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!
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.
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The sauce was delicious when i tried it before adding it on top of the chicken. I feel the grease from the thighs thinned the sauce out and made it separate. I did have to cook longer b/c of the potatoes not being done. Next time I’ll use chicken breasts to make it healthier for me to eat and I’ll pre cook potatoes a lil. Might also add mushrooms and more spinach. I did put a ton more garlic than it called for and I also doubled the sauce and used a bigger roasting pan so there would be room for everything. I just couldn’t get over the grease and seeing it in the pan mixing with my delicious sauce. Will still make again with changes.
Delicious recipe. Husband loved it and the sauce was a hit. Thank you!
I used chicken breasts and added onion with the garlic. This sauce was out of this world! Next time I’ll also include mushrooms. Just seems like they would go well and increase the veggies.
One small thing to simplify steps. I didn’t set my spinach aside. I went ahead and put it on top of the chicken.
Do you peel the potatoes or just leave skins on?
What type of potatoes can you use if you can’t find Dutch
Yukon gold! Russet will fall apart.
Really liked this, but I find it needs more like 40 minutes for the potatoes to not be undercooked. I also tried it with boneless/skinless thighs since that’s what I had on hand, and it still turned out great! Easier for serving to my kids without the bone too.
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! and I’m not even a great cook. lol
This dish is absolutely delicious. The chicken and potatoes are so flavorful. I will definitely be making it any. I did parboil the potatoes and I baked it at 375 for one hour.
Super Delicious! I added a little chicken broth to bottom of dish before pouring the cream sauce b/c I was nervous about undercooked potatoes and it was fine/delicious. Also used 2%milk instead of 1/2&1/2. Probably tripled the garlic. :-). Will definitely be adding this to the rotation.
Great recipe! Family loves it! Compatible with a restaurant dish.., that delicious. Just put chicken and potatoes into the oven raw . No issues! Cook for awhile while I prepare the spinach and sauce! Add mushrooms. Also do half and half with yams. Don’t need 1/2 and 1/2 milk. Regular milk is fine. Also use lactose free. Milk. Can’t really screw any up! Always tastes amazing! Thank you
My guests loved it! How much you say? They begged for the recipe.
This recipe has become a staple in our house! I get asked for it about once a week! It’s an awesome recipe as is; but I wanted to share a few changes we made in case they interest others 🙂
1. We use chicken breast. It would probably be better with thighs, as written, but our family buys meat in bulk and we don’t typically have thighs on hand. Even with breast meat, I’ve never had the chicken dry out or be weird at all (which we all know can sometimes happen).
2. We add carrots with the potatoes. Just adds another vegetable to make the “side dish” part of this dish go further. We use Yukon Gold’s because the baby dutch potatoes at our local store aren’t always the best quality.
3. We add a pinch of salt and garlic powder to the spinach as it wilts. Definitely adds a dimension of flavor.
4. We double the sauce. We’re sauce-y people, so we double the parmesan cream sauce amounts so there’s extra.
But seriously, even without all our changes, it’s a great recipe. I totally recommend trying it!
Just amazing. Will definitely make this again and again.
This was SO good! I used russet potatoes because I have no idea what Dutch potatoes are. Lol. I cut them into 1” pieces and roasted them in the oven while I prepared everything else. They came out perfect. I also used frozen spinach thawed out and chicken quarters. The chicken was super tender, the potatoes were crispy and flavorful. I love this dish!
This was a great one dish meal! My family loved it. The sauce is so tasty that my daughter wants me to make it for her to put on pasta! Thanks for a great recipe.
We made this yesterday and it is AWESOME! Easy to make, makes a huge amount, and we added sliced portobello mushrooms in with the spinach to saute. 3-5 Great addition!! My hubby LOVES it!!
This recipe is a hit with everyone I serve it to. I love it because I can prep this the hour before company comes and throw it in the oven. When they arrive, dinner is already in and my kitchen is cleaned up so I actually have time to mingle with a drink instead of slaving away while everyone else is chatting. (When I make for company, I usually double or triple it and increase the baking time to an hour because of the quantity fyi.)
Something I do to avoid the undercooked potatoes issue is cut up the potatoes and throw them in the oven on a baking sheet while I’m doing the rest of the dish. They get completely cooked and browned by the time I’ve done everything and this actually makes them amazing. I throw them when called for (overtop of the chicken) and they get double baked this way. This actually leaves them with a nice outer crisp and super soft inside. People always ask how I got my potatoes to be so good. The sauce is incredible.
No changes whatsoever to this recipe (with the exception of just cooking the potatoes while I prep). Though I have done this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts with just as amazing results. I usually have to double or triple this recipe because this is one of the few dishes everyone wants leftovers of the next day.
Thank you for the amazing recipe!
When you make it with boneless skinless thighs do you adjust the cooking time at all?
Carla, I made it with boneless skinless thighs tonight and did not need to adjust the cooking time.
What a lovely dinner! Thumbs up all around, and that’s hard to come by! The sauce is so delicious and the fact that potatoes were in the same dish was very clever indeed. It took me a little longer to make this first time but I’m sure I’ll breeze through it the next time.
This is my husband’s favorite meal. We call it chicken and taters lol! We just add a little more broth, 1/2 and 1/2 and parmesan cheese to make a little more sauce but other than that, the recipe is perfect!
I made this for my family last night and everyone loved it! I was anticipating a large amount of leftovers, as there are only 3 people in my family, but we ate all of it. I can’t wait to make this again. It is definitely a new family favorite. Delicious. Thank you!
Made it tonight and it turned out amazing
I love this recipe. I followed the way directions for the recipe directly the first time and it was delicious. This time I used more seasoning for my sauce and I added red potatoes and seasoned green beans with the spinach. My chicken breasts were well seasoned and tender as well. Thank for a great recipe. ❤️