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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, 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.
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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 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.
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.
It was a great experience of taste just the right amount of salt and garlic
So good!! I’ve made this recipe multiple times, always my favorite!! I love love the garlic, I smash mine. I added fresh spinach, red bell peppers, fresh mushrooms, a pinch of Cheyenne pepper and nutmeg. ❤️
I tried this recipe tonight. Because I can’t have wheat I left the flour dredging out. I didn’t want to figure out how to use cornstarch, so I didn’t do that either. It rurned out marvelous!
Very good! 10 year old approved! I used some frozen breaded chicken that I had on hand, paired it with some pasta and broccoli and voila – great dinner.
This recipe is delicious and easy. I found it because someone made tumblr post about it that got popular (9000+ likes.) I figured you should know that so many people like this recipe. The post is directly quoted: “ kinda in love with the author of this chicken recipe and her love of garlic. karina if you’re single call me.” “ like this is exactly how i need to be given cooking instructions. softly reassure me that im not going to burn my house down because im cooking with garlic cloves. thank you karina i believe it’s going to be okay.” “ there is. so much. caramelization. the amount of caramelization in this pan is just unprecedented” “ i can’t cook for s*** so trust me when i say this recipe is easy! takes 30 min and uses relatively few ingredients. join me and karina in our garlic-fueled bliss <3” You don’t have to post this comment or anything I just thought you deserved to know.
Hi Ellie, thank you so much for letting me know this is all happening! You just made me laugh so hard, you truly made my day X Thank you for sharing your feedback also. Enjoy your week!
Made this for dinner last night. The chicken already tasted amazing before the sauce. The sauce took it to another whole level. One of my favourite recipes!
Hi Dennis, I’m thrilled to hear that you made and enjoyed the dish! It’s fantastic that the chicken tasted amazing on its own, and the sauce elevated it to another level. Thank you for considering it one of your favorite recipes!
This was a delicious recipe! I tried to make it a little “healthier” by subbing in almond flour instead of white flour, oat milk instead of heavy cream, and nutritional yeast instead of parmesan cheese and added an extra onion and shallot to make up for the subs and it was delicious! Will definitely make this again.
Hi Melissa, it’s great to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and found a way to make it a bit healthier with your substitutions! Using almond flour, oat milk, and nutritional yeast are great alternatives, and I’m glad it turned out delicious for you. Experimenting with ingredients is a fantastic way to tailor recipes to your preferences!
I was looking for a juicy chicken breast recipe – I have never cooked with boneless skinless breast before, but my husband found some on sale, so I read a bunch of your recipes – they all looked so good. I ended up using this one, cutting back a bit on the parmesan, but adding the cream AND a couple tablespoons of cream cheese, and a bunch of swiss chard and tatsoi from my garden. Super easy, super delicious. Thank yuou so much!
Karin (pronounced like Karina without the a)
Karin, I’m delighted to hear that you enjoyed the chicken breast recipe and made it your own with those wonderful additions! Using fresh produce from your garden must have added a fantastic touch. Thank you for sharing your experience, and I’m thrilled the recipe turned out super delicious for you!
I really enjoy One pan cooking. I’ve really never been much for an already Sauce but the onions, garlic and chicken sautéed really brings the flavor that alfredo just cant alone. I like it as it was quick & Easy. I care for my parents and each is picky in their own way. This one hit the both like list. I served over egg noodles with lima beans for the veg. Solid meal. Wondering if it will freeze. If so Ill make more next time and bag some freezer meals.
Thanks for the recipe. In my go to meal plans!
This recipe is fabulous. I’ve only tasted the sauce so far but WOW. I would say that even without the 2 little tweaks I made. I try to always add a little acid to dishes with alot of cream, so I squeezed half a lime (out of lemons, boo) in with the chicken stock. I also had some garlic cloves that I roasted in olive oil last week. So I used the ~1tbsp of oil from that and the 4 cloves of garlic along with the garlic head. This just gave an amazing recipe a little pop. Thank you for sharing this! It’s time to dig in now.
I never comment on recipe blogs, but I just have to tell you that this sauce was amazing! I grilled my chicken breasts on the smoker and used that in your sauce. Added more fresh garlic and added a little bit of ranch seasoning. Served over white rice. My husband ate three bowls and I had two! Thank you for the recipe!