.
- Cream. You want to use a heavy cooking cream here. Avoid half & half cream and light cream because they will become too runny when exposed to heat. The cream will thicken your sauce nicely and lose some viscosity as it combines with the other ingredients anyway.
- Parmesan cheese. For a real treat, try using parmigiano-reggiano, the king of cheeses!
- Seasoning. We like chili flakes and Italian seasoning. They are great for depth of flavor and that subtle heat we all love so much about restaurant food.
- Sundried tomatoes. Of course! For color, flavor, and texture, you can’t go wrong with sundried tomatoes. They’re sweeter than fresh tomatoes or tomato puree thanks to the natural caramelizing of the tomato’s innate sugars under the sun.
- Fresh basil and oregano leaves. For a burst of freshness and a verdant, attractive garnish.
How To Make Marry Me Chicken
Surprise guest? Dinner plans cancelled at the last minute thanks to hectic holiday scheduling? Never fear, Marry Me Chicken’s here! This great recipe will be ready to eat in only half an hour, so you’ve plenty of time to prepare for date night. As long as you have all the ingredients, you’ll be serving dinner with time to spare.
Marry Me Chicken Tips
❗Chicken cutlets are actually commonly available in many supermarkets, so you can save yourself a step and buy them pre-made. That said, it’s pretty easy to just halve a chicken breast yourself, so it’s up to you which one you’d prefer.
❗When sauteeing the garlic, throw in a little (a teaspoon or so) bit of the sundried tomato oil. This will add some sweetness and the characteristic subtle tartness of sundried tomatoes to your sauteed garlic!
❗Avoid light or half and half cream for this recipe. It won’t thicken your sauce enough, and the key to this recipe is the thick, indulgent sauce.
❗If you can, buy yourself a block of parmesan cheese - or better yet, parmigiano-reggiano - and grate it yourself. The cheese will be moister, fresher, and more flavorsome compared with the pre-grated stuff you can buy at the store. Store-bought pre-grated cheese won’t melt right or provide enough flavoring for your sauce.
How To Store the Leftovers
You can keep any leftovers ( if there’s any of this delicious dinner left) in an airtight container in the fridge. You can keep it refrigerated for up to three days, but remember that both chicken and dairy are highly perishable. Refrigerate any leftovers quickly to avoid spoiling your sauce.
❗You can reheat in the microwave or in the oven, adding a little splash of water to help emulsify the sauce. It will thicken considerably in the fridge, so thinning it out during reheating will be a good thing.
You can’t freeze this sauce. Freezing creamy sauce often separates the dairy components, leaving them grainy and unpleasant. Besides, don’t you want to enjoy the sauce as soon as you can?
What to Serve with Marry Me Chicken
Cheesy garlic roasted Brussels sprouts
Instant pot mashed cauliflower
If you make this chicken recipe be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐! I will be happy to hear from you!
Print
Marry Me Chicken
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6
Ingredients
- 3 medium boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut in half horizontally to make 6 fillets
- Salt and ground pepper, as needed
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup chicken stock or broth
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream
- ¾ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 5 ounces (150 grams) jarred sun dried tomato strips, drained
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or parsley
Instructions
- Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Dredge in flour and shake off any excess.
- Heat olive oil and melt butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Sear the chicken for 6-8 minutes each side, or until cooked through and golden brown. Work in batches not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer to a plate, cover, and set aside.
- In the same skillet cook garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add in the chicken stock, deglaze the pan, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spatula.
- Reduce the heat to low-medium heat, add the heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Bring to a gentle simmer, while stirring from time to time. Season with Italian seasoning, chili flakes, salt and pepper.
- Add the sun dried tomatoes and cook further for a couple of minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly.
- Return the chicken back into the skillet; garnish with fresh basil and oregano leaves.
- Serve over pasta, steamed veggies or rice.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Chicken cutlets are actually commonly available in many supermarkets, so you can save yourself a step and buy them pre-made. That said, it’s pretty easy to just halve a chicken breast yourself, so it’s up to you which one you’d prefer.
When sauteeing the garlic, throw in a little (a teaspoon or so) bit of the sundried tomato oil. This will add some sweetness and the characteristic subtle tartness of sundried tomatoes to your sauteed garlic!
Avoid light or half and half cream for this recipe. It won’t thicken your sauce enough, and the key to this recipe is the thick, indulgent sauce.
If you can, buy yourself a block of parmesan cheese - or better yet, parmigiano-reggiano - and grate it yourself. The cheese will be moister, fresher, and more flavorsome compared with the pre-grated stuff you can buy at the store. Store-bought pre-grated cheese won’t melt right or provide enough flavoring for your sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Category: Chicken recipes
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 534kcal
- Sugar: 11g
- Sodium: 361mg
- Fat: 36g
- Saturated Fat: 18g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 32g
- Cholesterol: 157mg
Keywords: mary me chicken, chicken breast recipes, chicken, creamy chicken
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Made it today and it was so so good! Thank !
★★★★★
Thank you Jane for sharing your experience!
Delicious
★★★★★
Hey, Esther! Thank you for sharing your experience! I am glad you liked this chicken recipe. Hope you will try other chicken recipes on the blog))).