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 Marry Me Chicken 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 the 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.
- 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!
- Marry me chicken is a great make-ahead option if you’re meal prepping! Refrigerate in an airtight container up to 4 days. To reheat, pop it in the microwave or warm it on the stovetop until heated through.
Key Ingredients for Marry Me Chicken
Chicken – What’s marry me chicken without the chicken?! We use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe, but you could easily use chicken thighs (with or without bones) instead. Bone-in chicken will make your cook time a little longer!
Sun Dried Tomatoes – A little sweet, a little tangy, and incredibly flavorful. You can use fresh tomatoes instead if you prefer or if you just don’t have sun dried tomatoes handy. They’ll have a little less flavor and tang but your marry me chicken will still be amazing!
Heavy Cream – The thickness of the heavy cream thickens up the sauce without needing any cornstarch or flour. I don’t really recommend substituting this with light cream or milk since they would change the sauce consistency. If you want to lighten up the sauce, though, you could try half-n-half. The consistency would still be a little thin, but not as much thanks to the cream in the half-n-half.
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.
- If you’re serving your marry me chicken immediately, cook it to 165°F internally and transfer it straight from the oven to the plate. Make sure your sides are ready to go! If you’ve got a few minutes between cooking and serving, take the chicken out of the oven when it reaches 160°F inside, then let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes or so. Since the chicken will come to temp as it rests, taking it out a little early will prevent it from being overcooked by the time you eat it.
- 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.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
- Easy Chicken Burritos
- Everything Bagel Chicken with Scallion Cream Cheese Sauce (Keto)
- Spatchcock Chicken with Garlic-Herb Butter
- Dreamy Crockpot Chicken and Rice
- Shredded Chicken Tacos
- Chicken Pesto Sandwich
- The Best Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
- Easy Chicken Recipes for Dinners with Few Ingredients
- Easy Sous Vide Chicken Breast Recipe
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Marry Me Chicken
Equipment
- Oven
- Cast iron skillet (or other oven safe skillet)
- Stove
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 large chicken breasts approximately 1 ½ to 2 pounds
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup chicken broth see Notes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- â…“ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- basil chiffonaded, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Liberally season each chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken to skillet. Sear 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and sear on other side 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove seared chicken from skillet and set aside. Add garlic to skillet and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stir in broth and heavy cream, then slowly add grated parmesan, sun dried tomatoes, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
- Bring mixture to simmer, then return chicken breasts to skillet. Quickly flip chicken a time or two to coat in sauce, then transfer entire skillet to oven.
- Bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit.
- Remove chicken from skillet and plate with desired sides. Spoon additional sauce from skillet over chicken, garnish with chiffonaded basil, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Chicken Broth: If you’re watching your sodium intake or you just like a little less of it, use a low sodium chicken broth. If you’re gluten free you’ll want to make sure you’re using a gluten free chicken broth!
- Parmesan Cheese: Cold cheese can clump when it’s added to the hot liquid, so make sure it’s at room temperature before you begin.
- To Chiffonade the Basil:Â Stack fresh basil leaves on top of each other, then roll tightly lengthwise. Use a small, sharp knife to slice the roll into thin ribbons. Slice perpendicular to roll.
Nutrition
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Jasmine Comer is a food photographer and recipe developer from North Carolina. She grew up in the kitchen watching her mom cook all types of delicious meals. In 2016 she established Lively Meals, a food blog where she creates healthy recipes. This led to creating recipes for other blogs as well. In her free time she enjoys exploring new places and spending time in nature. Ultimately she’s grateful to be doing work she loves—cooking good food and sharing it with people.
Rissy Evans says
Can you recommend any good sides for this recipe?
Megan | 40 Aprons Team says
The garlic butter parsley potatoes and air fryer asparagus linked in the “What Makes Marry Me Chicken So Good” section go with it well! You could also do green beans almondine with quinoa, or your favorite pasta and a small spinach salad!
Kevin says
Marry Me Chicken is so simple, and so delicious!
Natasha says
Really good and easy. The timing on the chicken was perfect (just done at 18 minutes or so). I thought I had sundried tomatoes, but it turned out they were roasted red peppers. So I used those and added some peas, and it still came out lovely. Thanks for the recipe!
Heidi Moran says
Excellent Recipe. Good flavor and a nice change. Have you tried substituting canned full fat coconut milk for the heavy cream to make it non-dairy.
Cheryl Malik says
Glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thanks for the wonderful review. I have not tried that, but it’d be a good sub to make it dairy-free!
Sabrina says
a great chicken recipe, thank you, a lot of flavor that’s a nice change of taste for me, so, much appreciated!