There are nights when chicken sounds practical but not particularly exciting. This is the kind of dinner that changes your mind.
The chicken stays tender, but it’s the parmesan cream sauce that people talk about afterward. It’s the part everyone spoons over their potatoes, drags bread through, and wishes there was a little more of.
Read Before You Start
I keep a few chicken dinners in rotation that all run on a parmesan cream sauce. My creamy garlic parmesan chicken is the plainest of them, and my Tuscan chicken pasta is the one I reach for when I want spinach in it. This is the boldest, between the sun-dried tomatoes and the red pepper flakes.
Ingredient Notes
- The only ingredient you might not have on hand is the oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, and those usually sit on the same grocery shelf as the jarred roasted peppers.
- This recipe uses a quarter of the red pepper flakes that other marry me chicken recipes do. Instead of noticeable heat, it’s meant to sit in the background and balance the richness of the sauce. If you like more heat, add an extra pinch at the end. It’s much easier to increase the spice than dial it back.
- Grate the parmesan off the block. Pre-shredded parmesan is coated to stop it clumping in the bag, and that same coating keeps it from melting smoothly into a hot sauce.
- If you’d rather make it a pasta night, you want my Marry Me Chicken Pasta.
What I Learned During Recipe Testing
The chicken isn’t meant to cook all the way through during the first sear. The goal is to build color on the outside, then let the chicken finish gently in the sauce. That keeps the chicken juicy while giving the sauce time to develop its flavor.
Don’t Miss This Step
The sauce will seem thinner than you expect when the cream first goes in. Don’t try to fix it. The thickening happens at the end. Once the chicken comes out, let the sauce simmer for a few minutes longer.
As the sauce reduces, it thickens enough to coat the chicken instead of running across the plate. If there’s one step worth being patient with, it’s this one.
Building a sauce in the same pan you browned the chicken in is the backbone of most skillet dinners, my chicken marsala included.
Make It Ahead
You can get a head start by pounding the chicken and chopping the onion and sun-dried tomatoes earlier in the day. Store everything covered in the refrigerator until you’re ready to cook.
When ready to serve, I put grilled asparagus on the side so there is something green against all that sauce.
I don’t recommend freezing this one. The cream and parmesan sauce can become grainy after thawing and reheating, and it never quite returns to the same smooth texture.
Storage
Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for a few days. Don’t be surprised if the sauce looks much thicker once it’s cold. That’s normal. Reheat it gently on the stovetop with a splash of chicken broth or water stirred in to loosen it back into a sauce. Avoid high heat, which can cause the cream sauce to separate and develop an oily surface.
This post was first published in October 2023. It was republished in June 2026.
Marry Me Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to a uniform ¾ to 1-inch thickness (6 to 8 ounces each)
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup sweet yellow onion, chopped
- ⅓ cup diced sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed (plus extra for garnish)
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1¼ cups chicken stock
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Instructions
- Add the boneless skinless chicken breasts, all-purpose flour, salt, and black pepper to a large zip-top bag. Seal the bag and shake to fully coat the chicken with the flour and seasonings. Remove the coated chicken breast from the bag, being sure to shake off any excess flour, and set the chicken on a plate. Discard the bag and excess flour.
- In a large 12-inch skillet, on medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil and skillet are hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side or until golden brown. You may need to cook your chicken in two batches to avoid overcrowding your skillet. Once all the chicken has been browned, remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside on a clean plate.
- Wipe out any remaining oil and overly browned flour from the skillet using a dry paper towel. This is especially important if you had to cook your chicken in 2 batches.
- Turn the heat to medium and add the butter, chopped sweet yellow onion, diced sun-dried tomatoes, minced garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the onions are tender.
- To the skillet, stir in the chicken stock and heavy cream. Allow the liquids to come to a low boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and add the grated parmesan cheese and chopped basil. Stir to combine.
- Nestle the chicken into the sauce rather than fully submerging it so that the top stays lightly crisp. Allow the chicken to gently finish cooking in the simmering sauce, uncovered for 15-20 minutes. The internal temperature of the chicken, at its thickest part, should reach 165°F when done.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate while the sauce reduces.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, reduce the sauce for 2-4 minutes, while stirring often to prevent burning, until it coats the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat to the skillet.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon some of the sauce over the chicken and garnish with additional chopped sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil if desired before serving.
Notes
- You may need to cook your chicken in 2 batches depending on the size of your chicken breasts. You do not want to overcrowd your pan, or you will have a harder time evenly browning your chicken.
- If your chicken breasts are really big and thick, then you can very carefully cut 2 chicken breasts in half to give you 4 thinner cutlets.
Nutrition
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