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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!
See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.
Why This Recipe is 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.
What You Need to Know Before You Start
- 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.
Recipe Variations
Switch Up the Protein: Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work beautifully here and are even more forgiving if you accidentally overcook them. Pork chops or pork tenderloin are delicious alternatives – just adjust the cooking time based on thickness. For seafood lovers, salmon fillets or shrimp make this dish feel fancy and cook faster (about 12-15 minutes for salmon, 8-10 for shrimp).
Add More Vegetables: Sauté 8 ounces sliced mushrooms with the garlic for extra umami and texture. You can also stir in 2 to 3 cups fresh baby spinach during the last 2 minutes of oven time – it’ll wilt right into that gorgeous sauce. Roasted cherry tomatoes (halved and added with the sun-dried tomatoes) bring extra sweetness and color.
Adjust the Heat Level: If you’re spice-sensitive, reduce the red pepper flakes to ⅛ teaspoon or skip them entirely – the dish is still incredibly flavorful without the heat. For spice lovers, add 1 thinly sliced fresh jalapeño when you sauté the garlic, or bump the red pepper flakes up to ½ teaspoon.
Change Up the Herbs: Swap the Italian seasoning for 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves for a more earthy, French-inspired flavor. Fresh rosemary (about 1 teaspoon minced) also pairs beautifully with the sun-dried tomatoes. Just remember that fresh herbs are more delicate than dried, so add them toward the end of cooking for the best flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Boneless, skinless chicken thighs work beautifully in this recipe. They’ll be a bit richer and more forgiving if you accidentally overcook them. Just keep in mind they may take 5-10 minutes longer to reach 175℉, so start checking the internal temperature around the 30-minute mark.
No problem! Plain, unsweetened Nutpods work great as a substitute and won’t give you any coconut flavor. You can also use full-fat coconut cream (the thick part from a chilled can) for an even richer sauce.
If your sauce seems too thin, let it simmer uncovered on the stovetop for a few extra minutes after removing the chicken to reduce and thicken naturally. You can also add an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast, which will thicken the sauce slightly while adding more of that savory, cheesy flavor.
You can prep the chicken (season it, even sear it) and make the sauce up to a day ahead, then store them separately in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, just combine everything in the skillet and finish cooking in the oven. Fully cooked leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheat beautifully in the microwave or on the stovetop.
While cast-iron is ideal because it goes from stovetop to oven seamlessly, any oven-safe skillet will work. Just make sure the handle is oven-safe up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit – no plastic or rubber handles!
More Tasty Whole30 Recipes
- Breakfast Casserole with Sausage and Eggs
- Instant Pot Tomato Soup
- Whole30 Ketchup Recipe
- Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla-Less Soup (with Slow Cooker Option)
- Swedish Meatballs with Gravy (Paleo, Gluten Free)
- Easy Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy
- Delcious Breakfast Tacos
- Gyro Meatballs
- Buffalo Chicken Salad
- White Chicken Chili
- Savory Meatloaf
- Southern Fried Chicken Salad
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
Whole30 Marry Me Chicken
Equipment
- Large cast-iron skillet or oven-safe skillet
- Meat pounder or rolling pin
- instant read thermometer
- Tongs
- Spoon for stirring
- Large plate
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts approximately 2 pounds
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil
For the Whole30 Marry Me Sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh garlic approximately 3 large cloves
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened full-fat coconut milk at room temperature – or coconut cream, or plain Nutpods; see Notes
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes see Notes
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For Serving
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil chiffonaded for garnish (see Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉
- Place 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts on cutting board. Trim chicken as needed. If chicken breasts are unevenly sized or especially thick, pound chicken breasts with rolling pin or meat pounder as needed until all chicken breasts are equal in size and thickness.
- Season chicken breasts generously on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Set chicken aside.
- Place large cast-iron skillet on stovetop over medium heat. When pan is warm, add 2 tablespoons avocado oil and continue heating pan until oil is hot and shimmery.
- When oil is hot, place seasoned chicken breasts in skillet. Sear chicken 3 to 4 minutes or until opaque, then flip chicken over and sear on other side 3 minutes.
- Once chicken is opaque on both sides, transfer chicken to large plate and set aside. Return skillet to medium heat. Do not drain or wipe out skillet.
- Add 1 ½ tablespoons minced fresh garlic to pan. Stir to incorporate, then sauté garlic approximately 60 seconds or until fragrant.
- When garlic is fragrant, add ¼ cup chicken broth and stir to incorporate, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any bits of chicken or garlic that may have stuck to skillet.
- After deglazing pan, remove pan from heat and let cool slightly. Add 1 ½ cups full-fat coconut milk, 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ½ to 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. Stir until all ingredients are fully incorporated, then return skillet to heat.
- Return seared chicken breasts to skillet, nestling them into sauce. Spoon some of sauce over top of chicken.
- Transfer skillet to preheated oven. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165℉ when checked with instant-read thermometer in thickest part of breast.
- Remove skillet from oven and let chicken rest in pan 5 minutes.
- Transfer chicken to serving plates. Spoon sauce from skillet over chicken as desired, then garnish with 2 tablespoons fresh basil and serve immediately with desired sides.
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.
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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! 🙂