This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. Please Read Our Disclosure Policy.
This Whole30 marry me chicken recipe is a dairy free, soy free, totally Whole30-compliant version of our reader favorite marry me chicken. Tender chicken breasts in a rich dairy-free cream sauce with sweet-tart sun-dried tomatoes, fresh basil, and crushed red pepper flakes. This’ll be a staple in your Whole30/paleo meal rotation!
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- Our marry me chicken is a reader favorite, and it’s easy to see why! I mean, who doesn’t love perfectly cooked chicken in a rich, decadent sauce made with heavy cream, parmesan, and sun-dried tomatoes? Exactly. The downside to all that decadence, though? You can’t have it on Whole30. Until now, that is! I’ve adapted that super-popular creamy chicken recipe to be totally Whole30-compliant, dairy free, low carb, keto-friendly, and paleo-friendly. Dig in!
- Just like the traditional version, Whole30 marry me chicken pairs really well with a wide variety of sides. Mashed potatoes, asparagus, green beans, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice… If you’re not paleo or on a Whole30 round, you could also serve it with pasta (like in our marry me chicken pasta) or a mushroom risotto.
- Leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 4 days, making this a great Whole30 meal prep option. It reheats well, too; just pop it in the microwave or warm it in a skillet until heated through.
Key Ingredients
“Cream” – Heavy cream is a big component of the original recipe. Since we’re going for a dairy-free, Whole30-compliant version this time, though, we’re replacing it with your choice of coconut milk (unsweetened), coconut cream (the solid layer that forms on top of the coconut milk when you refrigerate the unopened can), or plain Nutpods. Coconut cream will give you the richest, creamiest sauce, while coconut milk and Nutpods will both be thinner.
Nutritional Yeast – For a cheesy flavor without the cheese! If you’ve never used it before, it’s a deactivated yeast (available at most grocery stores!) that boasts a few health benefits and can be used as a dairy-free “cheesy” topping for popcorn or fries or to make a vegan queso or “cheese” sauce. It’s typically available in both flakes and powder forms, and either form will work in this recipe.
Sun-Dried Tomatoes – Sweet. Tangy. Tart. INCREDIBLE. Though they’re naturally sweet (they’re tomatoes after all), you want to make sure you buy ones that are completely Whole30-compliant. No added sugars or anything in the ingredients list! If sun-dried tomatoes aren’t your thing, try roasted red peppers instead. Different flavor profile, but still tasty.
Chef’s Tips
- There’s a lot of really nice flavors in this recipe as-is. If you’d like an extra flavor boost, trying adding in some sautéed mushrooms for another layer of delicious savoriness. You can also add some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes to the skillet, rather than just using the tomatoes.
- 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.
- You can cook the chicken to a food-safe internal temperature of 165° Fahrenheit and serve it immediately, but I actually like to take it out of the oven when it’s around 160°-162° Fahrenheit inside and let it rest in the pan for 5 minutes or so while I finish up the sides. The chicken’ll continue to cook a little as it rests, so taking it out slightly early will ensure you don’t accidentally overcook it.
More Whole30 Recipes You’ll Love
- Whole30 Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs (Paleo, Vegan Option)
- Whole30 Tzatziki (Paleo, Keto, Dairy Free)
- Easy Air Fryer Whole Chicken with Crispy Skin
- Whole30 Lasagna Soup
- Egg Roll in a Bowl Meal Prep (Whole30, Paleo, Keto)
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole with Eggs and Sausage (Whole30, Dairy Free, Gluten Free)
- Whole30 “Peanut” Chicken Bowls (Paleo)
- Whole30 Everything Bagel Chicken and Scallion “Cream Cheese” Sauce
- Sweet Potato Rice
- Whole30 Creamy Garlic Chicken (Dairy Free, Paleo)
Whole30 Marry Me Chicken
Equipment
- cast-iron skillet or other oven-safe skillet
- Tongs
- Plate
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
- 4 large chicken breasts approximately 1 ½ to 2 pounds
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk or coconut cream, or plain Nutpods; see Notes
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes see Notes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½-1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonaded (see Notes), for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Liberally season each chicken breast with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat avocado oil in cast iron skillet over medium heat. When hot, add chicken to skillet. Sear 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and sear on other side 3 minutes. Add a little more oil if chicken starts smoking
- Remove pan from heat and transfer seared chicken to plate. Add garlic to skillet and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 to 2 minutes.
- Stir in broth and coconut milk, then slowly add nutritional yeast, sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes.
- Return skillet to heat. 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.
- Coconut Milk: For a richer, thicker, creamier sauce, place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight. When you open it, you’ll see the layer of thick coconut cream on top of the thin coconut milk. Scoop out the coconut cream and use that in this recipe instead. You can also use plain Nutpods if you don’t like coconut milk/cream.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Make sure your tomatoes are fully compliant and don’t contain any added sugars or sulfites.
- 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.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Nutrition Disclaimers
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.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Tag @40aprons on Instagram and be sure to leave a review on the blog post!
Never Miss A Meal!
New Recipes Straight To Your Inbox
A curated selection of our most recent recipes, delivered straight to your inbox once a week.
Leave A Review
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Soooooooooo good!!! My entire family devoured this last night. This will definitely be on our rotation from now on!
So happy you all enjoyed it so much, Lesan! Thank you for sharing your review!
I made this once before for my husband and we loved it! Last night I had guests over and I made it and they couldn’t stop talking about how delicious it was. Thank you for a great recipe I made it exactly how it says.
Thank you so much, Nancy! I’m so happy you and your guests enjoyed this one so much. Thank you for your kind review!
This is witchcraft! If it wasn’t that I made it myself, you couldn’t convince me it was dairy-free.
I hate, and I mean hate savory recipes with coconut milk, for me, it ALWAYS tastes coconutty/sweet & it’s off. I happened to have coconut cream on hand and decided to give it one last shot. INCREDIBLE!
So much so, that I 86’ed my original idea for mashed potatoes and had to have this as a pasta sauce!
I dunked the ENTIRE can of coco-cream, added the rest of my jar of sundried T’s, and sprinkled more of the oregano, and basil (I only had dry & it worked perfectly.)
I actually had Follow Your Heart Parm so I used 1/3 cup of that and a tbsp of Nutritional yeast. I don’t have a meat mallet, so I thought punching (lol) the chicken while in the zip lock bag would work.. and it did!
I ended up not needing to toss this in the oven at all, I sliced the chicken breast, placed them in the sauce, and will toss it with Konjac noods or some Jovial Gluten Free noods. Soooooooooo Goooooood!
Haha, I can’t tell you how happy reading your comment makes me! Thank you SO much for sharing your feedback. I’m so happy you loved the recipe so much.
And if you need another trick for tenderizing the chicken that saves your hands in the process – use a skillet! Think of it like at-home Whack-a-Mole 🤣
Amazing and simple. Great with edamame noodles (I used explore cuisine brand) for gluten /grain free people and added protein !
Yum, that sounds like a perfect pairing! Thank you so much for your feedback. So happy you enjoyed the recipe!
What can you use in place of nutritional yeast?
Hey, Sarah! There’s no great Whole30-compliant sub for the nutritional yeast here since it’s acting as the cheesy component. Are you on a Whole30 round right now? If you’re not needing a Whole30-specific version, you can try our original Marry Me Chicken recipe which uses parmesan instead.
Wow, I cannot believe there’s no cream in this! Absolutely delicious. As someone with a dairy intolerance, I miss cheese and cream so much. This helps with those cravings!
So, so happy we were able to give you back a little of those ingredients you’ve been missing, Jennifer. Thank you so much for leaving a review!
Loved it! So good. We sauteed mushrooms with the garlic and added spinach to the hot skilllet at the end.
Yum! So glad you enjoyed it!
Just made this tonight and my whole family loved it. Even if we aren’t on whole 30 we’ll keep this in the rotation. This is by far my favorite recipe site. Thank you for what you do.
Thank you for this awesome feedback, Leslie! Thrilled it was a hit with the whole family.
SO quick and easy to make. My husband loved it.
So glad to hear it! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂