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BY Karina | 200 Comments
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Chicken Breasts in an irresistible garlic sauce filled with caramelized onions and garlic is a winner of a chicken dinner!
Easy and delicious comfort food at its finest. Lightly floured boneless chicken breasts are pan fried in butter and oil until golden and crispy before being added to a mouth-watering garlic cream sauce. Filled with caramelised flavour, you will LOVE how easy this is!
CHICKEN BREAST
Crispy, golden chicken on the outside →tender and succulent on the inside → lightly simmered in a creamy sauce with so much flavour. The combination of your dreams! Chicken breasts tend to have a bad reputation for being too dry, chalky or hard to swallow. However, this recipe yields perfectly juicy breasts lightly floured and pan fried.
With all of the creamy sauce recipes I have on this site (Creamy Garlic Tuscan Shrimp, Creamy Dijon Chicken, Creamy Salmon Piccata, or Creamy Parmesan Shrimp), this one stands out from the crowd!
Ready in less than 30 minutes and perfect for any night of the week…even special occasions!
HOW TO COOK CHICKEN BREAST
- You’re going to start with thin chicken breasts. For a faster prep-time, cut your chicken breasts in half horizontally to make four fillets (like you did for our Chicken Marsala). Quicker and easier than pounding them thin with a meat mallet and yields the same results. Thinner chicken pieces cook faster and evenly.
- We use a combination of oil and butter to fry the chicken for the best golden browned results and delicious flavour.
- Cook the sauce in the same pan as the chicken. Don’t get rid of any chicken bits from the pan as they add tons of flavour into the sauce!
COOKING WITH GARLIC
If you’ve gone ahead and read the recipe already, you may be thinking one of two things:
A whole head of garlic?
A. This woman is crazy. TOO MUCH GARLIC. YUCK!
B. Oh my god, finally, the perfect amount of garlic.
The beauty of this chicken breast recipe is that the garlic is NOT overpowering AT ALL! The secret to having SO much garlic without being overly pungent is caramelising the cloves (some smashed and some whole) in chicken stock (or broth) for 5-6 minutes over medium heat. This allows the garlic to soften beautifully with a hint of sweetness.
GARLIC FLAVOUR
YOU can make this as garlicky as you want! How? For a stronger garlic flavour, smash all of your cloves with a heavy knife. Place the blade flat on the clove (sharp side facing away from you) and press the blade down on the clove withthe heel of your hand. Explained in detail here.
The garlic cloves are lightly browned in a little oil along with softened onion in buttery pan juices before being gently simmered in chicken stock.There is so much caramelization happening in this pan, its CRAZY GOOD!
For a much milder sauce, add the garlic cloves whole.
If you’ve never cooked with whole garlic cloves before, you may be breaking into a cold sweat right about now.I promise you there’s no need for a freak out. Cooking them the way you will here relaxes their usual intense flavour, instead giving them a subtle sweetness.They become so soft, like butter!
Of course, if you LOVEgarlic with chicken breasts, then feel free to mince or finely chop all of the cloves and add them in.
TIPS
- You can use heavy cream, whipping cream or thickened cream in the sauce.
- For a lightened up sauce, use evaporated milk or half and half. If using half and half, be careful not to bring your sauce to a rapid boil or it may curdle.
- The sauce will not thicken immediately after adding in your cream. Once you add your chicken breastsback into the pan, the flour from the chicken will thicken your sauce. No cornstarch needed. HOORAY!
SIDES THAT GO WITH CREAMY GARLIC CHICKEN BREASTS
We love this chicken breast recipe with steamed rice or mashed potatoes! You can also serve it over pasta, cauliflower mashor zucchini noodles.
LOOKING FOR MORE CHICKEN BREAST RECIPES? TRY THESE!
Creamy Parmesan Carbonara Chicken (No Egg)
Balsamic Baked Chicken Breast With Mozzarella Cheese
Crispy Chicken Parmesan (Parmigiana)
RECIPE NOW ON VIDEO
Lightly floured boneless chicken breasts are pan fried in until golden and crispy before being added to a mouth-watering garlic cream sauce! Filled with caramelized flavour, you will LOVE how easy this is!
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Prep: 15 minutes mins
Cook: 20 minutes mins
Total: 35 minutes mins
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients
For The Chicken:
- 2-3 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts halved horizontally to make 4
- 4 tablespoons flour (all purpose or plain)
- 4 tablespoons finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Black cracked pepper
For The Sauce:
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 whole head of garlic peeled and divided into 10-12 cloves
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth (stock)
- 1 1/4 cup half and half or heavy cream (or evaporated milk)
- 1/2 cup finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, to serve
Instructions
Season the chicken with salt, garlic powder and pepper.
In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, parmesan cheese. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture; shake off excess.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl pan to coat evenly.
Fry 2-3 chicken breasts until golden on each side, cooked through and no longer pink (about 4-5 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of your chicken). Transfer to a warm plate. Set aside.
Wipe pan over with a sheet of paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil, butter and chicken breasts. When cooked, transfer the chicken onto the same plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Sauté the onion in the remaining oil/juices in the pan until softened.
Smash 6 whole cloves of garlic with the blunt edge of the back of a knife
Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat through, mixing it through the onions. Sauté smashed garlic cloves and whole garlic cloves until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the broth to deglaze the pan. Scrape up any browned bits and let simmer and reduce to half, about 5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour in the cream. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer for about 2-3 minutes, combining all of the flavours together.
Mix in the parmesan cheese. Continue cooking gently for about 2-3 minutes until cheese melts, while stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
Add the chicken back into the pan and let simmer for a further 2-3 minutes to thicken the sauce to your liking. The chicken breast will soak up all of the delicious flavours.
Garnish with parsley and a little black cracked pepper.
Serve over pasta, cauliflower mash, zucchini noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 1205mg | Potassium: 403mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 710IU | Vitamin C: 10.3mg | Calcium: 285mg | Iron: 1mg
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Reader Interactions
Comments
Erin Artlip says
Very good! 10 year old approved! I used some frozen breaded chicken that I had on hand, paired it with some pasta and broccoli and voila – great dinner.Reply
Ellie says
This recipe is delicious and easy. I found it because someone made tumblr post about it that got popular (9000+ likes.) I figured you should know that so many people like this recipe. The post is directly quoted: “ kinda in love with the author of this chicken recipe and her love of garlic. karina if you’re single call me.” “ like this is exactly how i need to be given cooking instructions. softly reassure me that im not going to burn my house down because im cooking with garlic cloves. thank you karina i believe it’s going to be okay.” “ there is. so much. caramelization. the amount of caramelization in this pan is just unprecedented” “ i can’t cook for s*** so trust me when i say this recipe is easy! takes 30 min and uses relatively few ingredients. join me and karina in our garlic-fueled bliss <3” You don’t have to post this comment or anything I just thought you deserved to know.Reply
Karina says
Hi Ellie, thank you so much for letting me know this is all happening! You just made me laugh so hard, you truly made my day X Thank you for sharing your feedback also. Enjoy your week!
Reply
DENNIS CHAN says
Made this for dinner last night. The chicken already tasted amazing before the sauce. The sauce took it to another whole level. One of my favourite recipes!Reply
Karina says
Hi Dennis, I’m thrilled to hear that you made and enjoyed the dish! It’s fantastic that the chicken tasted amazing on its own, and the sauce elevated it to another level. Thank you for considering it one of your favorite recipes!
Reply
Melissa says
This was a delicious recipe! I tried to make it a little “healthier” by subbing in almond flour instead of white flour, oat milk instead of heavy cream, and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese and added an extra onion and shallot to make up for the subs and it was delicious! Will definitely make this again.Reply
Karina says
Hi Melissa, it’s great to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and found a way to make it a bit healthier with your substitutions! Using almond flour, oat milk, and nutritional yeast are great alternatives, and I’m glad it turned out delicious for you. Experimenting with ingredients is a fantastic way to tailor recipes to your preferences!
Reply
Karin Page says
I was looking for a juicy chicken breast recipe – I have never cooked with boneless skinless breast before, but my husband found some on sale, so I read a bunch of your recipes – they all looked so good. I ended up using this one, cutting back a bit on the parmesan, but adding the cream AND a couple tablespoons of cream cheese, and a bunch of swiss chard and tatsoi from my garden. Super easy, super delicious. Thank yuou so much!
Karin (pronounced like Karina without the a)Reply
Karina says
Karin, I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed the chicken breast recipe and made it your own with those wonderful additions! Using fresh produce from your garden must have added a fantastic touch. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I’m thrilled the recipe turned out super delicious for you!
Reply
James Hurley says
I really enjoy One pan cooking. I’ve really never been much for an already Sauce but the onions, garlic and chicken sautéed really brings the flavor that alfredo just cant alone. I like it as it was quick & Easy. I care for my parents and each is picky in their own way. This one hit the both like list. I served over egg noodles with lima beans for the veg. Solid meal. Wondering if it will freeze. If so Ill make more next time and bag some freezer meals.Thanks for the recipe. In my go to meal plans!
Reply
Misty says
This recipe is fabulous. I’ve only tasted the sauce so far but WOW. I would say that even without the 2 little tweaks I made. I try to always add a little acid to dishes with alot of cream, so I squeezed half a lime (out of lemons, boo) in with the chicken stock. I also had some garlic cloves that I roasted in olive oil last week. So I used the ~1tbsp of oil from that and the 4 cloves of garlic along with the garlic head. This just gave an amazing recipe a little pop. Thank you for sharing this! It’s time to dig in now.Reply
Lauren says
I never comment on recipe blogs, but I just have to tell you that this sauce was amazing! I grilled my chicken breasts on the smoker and used that in your sauce. Added more fresh garlic and added a little bit of ranch seasoning. Served over white rice. My husband ate three bowls and I had two! Thank you for the recipe!Reply
Adam says
I cook a bag of egg noodles while I’m making this recipe. Then I slice up the chicken and put it back in the sauce, remove the chicken from the sauce, and add the egg noodles to the sauce. Serve the noodles on a plate with the chicken on top. It is fantastic!
Reply
Jackie says
Delicious! I did fry bacon before sautéing the onions to add bacon bits to the sauce. Family loved it! Thank you!Reply
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