“Delish! A welcome new dish for our Keto meal plan – thanks for the recipe!.” ~Suzanne
when it comes to chicken recipes, Tuscan chicken is king!
This creamy Tuscan chicken recipe is the kind of meal that draws people like a magnet…they wander into the kitchen from all directions, noses high in the air, begging to know what smells so delicious. What cook doesn’t live for those moments? And it all comes together in about 30 minutes…check it out!
did you know?
Tuscan garlic chicken is a cult favorite pasta dish at The Olive Garden, and it’s been copied a lot because it’s so mouthwatering. Leave it to a large chain restaurant to come up with such an irresistible combination of ingredients ~ they know what people want. My version ditches the pasta and uses chicken thighs, but there’s no reason you can’t put it over pasta if you crave that.
chicken thighs are best for this recipe
I like to use bone in, skin on, thighs. Why? Thigh meat is fattier, more tender and flavorful than other cuts. I use bone-in thighs because cooking chicken with the bone adds even more flavor. However you can use whatever part of the chicken you like, including chicken breasts, or a whole fryer chicken cut in parts, it all works.
TIP: if you use skin on thighs you’ll want to keep that skin out of the sauce until serving, so it stays crisp. If you use skinless chicken you can submerge it in the sauce.
how to build a quick pan sauce for Tuscan chicken thighs
Just like with your Thanksgiving turkey, the gravy is everything in this recipe. I love to sauté minced shallots and garlic in those drippings before adding the Marsala wine to deglaze the bottom and really grab up every bit of flavor. You’ll brown whatever chicken you’re using in some olive oil until both sides are nice and golden. You can either cook the meat right on the stove top, or pop it in the oven to finish cooking while you make the sauce.
The Tuscan sauce finishes with chicken stock and heavy cream. It gets more flavor, color, and texture from sun dried tomatoes, and fresh spinach. I threw in a few chopped cherry tomatoes because they were sitting on the counter. Good move.
the right pan for Tuscan chicken thighs
A wide shallow cast iron casserole with a lid (sometimes called a braiser) is perfect for this dish. These can range from pricey, to not so pricey, and there are lots of choices. I think every kitchen needs one, they cook evenly and make a beautiful stove or oven to table presentation.
If you cook from my blog you might recognize this pan from these other chicken recipes:
- CHICKEN THIGHS WITH WHITE BEANS AND WILTED GREENS
- LEMON CHICKEN BIRYANI
- CHICKEN WITH CRACKED OLIVES AND HERBS
“This is my second time making this dish and it’s delicious! It was so easy to make and also the ingredients weren’t too expensive to buy. Great family dinner meal.” ~Cassie
Creamy Tuscan Chicken Thighs
Video
Ingredients
- 6 bone in/skin on chicken thighs
- olive oil
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- 1 large shallot, peeled and minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup Marsala wine (or Vermouth, or dry white wine)
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, jarred, in olive oil
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (go for the good stuff!)
- 2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped (I like to use baby spinach)
- 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes, or any good red tomatoes
- parsley or fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large shallow cast iron skillet or braising pan with olive oil and heat on medium heat until hot. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper and then brown, skin side down for about 15 minutes, until the skin is nice and crisp. Flip the chicken and cook for another 15 minutes, or until done. The meat should read 160F on an instant read thermometer. Set aside on a plate and cover with foil, or put in a warm oven while you make the sauce.
- Add the shallot and garlic to the pan and saute, stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes. Then add the Marsala wine and let it bubble down while you scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the chicken stock, heavy cream, and sun dried tomatoes, and cook the sauce for a few minutes until it starts to thicken, stirring frequently. Scrape up everything from the bottom and sides of the pan into the sauce. NOTE: This isn’t a super thick sauce, but it will thicken somewhat as it cooks.
- Add the cheese and stir until incorporated. Add the chopped spinach and fresh tomatoes to the pan, and cook until the spinach has wilted. Add the chicken back into the pan and heat through before serving, garnished with fresh parsley or thyme.
Notes
- My husband’s a dedicated thigh man, hence I used thighs, but this recipe is just as good with any chicken parts, and you can make a super quick meal with chicken cutlets, which are thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts.
- Use chopped chicken instead of the whole thighs, and serve this over pasta. The pasta absorbs all that creamy sauce and it’s fantastic.
- Cut calories and fat by using a little more chicken stock and less cream. Let the chicken stock reduce, and you can thicken the sauce with a little Wondra flour.
- I use the sun-dried tomatoes that come in oil, in a jar, but if you only have the dry kind, re-hydrate them in warm water before using.
- For no-alcohol version replace wine with chicken stock, although be aware that some of the alcohol evaporates off, and the flavor payoff is huge. Even a tablespoon or two will make a difference in the flavor of this sauce.
Nutrition
Made this today, and used zoodles instead of pasta. My family absolutely loved it! We talked about trying this with shrimp too.
I think it would be so good with shrimp, and I love the zoodles…I need to get my spiralizer back out 🙂
There was enough sauce I added linguine to it! My kids loved it!
Oh man, I think that would make a killer meal!
I made this last night and it was amazing. I pre-seasoned the chicken with some complete seasoning and a bit of oyster sauce (because we love oyster sauce) and added some green pepper with the onions and garlic. I had a bit of prosecco in my fridge so used a tbs of that to deglaze the pan. I also didn’t have heavy cream so used whipping cream and a little flour and milk to thicken the sauce. I also didn’t have sun-dried tomatoes, but it was still good without. Served it over pasta and it was delicious!
I’ll definitely be making it again.
So today I wanted to try something new with chicken thighs came across this recipe and it was amazing ? parents loved it ! I had seasoned my chicken with salt , black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder , chili powder & paprika love it I will be making it again
I just finished making this and serving for dinner. My 19 year old son and I. What I did do is fry the things and removed the skins so they could be crispy and placed the chicken in the sauce. Once done I served it with the crispy skins on each piece drizzled with the sauce. Delicious thanks so much, it’s still quite a bit left over I will see how it is tomorrow. This was simple to follow, and yes I prepped everything else while frying the chicken.
This was amazing! Rich and creamy, next time I am going to use boneless chicken.
What’s a good side?
I would go with something fresh a green to balance out the creaminess of the chicken. Maybe a salad, green beans, roasted broccoli or asparagus. If you want a grain you might serve couscous or quinoa.
I served roasted asparagus with this.
I am making this dish tonight for company and wondered if I can make it ahead and reheat it?
Well, creamy cheesy sauces really don’t reheat well, Lisa, and the chicken would probably lose its crispy texture. I wouldn’t recommend it, although since I haven’t tried, I can’t say for sure. What you might consider is prepping everything the day before, like one of those meal delivery services do, and have everything chopped, measured, and ready to go so you could make this really fast and easily.
I just found this today. I am a confirmed bone in skin on thigh Master! Not too crazy about the boneless skinless chicken breast unless in a hurry. Made this for a Saturday night comfort food. Made it exactly as directed, sans the shallot. Used tiny diced onion.This recipe was A Mazing!! We will be having this routinely now. I haqve several good thigh recipes, but this one is up at the top! Thanks for your recipe.
Oh I’m really happy to hear this Kathy, especially since you’re a thigh master 😉 Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!
Sue, can I make this ahead?
The cheesy cream sauce doesn’t reheat easily Lisa, so I don’t think it’s a good candidate for making ahead. As I mentioned to Lisa, below, I think your best bet would be to prep and measure everything ahead of time, and then it wouldn’t take much time to put together.
This was a fabulous recipe. Yes, very rich but oh so good! I only used 1 cup of cream but was still great! I served over pasta and was perfect. Thanks for a recipe that the whole family loved.
I can imagine it was great over pasta, thanks for the review!