Creamy Chicken and Cauliflower
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Tender, juicy golden-brown chicken cooked in a heavenly cream sauce with roasted cauliflower + baby spinach!
Featured Comment
I’ve been trying to find ways to sneak in some veggies into my dinner. And this time, I’m sneaking in some perfectly roasted cauliflower florets and all the baby spinach for those extra greens.
With juicy, tender golden brown chicken swimming in that Parmesan-garlicky-cream-sauce, the veggies also soak up all that saucy goodness. Even the pickiest eaters won’t know what hit them.
You can serve with crusty bread (can’t have that sauce go to waste) along with a fresh sprinkling of Parmesan, if desired. The leftover wine can also go a long way here.
tips and tricks for success
- Use a heavy pot. A heavy bottom pot, such as a Dutch oven, is ideal here for even heat distribution.
- Cut cauliflower into florets of similar size. This will ensure even cooking! And for extra caramelization and crispness, do not line the baking sheet.
- Use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. The skin crisps up perfectly in this recipe, and the bone-in allows for deeper, meatier flavors.
- Choose a wine you will drink. A dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc) is great here – it does not have to be anything fancy or overpriced. Just something you don’t mind sipping on since you will have an open bottle.
what to serve with chicken and cauliflower
Creamy Chicken and Cauliflower: 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.
Additional chicken broth can be used for white wine as a non-alcoholic substitute.
Kale, cabbage, swiss chard and collard greens are all great subs.
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.
Creamy Chicken and Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 5 cups cauliflower florets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium shallots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup dry white wine*
- 4 cups baby spinach
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ½ cup half and half
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Lightly oil a baking sheet or coat with nonstick spray.
- Place cauliflower in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Add olive oil; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Gently toss to combine.
- Place into oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Season chicken thighs with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside. Drain excess fat, reserving 2 tablespoons in the Dutch oven.
- Add shallot, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Stir in chicken broth and wine, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the Dutch oven. Return chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, until chicken has completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 15-20 minutes. Remove chicken and keep warm.
- Stir in spinach, Parmesan and half and half until the spinach has wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in cauliflower until heated through, about 1-2 minutes. Return chicken to the Dutch oven.
- Serve immediately.
Video
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Super tasty, i didn’t have spinach so used frozen peas and it still turned out great. Will definitely be making this again.
Having a really hard time with the website. On desktop it won’t scroll and on my phone the page keeps reloading. EXCELLENT recipe!
Oh dearie, dearie me was this GOOOOD! This one is a definite keeper! Served this with a baked potato and both hubbie and I ended up ladling the sauce onto our potatoes. Thinking that next time I will serve with rice instead to soak up all that goodness. Thanks so much!
This was outstanding! So much flavor. I did not have baby spinach, so I put in beet greens.
I will be making this again. I’ll try it the spinach next time.
This was fantastic! I made it with boneless, skinless thighs.
Deliscious!!! Made mine with boneless/skinless chicken thighs & it was wonderful. The family all had seconds.
Are there any recipe adjustments if I make it with boneless skinless chicken thighs?
Super delicious. I was making only 3 chicken thighs so I halved most of the ingredients. I added a little sprinkle of tarragon at the end. Really nice dish. It came together quickly too.
This recipe was so delicious! I was excited to try it when I saw the post on Facebook and I was not disappointed! I used chicken tenders instead of thighs because I just like cooking with them. I shredded them and put them in like that. The presentation isn’t quite as nice, but it’s so delicious!
finished with some tarragon from garden, and lifted the result out of the park, worth seeking out
I had to make several substitutions and chose to include a few extras, and this still came out heavenly!
– my thighs had no skin or bones
– mushroom broth instead of chicken broth
– vegan cream cheese instead of half and half
-mushrooms and green beans (about 1 cup each) instead of spinach
-a red bell pepper roasted with the cauliflower
So very yummy! I’m confident it would have been equally delicious had i followed the recipe exactly.
WOW this was so good. First thing I learned from this is that I absolutely LOVE roasted cauliflower. I had no idea it was so good on its own. Honestly it could be used as just a snack food, which I plan to do in the future.
The meal itself was wonderful and loved by the whole family. I did make a substitution based on the comments since I don’t like parmesan cheese. Someone mentioned they used sour cream, so I substituted that instead and the flavor was spectacular. Overall I bookmarked this recipe and will make it again. Thank you!!
Really delicious, I used Liebfraumilch which is a classic dry white wine. I think it really enhanced the flavour of the dish. I did not have any parmesan to add to the recipe but it was enjoyable never the less. Cauliflower is also really tasty done in the oven. Ive not cooked it that way before but shall certainly be doing it again.
This dish was absolutely delicious! I used finely chopped mangold instead of spinach, and used half cream, half water instead of half and half but otherwise did exactly the recipe. Outstanding and irresistible
So gooood! I added mushrooms as suggested in the comments and used cottage cheese blend instead of cream and this recipe is delicious, even my kids loved it!
This was SO amazing!!!
Yes to more garlic and smoked paprika..adding red peppers to the roasting pan takes this delicious recipe to the next level!
My family absolutely LOVES this dish. It really is comforting. I’m sharing with my family. I can’t wait to make it again
The flavor was great but my chicken thighs were still bloody when I cut into them after searing and cooking them in the sauce. Any tips?
This was the bomb!!! So yummy and veggie heavy. My only substitution was fresh rosemary from thyme. My family ate it up!