It is 5 o’clock, the chicken is the only thing you remembered to pull out, and you want dinner that feels like more than “chicken again.” This creamy Tuscan chicken is that dinner: golden seared chicken in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce with spinach, all in one skillet, on the table in about 35 minutes.
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Here is the part most versions get wrong. The sauce turns out thin, or it breaks into a grainy mess as soon as the cream hits real heat. I fixed both with a couple of ounces of cream cheese melted right into the sauce; it thickens it and keeps it from breaking, plus stirring the parmesan in off the heat so it stays silky. My first batch tasted a little flat, honestly, so I leaned harder into the sun-dried tomatoes, used a full box of spinach, and finished it with a squeeze of lemon. That last one woke it right up.
One more thing that makes this a weeknight recipe: the pre-sliced cutlets. They do the same work in my air fryer thin-sliced chicken breast recipe.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- One skillet, about 35 minutes: dinner and minimal cleanup on a weeknight.
- A sauce that actually holds: a little cream cheese melted in means it never turns out thin or broken.
- Grocery-store ingredients: everything comes from one trip to Giant, nothing specialty.
- Restaurant flavor, secretly easy: it tastes like the Olive Garden version, but you made it in your own pan.
What is Tuscan chicken?
Tuscan chicken is a skillet dish of seared chicken in a creamy sauce loaded with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach, inspired by Olive Garden-style Tuscan garlic chicken. It is not a traditional dish from Tuscany so much as an American, creamy, sun-dried-tomato take on it. If that sauce sounds familiar, it is a close cousin of Marry Me chicken (more on that below).
Ingredients you’ll need
- Chicken: Thin-sliced boneless, skinless breasts, sometimes labeled cutlets. They sit in the case right next to the regular breasts, and buying them already sliced means no pounding and no knife work. If all you can find is regular breasts, grab 2 to 3 and cut each one in half to make your own cutlets. See the how-to in the tips below.
- Sun-dried tomatoes: oil-packed, a generous ¾ cup, the main flavor driver. Reserve a tablespoon of the oil to sear the chicken. Chop them small if your kids pick them out.
- Cream cheese: just 2 ounces, room temperature. This trick keeps the sauce thick and stops it from breaking.
- Heavy cream: full-fat, and it is what this sauce is built on. Keep the heat low once the dairy goes in.
- Parmesan: grate it fresh; pre-grated has anti-caking agents that keep it from melting smoothly.
- Baby spinach: the whole 5-ounce box; it wilts down to almost nothing.
- Lemon: a squeeze at the very end, off the heat. It brightens everything.
See the recipe card below for full measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
- Fresh cherry tomatoes (summer swap): use a pint of halved cherry tomatoes cooked until they burst, instead of or alongside the sun-dried.
- No cream cheese? Boursin or light Neufchâtel melt in just as smoothly.
- Add mushrooms, more greens (kale/chard), or a pinch more red pepper.
This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations. If you replace or add any ingredients, please let us know how it turned out in the comments below!
How to make creamy Tuscan chicken
Season and dredge. Pat the cutlets dry, season both sides with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, then dredge lightly in flour and shake off the excess.
Sear the chicken in 2 batches in olive oil, butter, and the reserved sun-dried tomato oil, 2 to 3 min per side until golden. Do not crowd the pan. Transfer to a plate.
Build the base. Add shallot, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes; cook 1 to 2 min.
Deglaze and reduce. Pour in broth, scrape up browned bits, and simmer until reduced by about half, 4 to 5 min.
Add the cream and cream cheese. Reduce the heat and stir until the cream cheese melts and the sauce thickens. Do not let it boil.
Wilt the spinach. Add the full box and stir until it collapses into the sauce, about 1 min.
Finish off the heat. Stir in parmesan until glossy, then add a squeeze of lemon. Add red pepper flakes if using. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Return the chicken. Spoon the sauce over and warm through, 1 to 2 min. Confirm 165°F.
What to serve with Tuscan chicken
Mashed potatoes and rice are the family favorites, and pasta turns it into a bigger meal. For a low-carb option, serve over mashed cauliflower or with a salad and bread. My creamy mushroom orzo soup makes a cozy starter.
Can you make Tuscan chicken with thighs?
Yes, and boneless, skinless thighs are the more forgiving cut if you worry about dry chicken. They carry more fat, so they hold up even if you leave them in a minute too long. Sear them 5 to 6 minutes per side instead of 2 to 3, still in 2 batches, and cook to 165°F. The sauce does not change at all.
Sarah’s Tips for Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Cook the chicken in 2 batches. A crowded pan steams instead of searing, and you lose the browned bits on the bottom, which is where a lot of the sauce flavor lives. It feels like a fussy extra step on a weeknight. It is the difference between gray chicken and golden.
- Keep the heat low once the cream goes in, and add the parmesan off the heat entirely. Dairy that boils breaks, and parmesan dropped into a simmering pan goes grainy instead of silky.
- Finish with lemon off the heat, then taste before it goes to the table. A squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt is the difference between good and flat.
- Using regular breasts instead of thin-sliced? Lay one flat on the board, rest your palm on top with your fingers lifted up and away, and hold your knife flat, parallel to the board, to cut through the side of the breast and split it into 2 thin pieces. One breast gives you 2 cutlets, so 2 to 3 breasts gets you to the 5 or 6 here. It feels precarious the first time. Go slow, keep your fingers high, and don’t worry about perfectly even halves; the thinner one comes out of the pan a minute sooner. If you would rather not cut, pound a whole breast to an even 1/4 inch instead and give it 4 to 5 minutes per side.
- If the sauce is too thick or too thin. Too thin, simmer 2 more minutes. Too thick, loosen it with a splash of broth or cream. Either fix takes under a minute.
- Pro Mom Hack: make just the sauce and spoon it over rotisserie chicken. On a night when nobody has half an hour, this is dinner in 15 minutes, and nobody at my table has ever asked.
- Feeding a picky eater? Pull their portion before the sauce goes on. Take a seared cutlet straight onto their plate, add plain rice or buttered noodles, and put a spoonful of sauce on the side in case they want to dip. The rest of the pan carries on exactly as written, and nobody has to negotiate. Chopping the sun-dried tomatoes and the spinach small helps too, since those are usually the parts that get picked out.
FAQs
Storage and reheating
- Fridge: airtight, up to 3 days.
- Reheat: gently over low, with a splash of broth or cream to loosen.
- Freezing: I haven’t tested freezing this one, so I can’t tell you whether it works. If you want to try, freeze the seared chicken and the sun-dried tomatoes and make the cream sauce fresh, since the cream is the part most likely to separate on thawing.
Recipe
Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Equipment
- 12-inch stainless skillet, enameled cast iron skillet, or braiser – I use a 5-quart Le Creuset braiser
- tongs
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1¼ lb thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets about 5 to 6 (570 g)
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1½ tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour for dredging
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp oil reserved from the sun-dried tomato jar for searing
Sauce
- 1 shallot or ½ small onion minced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- ¾ cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes drained and sliced
- ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1¼ cups heavy cream
- 2 oz cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan
- 1 (5 oz) box fresh baby spinach, about 5 cups
- Juice of ½ lemon about 1 Tbsp
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Pat cutlets dry. Season both sides with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, then dredge lightly in flour and shake off the excess.
- Heat the olive oil, butter, and reserved sun-dried tomato oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high. Working in 2 batches so you do not crowd the pan, sear the cutlets 2 to 3 min per side until golden. Transfer to a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the shallot, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes and cook 1 to 2 min, until the shallot softens and the garlic is fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken broth, scrape up the browned bits, and simmer until reduced by about half, 4 to 5 min.
- Reduce heat to low-medium. Add the heavy cream and cream cheese and stir until the cream cheese melts and the sauce is smooth and thickened. Do not let it boil.
- Add the full box of spinach and stir until it wilts down into the sauce, about 1 min.
- Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the parmesan a little at a time until smooth and glossy. Stir in the lemon juice and the red pepper flakes if using. Taste and add salt until the flavor pops.
- Return all the chicken and any juices to the pan. Spoon the sauce over and warm through, 1 to 2 min. The cutlets are thin and already cooked, so they only need to heat through, not simmer. Confirm 165°F. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.
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Notes
- Sear in 2 batches. A crowded pan steams the chicken instead of browning it, and those browned bits on the bottom are where the sauce gets its flavor.
- Keep the heat low once the cream goes in, and stir the parmesan in off the burner. Dairy that boils breaks, and cheese added over heat goes grainy.
- Taste and salt at the very end, after the lemon. If it tastes flat, it is almost always the salt or not enough sun-dried tomatoes.
- Thin cutlets cook fast. 2 to 3 minutes per side, then just long enough in the sauce to warm through. Check with a thermometer: 165°F (USDA).
- Thighs: boneless, skinless work well here; sear 5 to 6 minutes per side.
- Summer swap: a pint of halved cherry tomatoes cooked until they burst, in place of the sun-dried.
- Leftovers keep 3 days in the fridge. Reheat gently over low heat with a splash of broth or cream to loosen the sauce.
- The pan. A 12-inch skillet gives you room to sear 3 cutlets at a time and still stir in 5 cups of spinach. A 10-inch works; you just add the spinach in 2 handfuls. Use stainless steel or enameled cast iron rather than bare cast iron or aluminum, since the lemon and tomatoes are acidic enough to pick up a metallic taste. I use this enameled braiser.
