Creamy Tuscan Chicken Tomatoes (Printable)

Tender chicken in a creamy sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and aromatic herbs.

# What You Need:

→ Chicken

01 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.3 to 1.5 lbs)
02 - 1 teaspoon kosher salt
03 - 0.5 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
04 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
05 - 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

→ Creamy Sauce

06 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
07 - 0.5 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced
08 - 1 cup heavy cream
09 - 0.5 cup low-sodium chicken broth
10 - 0.33 cup grated Parmesan cheese
11 - 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
12 - 0.25 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
13 - Salt and black pepper to taste

→ Vegetables and Finish

14 - 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
15 - 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil, plus extra for garnish

# Step-by-Step Guide:

01 - Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels and season both sides evenly with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
02 - Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Add chicken and sear for 5 to 6 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove from skillet and set aside loosely covered.
03 - Reduce heat to medium. In the same skillet, add minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes; sauté for approximately 1 minute until fragrant.
04 - Stir in heavy cream, chicken broth, grated Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly and bring to a gentle simmer.
05 - Add chopped baby spinach to the sauce and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until wilted. Stir in fresh chopped basil.
06 - Return cooked chicken and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Spoon sauce over chicken and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until heated through.
07 - Transfer to serving plates, garnish with additional fresh basil, and serve immediately over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The whole thing comes together in 40 minutes, which means you're eating restaurant-quality food before you'd finish scrolling through delivery options.
  • Cream and Parmesan do the heavy lifting here, so the sauce tastes like you spent hours coaxing flavors together when really you just trusted the process.
  • Sun-dried tomatoes give you this concentrated richness that fresh ones could never match, a umami punch that keeps people asking for seconds.
02 -
  • Don't rush the cream—if you let it boil hard, it can break and look grainy instead of silky, so keep that gentle simmer going.
  • The chicken will continue cooking slightly when it returns to the sauce, so it's better to pull it a hair early than to end up with rubbery poultry that ruins the whole experience.
03 -
  • Save the oil from your sun-dried tomatoes jar instead of draining it completely—that fruity, salty liquid is worth every drop in your sauce.
  • Room-temperature cream incorporates more smoothly than cold cream, so pull it from the fridge a few minutes early if you remember.
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