Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
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A complete meal in one! Baked crisp-tender chicken with potatoes and spinach, so good!
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I have been using this recipe for years! At least 5! I have tried this with all sorts of chicken (boneless skinless thighs are our favorite, but mostly for ease of cutting with 4 younger kids), but what I came here to say is TRY THIS WITH SWEET POTATOES! We like it with regular, but we substituted one time because it’s all we had and we never went back! Sooo yummy. We dice ours into smaller cubes and layer at the bottom of the dish, making sure chicken and sauce cover/coat the potatoes, and we don’t have a problem with undercooked. It’s delish!
why i love this recipe
- Complete meal-in-one. This hearty chicken dinner has it all! And the potatoes and spinach (or any other leafy greens) are baked right in, soaking up all the flavors of liquid gold (aka pan juices).
- Includes the most heavenly, dreamy garlicky Parmesan cream sauce. This is a cream sauce of dreams – rich, silky and just so so good, coating the chicken and potatoes oh-so-perfectly.
- Impressive and budget-friendly. Using bone-in chicken thighs is inexpensive and so impressive for weekend company or visiting family (added bonus: dark meat is much more flavorful and juicier than white meat).
- Plenty of leftover sauce. The gift of leftover sauce can only mean one thing – you can toss with pasta, toss with rice, toss with all of the things. Or sop with all the crusty bread (my personal favorite).
how to make this impressive yet easy peasy chicken and potato dinner
- Make the garlic parmesan cream sauce until the desired consistency is reached (note: heavy cream will yield a richer sauce)
- Season the chicken and sear until the skin is golden brown and crispy
- Cook the spinach until wilted in the pan juices
- Add everything to a baking dish, roasting until both the chicken and potatoes are cooked through and tender
- Serve, spooning over some of that leftover sauce on anything and everything
tips and tricks for success
- Bone-in is ideal. While boneless, skinless chicken thighs can be used with a shorter cooking time, bone-in will be juicier and have extra flavor.
- Brown the chicken first. This will add all the extra, deeper flavors here, sealing all the juices inside, and keeping the chicken nice and crisp while baking.
- Add in leafy greens. This is a great recipe to sneak in leafy greens for those picky eaters. Spinach, kale, collard greens, swiss chard, or arugula are all great options.
- Make it richer (or lighter). Heavy cream will have a higher fat content than half and half or milk, yielding a thicker consistency. Swap out the half and half for heavy cream for a richer sauce, or whole milk for a lighter sauce.
- Freshly grated Parmesan goes a long way. Pre-packaged shredded cheese contains anti-caking agents that can hinder their ability to melt smoothly. Freshly grated cheese is always best, melting more smoothly and evenly, and creating a far superior cream sauce.
- Serve with crusty bread. Serve with all the homemade crusty bread for dipping, sopping and dunking!
pro tip
Use baby potatoes.
Baby potatoes are ideal here to ensure that they cook through at the same rate as the chicken, yielding evenly cooked, crisp-tender potatoes. Baby potatoes also require minimal prep time and do not require peeling. If using larger potatoes, cut into smaller, uniform pieces to ensure even cooking until soft and tender.
what to serve with Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use fresh herbs instead?
Absolutely! But because dried herbs are often more potent/concentrated than fresh herbs, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon fresh herbs to 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
What is half and half?
Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.
What can I substitute for the spinach?
Kale, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
How can I store leftovers?
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
A complete meal in one! Baked crisp-tender chicken with potatoes and spinach, so good!
Video
Ingredients
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 16 ounces baby Dutch potatoes, halved*
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
For the garlic parmesan cream sauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth, or more, as needed
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ cup half and half*
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish or coat with nonstick spray.
- Season chicken with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, to taste.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large cast iron 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 1 tablespoon butter in the skillet. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to wilt, about 2 minutes; set aside.
- Place chicken in a single layer into the prepared baking dish. Top with potatoes, spinach and garlic Parmesan cream sauce.
- Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
For the garlic parmesan cream sauce
- Melt butter in the skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in chicken broth, thyme and basil. Cook, whisking constantly, until incorporated, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stir in half and half and Parmesan until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too thick, add more half and half as needed; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Did you make this recipe?
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Can you use sweet basil instead of regular basil?
Yes, of course!
Hi! I’ve made this dish many times and my family just love it! we have 2 younger kids so i just chopped the chicken to bite size, and they always finish them all! the leftover goes to next day’s school packed lunch! thank you for sharing your awesome food with us.
The quintessential chicken and potatoes! I used Yukon gold potatoes and I had to take the chicken out so I could cook the potatoes the rest of the way. The sauce–oh the sauce…omergerd…
Can you use french style green beans instead of spinach?
Yes, of course!
Its in my oven now! Cant wait to try it
Made it for the first time and it was absolutely awesome! Defintely be a regular from here out. My only recommendation is to quarter the potatoes so they cook faster.
OMG this was Fantastic! A household of 6 and every one of us loved it! The only thing I did different was use 4 chicken breasts cut up into large chunks. I’ve made a rue a couple of times in the past year from other recipes but yours was super easy to make, it mixed really well! I’m using your method from now on! This is the second recipe I’ve tried on Pinterest that just happened to be yours and both were awesome so I’ll definitely be trying more of your recipes in the near future! THANK YOU!
I made this last night and it was sooooo good. It turned out perfect, although I did cook it about 40 minutes total. I can’t wait to try again with boneless thighs or boneless chicken breasts. My kids both went back for seconds and I had enough left over to bring for lunch today. Pretty easy prep and, by cleaning the kitchen while the dish was in the oven, I didn’t have a big mess after dinner was served. It is a keeper!
This is a delicious recipe! I sub kale for spinach and it worked out beautifully. I cooked everything for 35 minutes at 400 in the oven and both chicken thighs and potatoes turned out perfect. I made sure to fully sub merge the potatoes in the sauce to help with the cooking.
I like my chicken skin crispy so I did take a little bit more time to get that skin correct.
I did not find the sauce bland at all, however as I cook I continuously taste and add seasoning as needed base on my taste profile.
Overall this is a wonderful recipe to added to the dinner rotation.
SO DELICIOUS!! I halved the recipe because I live in a household of two and didn’t measure my seasonings but this is just amazing. The sauce is what makes the recipe. I could eat it by itself!
Thanks to Carol D. for suggesting the addition of white wine, which I’ll try next time I make this. The first time I made it, I added a bit of freshly grated nutmeg to the sauce, as it’s a common complement to dairy-based sauces and is used in creamed spinach as well — it gave a subtle boost to the flavor. Fabulous recipe!
This dish is so good. The taste stays with you. I used fingering potatoes cut in 3rds. Very pleased and will be a regular. Read bad comments, some people should give it another try or stay out of the kitchen.
We made this tonight for me, my boyfriend, and our 9 month old. We all loved it! Especially the baby 🙂 We didn’t want to do a shopping trip and had chicken thighs in the fridge, so I’m glad I found this recipe! I noticed some commented that their potatoes werent cooked. So I sautéed them with the garlic after the chicken. I left all the fond in the pan… so much flavor! I’d hate to waste. I added the butter and flour then and let it cook a little until the potatoes softened a bit. I then deglazed the pan with a 1/2 cup of white wine, then added the chicken broth and followed the directions as they were. We only had 2% milk so it had to cook a little bit longer to thicken into a sauce. But boy was it good!!! I would make this sauce for a good pasta dishes too! So yummy! I didn’t have spinach, but made a nice big ceasar salad.
Oh my heavens, this is wonderful! Added baby carrots, and used four thighs (for me and leftovers) and two boneless skinless chicken breasts (hubby won’t do skin unless it’s fried). Hubby ate two helpings, said he loved it and to definitely make this again. Stored the leftovers and I spooned up some sauce in the process just to slurp it! So good!!
I made this tonight, it was awesome! The chicken was almost finished so I decided to leave it on the stove (they were a good size). I left it in my al clad saucier with a cover and put it on med. low for 15 mins. By the way before serving I just stirred it and it all came together. Great recipe, going into my rotation. Thanks, Kathy
My Husband & I Love all the recipes of yours that we have tried! Even got your cookbook 🙂 I am gonna try this one as well and i’m sure it’s gonna be Great.. I was wondering, do you cover this or not when in the oven? Thank You & have a Blessed wk end.
No cover needed! 🙂
Hi Chungah,
I am fairly new to your site and his is my first review. I made this chicken dish tonight for the first time. First of all, I bought everything at Trader Joe’s. I used the fresh frozen garlic and basil cubes, 4 organic chicken breasts, organic baby spinach and their baby potatoes. Everything was perfectly cooked in 30 min. My husband says AWESOME dish, needs more spinach. My opinion AWESOME dish, would serve to company!! I addded mushrooms in with the spinach and almost a cup of fresh Parmesan cheese instead of a 1/2 cup. But what I think made it “company worthy”, was adding a few shakes of red pepper flakes!!! I believe this put it over-the-top! Thanks for a great recipe. I will come back often to your site! Sue
Was asking about making recipe with pork chops. Put M. on name because already a Barbara.
Do you think this would be good with pork chops?
Yes, absolutely. What a great idea!
Hello! I apologize in advance if this was already covered: can you assemble everything in the casserole dish and freeze to cook later? Thank you.
Have not made this dish, but did want to suggest that having the chicken at room temperature prior to cooking, keeping food safety factors in mind, would make a big difference in the cooking time.
Made this tonight and it was really good and tasty, but I would suggest a longer cooking time. I cooked for 30 mins and my chicken wasn’t all the way done and my potatoes were still hard. So I added 15 more mins and it was perfect. I would also cut back on the butter a bit. I love butter, just like anybody else, but this was a bit over the top and too rich. Added an extra clove of garlic, some lemon juice and chopped fresh basil, and it was fantastic!