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Creamy Tomato Chicken Breasts Recipe

April Freeman
Boneless skinless chicken breasts are an easy choice for dinner. They cook easily, and they are a relatively inexpensive source of protein.  The only thing that can be hard about chicken is that it can get challenging to make this meat interesting. However, with this recipe for Creamy Tomato Chicken Breasts, you can take the boring chicken breast on a new adventure.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Cuisine American
Servings 6 Servings

Equipment

  • Oven
  • Oven-safe Skillet
  • Meat Mallet or Rolling Pin
  • Spatula
  • Meat thermometer
  • Plate

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 ½ to 2 pounds chicken breasts or 6 to 7 chicken tenders
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • ¾ cup chicken broth
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese at room temperature
  • ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped 
  • 1 tsp dried oregano or Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • ½ tsp red pepper flakes
  • basil for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Turn on your oven to 375 degrees.
  • Season your chicken breasts with salt and pepper and heat the cooking oil in a heavy, oven-safe skillet over medium heat. If you are using whole chicken breasts, place them between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them with a meat mallet or rolling pin until they are of uniform thickness.
  • When the oil is runny and pops when a drop of water is flicked into the oil, it is hot enough. Add the chicken to the pan and sear it on one side, cooking it for about 5 minutes.
  • Flip the chicken and sear the other side for about 5 minutes.
  • Remove the chicken from the pan and put it on a clean plate.  
  • Add the minced garlic to the pan and cook it for about 60 seconds, or until it is golden brown and fragrant.
  • Add the broth and cream to the cooking pan with the garlic. Slowly stir in the grated Parmesan and the tomatoes. Stir in the oregano, parsley, and red pepper flakes.
  • Allow the sauce to come to a simmer and then replace the chicken in the pan with the sauce. Turn the chicken a few times so that it is fully coated in the sauce.
  • Cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid and put the whole thing into the preheated oven.  
  • Bake the chicken and sauce in the oven for about 20 minutes. You can use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the chicken. It should reach about 165 degrees and the juices should run clear when pierced. 
  • Serve the chicken with the sauce over a bed of rice or noodles. Garnish with basil leaves. 

Notes

A recipe this delicious just has to be difficult and time-consuming to make, right? Wrong! This recipe is not only scrumptious, it is amazingly simple to create and doesn’t take much time at all. You will simply brown the chicken breasts in hot oil, toss the ingredients for the sauce in the pan, roll the chicken in the sauce, and then put the whole thing into the oven to bake. The chicken will not dry out as it cooks since the sauce keeps the chicken moist.
In fact, this recipe gets even better. Suppose you are pressed for time, can you still make it? Yes! This recipe can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. Then you can pop the whole thing into the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes to warm it up before serving. You can cook it up to three days before you will need to serve it. Just store it tightly covered in a dish in the fridge.
Here are a few tips to help you with this recipe. First, make sure that your Parmesan cheese is brought to room temperature before you stir it into the sauce. Sometimes, when cheese is cold it gets gummy and gloppy when it is suddenly added to hot liquids.
Second, if you want to make this recipe a bit lower in fat, you can use half-and-half in place of the heavy cream. Last, we enjoy the spicy kick that adding the red pepper flakes to this dish gives. However, if you are cooking for people who don’t care for spiciness, you can leave the red pepper flakes out if you like. The dish will still be tasty.
All that sauce begs for something to sop it up with. This dish is wonderful paired with rice or pasta. Pasta like penne or spaghetti can be the perfect accompaniment for the tasty sauce.
However, if you do not have anything like that on hand, just serve crusty bread with the meal. Your diners will use their bread to wipe up every last drop of the tasty cream-based sauce.
Keyword Creamy Tomato Chicken Breasts, Dinner, Recipe

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