Marry Me Chicken (Chicken in a Sun Dried Tomato Cream Sauce)
Posted: 06/10/21
Updated: 03/14/22
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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.
Looking for a dairy-free, paleo-friendly, and/or Whole30-compliant version of this amazing recipe? Check out our Whole30 Marry Me Chicken (Paleo, Dairy Free)!
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 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
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 gives the sauce a little thickness. This sauce won’t be as thick as, say, an Alfredo sauce, but the heavy cream gives it a little substance. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
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- Easy Chicken Recipes for Dinners with Few Ingredients
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- Beer-Battered Coconut Chicken with Orange-Horseradish Sauce
- How to Truss a Chicken
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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.
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
- ⅓ 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
Equipment
- Oven
- Cast iron skillet (or other oven safe skillet)
- Stove
- Tongs
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
- The sauce will be on the thin side. If you’d like a thicker, creamier sauce, you can thicken it with cornstarch, flour, cream cheese (at room temperature), or a tiny bit of xanthan gum after removing the chicken in the final step.
- 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. Additionally, remove the skillet from the heat before adding the cheese, to avoid clumping or curdling.
- To Chiffonade the Basil: 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.
- Make it Lower Fat: Use half-and-half instead of heavy cream.
- Make it Dairy Free/Whole30/Paleo: See our recipe for Whole30 Marry Me Chicken!
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 290kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 28g, Fat: 17g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 7g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 104mg, Sodium: 357mg, Potassium: 789mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 509IU, Vitamin C: 7mg, Calcium: 100mg, Iron: 2mg, Net Carbs: 6g
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
Amazing- hubby loved it! Doubled the sauce, served it with buttered noodles.
Yum! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
Made this last night with mashed potatoes and sautéed garlic green beans and artesian bread.. doubled the sauce recipe to have more for the potatoes.. amazing !!!
YUM that combo sounds incredible!! Thanks so much for the review, Julia – so happy you loved this recipe!
What are others suggested sides for this recipe?
The options are endless! Mashed potatoes, pasta, asparagus, sautéed broccoli or roasted cauliflower, a small salad, spinach casserole, green beans, brussels sprouts… This one goes well with just about anything!
This was delicious! I used half and half rather than the heavy cream, and I had Romano cheese in so I substituted that for the Parmesan. I doubled the sauce recipe and served it over thin linguine as a side, along with grilled asparagus. A definite keeper, my whole family loves it!
Those tweaks sound delicious, Barb! So happy you enjoyed this recipe. It’s one of my favorites!
Thanks so much for leaving a review!
I made this and its delicious! I made it for my family and did 10 pieces of chicken to fit in the pan and just doubled the sauce. It covers the chicken more and great over rice with the extra sauce!
Isn’t that sauce incredible?? So happy you enjoyed it, Ashton!
*Sauce evaporated*
I have a question. First, I used half and half, like you suggested to lighten it up. Next, I used shredded parmesan, because its what I had on hand. Third, I forgot to take it off the heat to add the cheese. However, it still had plenty of liquid when I put it in the oven. When I took it out of the oven after 18 minutes, all of the liquid had evaporated, and the cheese was stuck to my cast iron!! I scraped off what I could salvage and, like I said, it was still yummy, but what can I do to keep the creamy texture? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.
So, for the cheese – prepackaged, preshredded cheese contains fillers and starches to prevent clumping. Those fillers can make it behave strangely when heated and can keep it from melting like it should. As far as the sauce evaporating, I haven’t had that happen myself so I can’t say for sure what could be done differently. I make this one with half and half myself and while there’s not a ton of sauce left at the end of cooking, I’ve never been left with nothing. Was your chicken overcooked? 18 minutes may have just been too long in your particular oven.