Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
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Crisp-tender chicken baked to absolute perfection with potatoes and spinach. A complete meal in one!
Au revoir, Paris! It’s been an amazing week, but it’s time to get home so that I can burn off all these macarons, baguettes, hot chocolate, and falafels. Not to mention that massive Nutella-banana street crepe I had in the middle of the night.
But before I head to the airport for a 12-hour flight back home, I really need to share this with you: my newest chicken recipe yet with a garlic Parmesan cream sauce that will blow. your. mind.
You also have your potatoes and spinach baked right in for a complete meal in one. See, aren’t you happy that I’m coming back? This just means I’m making more chicken recipes the minute I hit LA.
Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce: Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
Kale, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
Chicken and Potatoes with Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce
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
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.
Video
Notes
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This was a WINNER, WINNER CHICKEN DINNER! We loved it. I made a few adjustments, as I typically do. I used my 12″ cast iron skillet for the whole process. I browned the chicken, then made the gravy with 2% milk because it’s what I had on hand. It turned out fine! Then for the veggies I used the red potatoes, cut a vidalia onion into large pieces, along with several baby bella mushrooms I needed to use up. Once the sauce was done I, spooned it into a bowl, put the chicken back in the pan along with the spinach, potatoes, onions and mushrooms, then poured the sauce over all of it. Sprinkled with a little more Parmasean cheese and had to bake for 45 minutes for potatoes to be done to our liking. But nothing suffered for the extra time, except our hungry tummies. We will definitely be making this again!
did you sauté the veggies first? as in was it 1. brown chicken and remove. 2. sauté veggies. 3. make sauce “gravy”. put it all back in?
This was delicious, the sauce was yummy. I didn’t want to eat potatoes so I threw sliced portabellas in with the chicken while it was browning and served over rice pilaf. Cooked the whole in my cast iron so I only had one pan. Love all your cast iron chicken recipes.
Winner, winner, you know the rest. This was delish and with the spinach, its a one pan, complete meal. I cut back the butter a bit but don’t get me wrong, this dish is really rich. The only deviation from the recipe other than the butter was I parboiled the potatoes, cut them in half again in the pan after about 25 minutes then covered with foil and continued to bake for about 15-20 minutes. The chicken was done before the potatoes but the extra cook time covered didn’t effect the doneness of the chicken much. This has been rePinned to my Tried and True Board. Thank you.
Made this last night! Very delish! I had to cook it for an hour thought. Potatoes were not cooked after 30 minutes.
This was so good. I didn’t have spinach so I subbed broccoli . My family said two thumbs up! It was also simple. I love things that are ready in one pan although I will add salad next time as our chicken was kind of small. Hubby likes salad as a side. Great recipe!
This was awesome and not at all too much for 2-person household. When it comes to the potatoes, I threw them in the stove while I was preparing the rest and cooking the chicken and by the time they came out at the end, they weren’t as hard as previous comments described. Will certainly be trying again and enjoying for lunch tomorrow!
This sauce alone could be used over rice or noodles, maybe adding mushroom, The sauce is out of this world. This is the first time I have ever to any receipt on line I am really in pressed. Thank you for the great recipes. SAM
Made this last night and it was very good!
Made this tonight and husband & 8 year-old loved it. I followed recipe but added 3 chunked carrots – yum! Thanks for the great recipe.
Could you substitute fat free 1/2 & 1/2?
Yes, absolutely.
Just put this in the oven! I am so excited!!!! The garlic sauce is to die for!!! I love your website and I have been telling everyone about it.
Can you use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
Yes, absolutely, but cooking time may have to be adjusted accordingly.
How would I change the recipe for boneless skinless chicken breast
Cooking time may have to be adjusted accordingly.
I also can’t wait for dinner tonight to eat the leftovers!
I made this last night with my Cusinart mulitcooker (basically a slow cooker with roasting & saute function). I followed the directions above, using the pot of the mulitcooker as my saute pan. At step 7, instead of putting everything into a roasting pan, I simply placed everything back into the multicooker pot, with the cream sauce. I used kale instead of spinach & threw in a handful of baby carrots – because that’s the way my family rolls. I lowered the baking temperature to 35oF to compensate for the fact that everything was on direct heat. I cooked the dish for 30 minutes & it came out fantastic! I can’t wait for dinner tonight to eat the leftovers! 🙂
Do you cover with foil or uncover when putting in the oven?
Nope – no cover needed. 🙂 Recipes typically specify when a cover is required.
Thank you. =)
I would love to try this but I am unable to eat cheese of any kind. Do you have any recommendations for what could be used instead?
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
You can buy no dairy “cheese” at Trader Joe’s if you have one near you. =)
This was simply amazing.
I’m making this for a family that’s more then 6 so do I double everything? Or just certain things?
Yes, everything should be doubled.
This recipe is definitely a keeper!!! Thank you!!!