Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Crisp-tender chicken in the most amazing cream sauce ever. It’s so good, you’ll want to guzzle down the sauce!
I know Thanksgiving is in a few days but I just needed a break from all the turkey-stuffing-sweet potato-brussels sprouts taste testing and try something fun with something completely unrelated to Thanksgiving. Like chicken.
But this is definitely not your ordinary chicken dish. It’s better. Way better. After all, how can you go wrong with a sun dried tomato cream sauce with the most crisp chicken thighs?
The cream sauce is just so good, you’ll actually want to just skip the chicken and eat the sauce with a spoon instead!
Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Crisp-tender chicken in the most amazing cream sauce ever. It's so good, you'll want to guzzle down the sauce!
Ingredients
- 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, drained
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ cup basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside.
- Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, sun dried tomatoes, Parmesan, thyme, oregano and basil.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with basil, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
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I made this last night using two boneless skinless chicken breasts. I did not pound them out, and they were normal in thickness for breasts. I cooked them at 350* for 36 minutes, and they were perfect. Damn delicious indeed!
Am in the UK and love your recipes! Made this for me and my boyfriend last week and we both loved it, mentioned it to my stepdad who was cooking a chicken in tarragon sauce for a six person dinner party that night, showed him your blog and he immediately changed his mind, went shopping for the ingredients and cooked this! He said everyone ate every single scrap and he was licking the sauce out of the pan the next day! Resounding success, will be trying the pasta version tonight! Xx
I copied this from Pop Sugar. I notice a lot of posters were wondering about the differences in heavy creams: Hope this is helpful:
“To those of you who’ve been forced to choose between heavy and whipping cream at the supermarket, you’ve probably pondered it yourself: isn’t all cream more or less the same thing?
Not exactly. There are differences in milk-fat content. All cream contains at least 18 percent milk fat: “whipping cream” is made up of 30 percent, while cartons labeled “heavy cream” or “heavy whipping cream” must contain 36 percent or more. Whipping cream, heavy cream, or heavy whipping cream all work for recipes that incorporate whisked air, but don’t reach for that half-and-half; at 10.5 to 18 percent milk fat, it simply won’t cut it. The more fat content a cream contains, the more stable it’s likely to be in a whipped state.”
I made this dish for “special” company the other night. I was keen to try the sundried tomato sauce. Love that stuff! I totally prepped all the ingredients in little bowls beforehand so that I could make a smooth, ballerina-like transition from stove to oven to table.
I’m laughing! First of all, I don’t have an ovenproof skillet so I borrowed a 12″ stainless skillet. I always bake my chicken in a 9 x 13″ pyrex or on a tray in the counter oven so I had no experience with the “searing of the thighs” part. I soon had butterfat spattered from one end of my gas range to the other – even though the flame was set as directed – then the smoke alarm went off and I had to run for a step ladder to get high enough to wave my tea towel at the fire monitor and put a stop to the racket. The guests were all somewhat bug-eyed – no doubt becoming anxious about the impending meal.
Undaunted – I pressed on, following your instructions to a “t” and eventually served a picture of perfection. Everyone enjoyed the dish. The evening was delightful and I didn’t burn the house down.
Looking forward to making more of your delightful looking dishes..
I’ve made this twice now – delicious! But I think I might be doing something wrong: the sauce is never creamy after the oven cook; it’s oily and kind of burnt/crispy around the edge of the pan. Any advice?
Emma, if there is too much oil, it may be best to drain the sun dried tomatoes more thoroughly.
If I use bone in skin on chicken breasts will the cooking time differ ? What about boneless?
Yes, cooking time will vary for either option depending on the size of the chicken breasts. Please use your best judgment to ensure that the chicken is completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F.
I am in Australia and have a couple of questions. Can chicken stock be used instead of the chicken broth? Also we have thickened cream, is that the same as heavy cream?
Yes, you can substitute chicken stock. And yes, thickened cream is equivalent to the heavy cream listed here.
Made this last week and it was heavenly! Even my usually pick 13 year-old son loved it. This one is definitely a keeper!
So far have made this dish twice! The second time we made it over a small portion of ditani pasta, and it was amazing! Great recipes, we constantly cook from your site!
Looks really good. Have you ever made with leg qaurters?
I actually have not – only chicken thighs. But I’m sure it would be great with leg quarters!
Thank you so much. Just made this tonight for my hubby and 3 children. It was a huge hit and very easy to make. Loved it so much.
Lid on, lid off in oven?
No lid needed here!
I am looking forward to trying this recipe ASAP but my oven is broken. Would it work if I cooked it covered on the stovetop over low heat instead of transferring to the oven?
You can certainly try making this without the use of an oven but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Cooking this on the stovetop may also result in a mediocre outcome but if you really feel the need to make this without an oven, please use your best judgment.
This looks amazing and I would love to make it, but what can I use as a cream substitute? I think someone has mention fat free Greek yoghurt? Could I use coconut cream maybe? Let me know if anyone has tried this, thanks!
You can certainly try substituting Greek yogurt or coconut cream but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome, but if substitutions must be made, please use your best judgment.
Coconut cream! I was thinking the exact same thing! This would be wonderful with coconut cream! Give a little Thai taste without the curry seasoning! I’m going to try this myself!
Thanks for posting this recipe. It was DeLiCiOuS!
Next time I make it I will double the cream sauce since the oven reduces it a lot more.
I used 3 chicken breasts for 3 people and we could have used a bit more cream sauce.
It was served with rice and peas. Will make again and |I would serve this at a dinner party 😉
i don’t have any sundried tomatoes or roasted red peppers, just regular red pepper and regular fresh tomatoes… do i really need to have them? this looks so good and i really want to make it! just dont have the tomatoes
Yes, Michelle, it is best to use all of the ingredients that are listed in the recipe to obtain the best results possible. Also, the oil from the sun dried tomatoes are crucial (if not the main star) in this dish.
Made this last night! SO good! And super easy to make. My husband and 1.5yo loved it too!
I just made this tonight…did not have heavy cream, so I used half and half instead. It was INSANE. Thank you for sharing! I’ll definitely be making this again! 🙂
I could only find thighs without the skin at the store. Will I need to add anything to bring out the flavors since there wont be any fat from the skin? Serving it with baked sweet potatoes, parmesan
baked zucchini sticks and spinach salad.
You should be able to keep the recipe as is – although I really hope you get to try this with skin-on thighs – it truly is the best part!
Is this a meal you can make ahead and then just heat in oven when ready to eat?
I would not advise making this ahead of time as the crispness of the chicken can diminish over time.