When you want something comforting and delicious without spending hours in the kitchen, a creamy chicken dish is hard to beat. This creamy garlic and Parmesan chicken combines tender chicken breasts with a rich, savoury sauce and takes surprisingly little effort to prepare.
It is the sort of recipe that works equally well for a relaxed family dinner or a meal with friends. Serve it with mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or some crusty bread for mopping up every last bit of the sauce.
What You’ll Need
For four people, you’ll need:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 200ml chicken stock
- 200ml double cream
- 75g Parmesan, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- A handful of fresh parsley
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
You can also add a handful of spinach, sliced mushrooms or a few sun-dried tomatoes if you want to put your own spin on the dish.
How To Make Creamy Garlic Chicken
Start by seasoning the chicken breasts generously with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken over a medium-high heat for around five minutes on each side, depending on thickness. The chicken should be golden on the outside and cooked through.
Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.
Reduce the heat slightly and add the butter. Once melted, add the chopped garlic and cook for around 30 seconds, taking care not to let it burn.
Pour in the chicken stock and use a wooden spoon to scrape any tasty browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Simmer for a couple of minutes before adding the double cream.
Stir well and allow the sauce to gently simmer until it starts to thicken. Add the Parmesan and continue stirring until it has melted into the sauce.
Return the chicken to the pan and spoon the sauce over the top. Leave everything to simmer gently for another few minutes so the flavours can develop.
Scatter over freshly chopped parsley before serving.
Easy Ways To Change The Recipe
This is one of those recipes that is easy to adapt depending on what you have in the fridge.
For a vegetable-packed version, add spinach towards the end of cooking and allow it to wilt into the sauce. Mushrooms can be fried alongside the garlic, while a little smoked paprika gives the dish a warmer, richer flavour.
If you like a little heat, add a pinch of chilli flakes with the garlic.
For a particularly indulgent meal, serve the chicken with creamy mashed potatoes and steamed green vegetables. Alternatively, spoon the chicken and sauce over pasta for an easy one-pan-style pasta dinner.
A Recipe Worth Keeping
The beauty of this creamy garlic and Parmesan chicken is its simplicity. There are no complicated techniques or unusual ingredients, but the finished dish feels far more special than an ordinary midweek dinner.
Once you’ve made it once, you can easily adapt it to suit your own tastes — which is exactly what makes recipes like this worth adding to your regular kitchen repertoire.
