Marry Me Chicken

 Marry me chicken is about to become your new favorite chicken recipe! This crowd-pleaser takes juicy, tender chicken breasts and marries them with an incredible parmesan cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil for a rich, flavorful main course everyone will love.

🍗 What Makes This Recipe So Good

• If your partner isn’t already head-over-heels in love with you then one bite of this chicken recipe will have them ready to propose! Okay, maybe we can’t guarantee that, but that’s one theory behind the name! Marry me chicken is a dish so incredible that you’ll hear music, see hearts floating in the air, and feel compelled to profess your undying adoration. Serve with caution.
• Another possible explanation as to why this dish is named marry me chicken is because of the way the flavors marry together as they cook. A lot of the sauce components are incredible on their own, but when you pair them together, they become absolutely unbelievable. Creamy and cheesy, with bold flavors of dried and fresh herbs and tangy sun-dried tomatoes.
• Given the rich flavors of the sauce, it’s almost hard to believe how simple this recipe is! It doesn’t need any fancy sides or anything, either. I like to pair my marry me chicken with some garlic butter parsley potatoes or some air fryer asparagus. You could always serve it with a little pasta or palmini, too. Easy, satisfying, and delicious!
• This chicken dish is naturally keto-friendly, low carb, and gluten free. No adjustments needed!

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

• We leave the chicken breasts whole here, but cutting them into cutlets first will shorten your cook time! Simply slice the chicken breasts in half from one side to the other (like a hamburger bun) and proceed with the recipe as written.
• For a little extra flavor, add some of the oil from the sun dried tomatoes to the skillet with the olive oil. Searing the chicken in the tomato oil gives it a really nice flavor that’s only enhanced by the sun dried tomato cream sauce.
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese will give you a much better flavor and texture than store-bought, already-grated parmesan. It’s SO easy to grate your own, too! Just grab a whole block of parmesan cheese at the store and grate it on a box grater. If you don’t have a box grater, you could use a sharp knife to slice very thin pieces of parmesan off the block.
• Taking the sauce off the heat to stir in the parmesan can keep the cheese from clumping as it melts. That’ll ensure you’ve got a beautifully smooth parmesan cream sauce for your marry me chicken! Adding the cheese in increments, stirring well and letting it melt completely before adding more, will help, too.

Ingredients

For the Chicken

• 3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts see Notes
• salt to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or other neutral oil
• or the Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
• 2-3 cloves garlic minced
• ¾ cup chicken broth see Notes
• ½ cup heavy cream at or close to room temperature
• ⅓ cup grated fresh parmesan cheese at room temperature, see Notes
• ½-1 cup sun-dried tomatoes see Notes
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes see Notes
• fresh basil

Equipment

• Oven
• Cutting board
• Sharp knife optional
• Paper towels
• Large cast-iron skillet or similar oven-safe skillet
• Tongs
• Plate
• Whisk or silicone spatula
• cheese grate
• internal meat thermometer
• Spoon or small ladle

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Adjust racks as needed so skillet can sit in center of oven. Place chicken breasts on cutting board and trim as needed, then pat chicken breasts dry on all sides with paper towels.
2. Generously season tops of chicken breasts with salt and black pepper. Flip chicken breasts over and generously season other side with salt and black pepper. Set chicken aside.
3. Heat cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. When skillet is warm, add olive oil and swirl pan to cover entire surface with oil.
4. When oil is hot and shimmery, place seasoned chicken breasts in skillet. Sear chicken breasts 3 to 4 minutes, or until lightly golden in spots. Flip chicken breasts over and sear 3 to 4 minutes more. Carefully transfer seared chicken breasts to plate and set aside. Note: chicken should not be fully cooked-through at this point.
5. Return skillet to stovetop and reduce heat to medium-low. Let temperature of skillet reduce, then add minced garlic. Sauté garlic 1 to 2 minutes, or until garlic is just fragrant.
6. Add broth to skillet and stir, making sure to scrape up any browned bits of chicken or garlic that may be stuck to bottom of skillet.
7. Move skillet to cool stovetop burner and let skillet cool slightly, then add heavy cream. Whisk or stir gently to incorporate heavy cream into chicken broth. Once liquids are blended, sprinkle grated parmesan into mixture and gently stir until cheese has melted.
8. Return skillet to hot burner and continue stirring sauce mixture 1 minute or so, while skillet returns to temperature. Add sun-dried tomatoes, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes to cream sauce and stir gently to incorporate ingredients. Taste sauce and adjust salt, pepper, oregano, and/or red pepper flakes as desired.
9. Bring sauce to constant slow simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Once sauce is simmering, return seared chicken breasts to skillet. Flip chicken breasts 3 to 4 times to coat all sides in sauce, then transfer entire skillet into preheated oven.
10. Bake dish 12 to 15 minutes, then begin checking doneness of chicken with internal meat thermometer. Continue cooking chicken until meat thermometer reads 160°-162° Fahrenheit when inserted into thickest part of chicken.
11. Carefully remove skillet from oven and set aside. Spoon sauce from skillet over tops of chicken, then allow chicken to rest 5 minutes. Chicken will cook residually, reaching food-safe internal temperature of 165°F.
12. After 5 minutes, transfer chicken to serving plates. Top chicken with remaining sauce from skillet and garnish with chiffonaded basil. Serve immediately with desired sides.