This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Crispy, golden chicken on the outside, tender and succulent on the inside and lightly simmered in a creamy sauce with an abundance of flavour. This is the ultimate secret to moist chicken breasts!
Chicken breasts tend to have a bad reputation for being too dry, chalky or hard to swallow. However, this recipe yields perfectly juicy breasts every time, lightly floured and pan-fried.
With all of the creamy sauce recipes I have on this site including Creamy Garlic Tuscan Shrimp, Creamy Dijon Chicken, Creamy Salmon Piccata, and Creamy Parmesan Shrimp, this one seems to stand out from the crowd! Possibly because the entire dish can be ready to rock in 30 minutes or less.
Why this Recipe Works
Bursting with flavor and yet, versatile enough to be paired with pretty much any side, this dish packs in everything you need from a classic weeknight meal. It’s especially good served with something simple and cheesy like Low Carb Cacio e Pepe on the side.
What Goes into this Recipe
- Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced horizontally to make them thinner.
- Butter: For the richness.
- Flour: To coat the chicken and get that bit of crunchiness on the exterior.
- Chicken broth: For that flavor-packed sauce.
- Heavy cream: To add creaminess to the sauce. Use evaporated milk or half and half if you don’t have this.
- Aromatics: Fresh garlic and white onion, to build that savory base. You’ll need a whole head of garlic here.
- Parmesan cheese: For that salty, nutty deliciousness.
- Seasonings: Just a bit of salt, pepper and some garlic powder.
- Parsley: Chopped fresh, to garnish.
- Olive oil: To fry the chicken.
Note: please see recipe card at the bottom for list of full ingredients and measurements
How to Make Creamy Garlic Chicken Breasts
- Season chicken: Season the sliced chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Prepare the coating: In a shallow bowl, combine the flour and Parmesan cheese and set it aside. Coat the seasoned chicken well in this mixture.
- Fry chicken: Heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat and add the chicken. Fry for a few minutes on each side until they’re light golden brown, then remove and set them aside on a plate.
- Saute aromatics: In the remaining oil-butter mixture, saute the aromatics until they soften and slightly brown.
- Deglaze: Add chicken broth to deglaze the pan and scrape any brown bits stuck on the surface of the pan. Let this simmer for a few minutes and reduce to half.
- Prepare cream sauce: Pour in the cream and let this simmer for a few minutes. Now mix in the Parmesan cheese and season more if needed.
- Add chicken: Add the chicken to the pan and give it a stir. Let this cook for a minute, and the sauce will start to thicken.
- Garnish and serve: Take it off heat, garnish with chopped parsley and crushed black pepper.
I love serving this chicken breast recipe with some steamed rice or Mashed Potatoes! You can also team it up with a simple pasta like my creamy chicken mushroom macaroni bake, some Cauliflower Mash or even some zucchini noodles.
If you’re a bread lover, try my No Knead Artisan Bread or Individual Garlic Cheese Breads– both work wonderfully to mop up that delicious sauce.
Recipe FAQ’s
Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and reheat in a pan over medium heat or in the microwave, pausing at every 15 second interval. You may also need to add a splash of milk or chicken broth to get the sauce back to the right consistency.
Yes, you can! I love the idea of trying this recipe with shrimp, steaks and even salmon. Just remember that the cooking time will be different depending on the kind of meat you’re working with.
You might also like
Get a free eBook!
Subscribe to Cafe Delites FOR FREE and receive recipes straight into your inbox!
Creamy Garlic Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
For The Chicken:
- 2-3 boneless chicken breasts large, skinless, halved horizontally to make 4
- 4 tablespoons flour (all purpose or plain)
- 4 tablespoons parmesan cheese finely grated, fresh
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper cracked
For The Sauce:
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 1 whole head of garlic peeled and divided into 10-12 cloves
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth (stock)
- 1 1/4 cup heavy cream half and half (or evaporated milk)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese finely grated, fresh
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley to serve
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt, garlic powder and pepper.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, parmesan cheese. Dredge chicken in the flour mixture; shake off excess.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl pan to coat evenly.
- Fry 2-3 chicken breasts until golden on each side, cooked through and no longer pink (about 4-5 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of your chicken). Transfer to a warm plate. Set aside.
- Wipe pan over with a sheet of paper towel. Repeat with remaining oil, butter and chicken breasts. When cooked, transfer the chicken onto the same plate.
- Reduce heat to medium. Sauté the onion in the remaining oil/juices in the pan until softened.
- Smash 6 whole cloves of garlic with the blunt edge of the back of a knife
- Add the remaining oil and butter to the pan and heat through, mixing it through the onions. Sauté smashed garlic cloves and whole garlic cloves until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Add the broth to deglaze the pan. Scrape up any browned bits and let simmer and reduce to half, about 5 minutes.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour in the cream. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer for about 2-3 minutes, combining all of the flavours together.
- Mix in the parmesan cheese. Continue cooking gently for about 2-3 minutes until cheese melts, while stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
- Add the chicken back into the pan and let simmer for a further 2-3 minutes to thicken the sauce to your liking. The chicken breast will soak up all of the delicious flavours.
- Garnish with parsley and a little black cracked pepper. Serve over pasta, cauliflower mash, zucchini noodles, rice or mashed potatoes.
Video
Notes
- You can use heavy cream, whipping cream or thickened cream in the sauce.
- For a lightened up sauce, use evaporated milk or half and half. If using half and half, be careful not to bring your sauce to a rapid boil or it may curdle.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Amazing recipe as written. My one caution is to be careful with the salt. You’re going to reduce the sauce a lot so resist the urge to season early because you will over-salt. This goes double if you’re using a salted stock, and of course you have to account for the salt in the parmesan.
Perfect. We made this recipe exactly as is and it was amazing. We served it with some spaghetti squash on day one and ate it as left overs with penne pasta the second days. Both days it was amazing.
Thank you!
I made tweaks to this recipe for myself and my family. Even so, this recipe is absolutely amazing. I would recommend to anyone. I use 32 oz of chicken broth to 16 oz of heavy whipping cream with a little over a cup of parm cheese and put it over alfredo noodles. its a liquidy sauce but it makes it so delicious as a pasta.
10/10. My boyfriend doesn’t like cheesey sauces and we both ate it all in one go. Thank you for this recipe.
This was so good! I made it exactly as the recipe instructed. Big hit tonight. Thanks for sharing!
not done yet but very excited to taste the juicy flavorness yum yum and yum and as always yuhh
This was amazing!! The best chicken we’ve had in a long time. My husband followed the recipe exactly as written. Only difference, he put it in oven at 350 for 20 minutes while we made sides. The sauce thickened, the chicken breasts stayed very moist. We served it with potatoes, green beans, and garden salad.
This is a definite keeper.
Omg I’m a working man i like cooking a nice meal when i come home and I found this and far out the comments below And as describe the meal wow lick the plate goodness.. and easy ,have a beer chuck it togather and bang Ur eating a fantastic meal .
I never comment on recipe posts, but I couldn’t resist commenting on this one. All I have to say is that this is hands down one of the best recipes I have found anywhere, ever!! Blown away by the amazing flavors of this dish- it was a huge hit!
Fantastic recipe! It was a massive hit with the wife and kids and has now become a regular request! I add diced bacon and spinach gnocchi and the flavours are amazing.
I made this tonight for dinner it was so good even my daughter had two servings and she is so picky thank you for sharing the recipe will make again
Delicious! This dish is one of the best dishes I have made with chicken. Definitely going into the rotation. Well done and thank you for sharing.
Love it can’t get enough. Only problem is my sauce doesn’t want to thicken am I doing something wrong?
We LOVE this recipe! So yummy and creamy and unique, but verstile enough to pair with a creative or healthy side dish.
WOW!!!! This was sooo delicious. Went exactly by the recipe and it was fantastic. Definitely will be making it again. The sauce over the potatoes was fabulous!😋
Great dish!! So flavorful. Added spinach as well. Delish!
This was so delicious! An absolute hit with everyone – will definitely make again….and soon!
This was amazing! I followed the recipe to the T but added spinach because I can’t imagine dinner without spinach. Definitely keeping this one on hand. Thank you!
The spinach is a great idea! I added broccoli which was also yummy
This meal was such a hit with my family that it’s now one of our default meals when we don’t know what to make with chicken. It’s hard to please three kids in different age groups (toddler, elementary, middle schooler) Thank you for sharing this recipe with the world!