Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Chicken

This cast iron skillet recipe is made all in one pan and is perfect when served on its own or served alongside buttery roasted cauliflower or lemon garlic spinach.

If you’re looking for an impressive yet approachable weeknight dinner or date night meal, this creamy sun dried tomato chicken recipe is a winner!

➡️ Ingredients

⏲ How to make creamy sun dried tomato chicken

This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Preheat Oven: Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
2. Prepare Chicken: Season your chicken thighs on each side with Italian seasoning, ground thyme, salt, and pepper.
3. Begin Cooking Chicken: In a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, heat some oil. Place your seasoned chicken thighs in an even layer and cook until they’re lightly golden on each side, about 2-3 minutes per side (note that the chicken will not yet be cooked throughout). Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside.
4. Prepare Sauce: Reduce the stovetop temperature to medium then add in some chicken broth, heavy cream, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. Bring that to a light simmer for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes and shredded Parmesan and simmer for an additional 1 minute.
5. Finish Cooking Chicken: Return chicken thighs to the cast-iron skillet and then transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and cook until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees, which should take about 6-8 minutes.
6. Serve: Remove the skillet from the oven, garnish the dish with shredded Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and freshly-cracked pepper, then serve.

👉 Ingredient substitution suggestions

• Chicken Thighs: You can use boneless skinless chicken breasts here.
• Avocado Oil: Olive oil can be substituted here.
• Low-Sodium Chicken Broth: Any reduced-sodium or salt-free broth will work here. If you only have regular broth, I would suggest decreasing the amount of salt you add to the dish, taste, and then adding more from there.
• Heavy Whipping Cream: Sub half-in-half in for heavy cream at a 1:1 ratio. If you do this, note that your sauce will not be as creamy as if you used heavy cream.
• Sun-Dried Tomatoes In Oil: You can use sun-dried tomatoes that aren’t jarred in oil, but you will need to rehydrate them first.
• Shredded Parmesan Cheese: Grated Parmesan cheese can be subbed in here.

✨ Variations

• Season chicken thighs with dried oregano and/or dried basil before cooking.
• Sprinkle pine nuts into the sauce at the same time you add the sun-dried tomatoes for added flavor and texture.
• Spoon in 1 Tablespoon of jarred capers for some tanginess and added saltiness.
• Add a handful or two of fresh spinach when adding in the sun-dried tomatoes.
• Include some roughly chopped fresh mushrooms. Add them in when you add in the sun-dried tomatoes.

〰️ How to serve

• Serve alongside buttery roasted cauliflower or lemon garlic spinach.
• Plate the chicken with some cheesy breadsticks.
• Add a scoop of creamy mashed potatoes to each plate when serving. Or, to keep the meal low in carbs, choose these faux low-carb mashed potatoes.
• After the dish finishes cooking, slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces and serve the chicken and sun-dried tomato sauce atop fettuccine pasta noodles or, for low-carb and gluten-free pasta options, atop Miracle Noodles or hearts of palm pasta. If you do decide to serve it over noodles, I’d suggest adding some extra broth and heavy cream to the sauce so that you have enough sauce for the pasta.

➜ Cooking and recipe tips

• If you can only find boneless skinless chicken thighs, you’ll want to remove the bone and the skin before cooking.
• Be sure to choose a large skillet. This will ensure that you have ample room for the chicken to cook. You want them to have space while they’re initially cooking. If they don’t have enough room, there’s a chance that the steam may not be able to escape, the steam will stay in the pan, and the chicken will steam rather than brown.
• Don’t forget to drain the oil from the jarred sun-dried tomatoes. If you don’t drain it, you risk your sauce breaking due to the combination of oil and cream in the sauce.

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