Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Golden seared chicken cutlets in a sun-dried tomato cream sauce with spinach, all in one skillet in about 35 minutes. A little cream cheese melted into the sauce keeps it thick and stable, and finishing the parmesan off the heat keeps it silky instead of curdled.
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.
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