Every now and then you come across one of those recipes that just leaves you speechless. Well, today I’m introducing you to one of those recipes. This Creamy Garlic Chicken is so delicious, so flavorful, and so easy to make for a quick weeknight meal! It starts with tender, pan-seared chicken breasts that are then covered with a creamy, garlic-infused sauce. The moment my family tried this recipe, they instantly loved it! It honestly took everyone’s breath away. If you love simple recipes that are packed with flavor and made with a luscious cream sauce, then make sure to add this one to your weekly rotation!
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I made this tonight and it was delish!!! One of the best chicken recipe by far! Thank you we loved it and the flavors of the sauce was awesome!!
Charissa Woods
This dish features tender, pan-seared chicken breasts smothered in a luscious, garlic-infused sauce. Not only is it incredibly flavorful, but it’s also simple to prepare, making it perfect for a quick weeknight meal. Garlic is the star of the show for this dish, so we’re using lots of it! I love to spoon the garlic over the chicken along with the creamy sauce right before serving.
Budget-Saving Tips!
- A great budget-saving hack we love is to use Better Than Bouillon paste. It has a long shelf life, which is great for when you’re using just 1 cup at a time. I recommend the roasted chicken base, but several readers loved the roasted garlic base in this recipe, too!
- For a lower-fat option, try swapping out the heavy cream for half-and-half.
- For a thicker sauce, add a roux of 2 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp melted butter or a slurry of 1 Tbsp cornstarch and 1-2 Tbsp cold water.
- Some great additions our readers have loved include sautéed or caramelized onions, cooked crumbled bacon, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, a squeeze of lemon juice, and Parmesan cheese.
Creamy Garlic Chicken Recipe
Cost $9.21 recipe / $2.30 serving
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1.3 lbs. total)* ($6.49)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.06)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil ($0.32)
- 2 Tbsp butter, divided ($0.27)
- 1 whole garlic bulb (about 8-9 garlic cloves)** ($0.64)
- 1 cup chicken broth ($0.17)
- 3/4 cup heavy cream ($1.08)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- Salt and Pepper to taste ($0.04)
Video
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, carefully fillet each chicken breast into two thinner cutlets (or use thin-cut chicken breasts).
- Season each breast with Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Then sprinkle the flour over both sides of the chicken breasts and rub it in until the chicken is evenly coated.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter. Once the skillet is hot, add the chicken and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through (about 4 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.
- While the chicken is cooking, peel the garlic cloves and then carefully smash them with the side of a large chef's knife by pressing down on the side of the knife with the heel of your hand.
- Once the chicken is removed, to the same skillet add the remaining 1 Tbsp of butter, then add the garlic cloves. Turn the heat down to medium-low and sauté the garlic for 3 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Make sure to stir the garlic frequently to prevent it from burning.
- Next pour the chicken broth and heavy cream into the skillet, then add the garlic powder. Stir and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Allow the sauce to simmer in the skillet for 8-10 minutes, or until it has reduced and thickened by about 50%. Taste the sauce at this point and add salt and pepper if needed (I added about ⅛ tsp of salt and ⅛ tsp of black pepper).
- Finally, return the cooked chicken breasts to the skillet and spoon the creamy sauce over top. Allow the chicken to heat through. Serve with fresh chopped parsley (optional), and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition Information
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Creamy Garlic Chicken Step-by-Step Photos
Using a sharp knife, carefully fillet 2 chicken breast into two thinner cutlets (or use thin-cut chicken breasts). Season each breast with 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Then sprinkle 1/4 cup all-purpose flour over both sides of the chicken breasts and rub it in until the chicken is evenly coated.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 Tbsp of butter. Once the skillet is hot, add the chicken and cook on each side until golden brown and cooked through (about 4 minutes per side). Remove the cooked chicken to a clean plate and cover to keep warm.
While the chicken is cooking, peel the garlic cloves from 1 whole head of garlic. Then carefully smash them with the side of a large chef’s knife by pressing down on the side of the knife with the heel of your hand.
Once the chicken is removed, to the same skillet add the remaining 1 Tbsp of butter, then add the garlic cloves. Turn the heat down to medium-low and sauté the garlic for 3 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Make sure to stir the garlic frequently to prevent it from burning.
Next pour 1 cup chicken broth and 3/4 cup heavy cream into the skillet, then add 1/2 tsp garlic powder. Stir and scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Allow the sauce to simmer in the skillet for 8-10 minutes, or until it has reduced and thickened by about 50%.
Taste the sauce at this point and add salt and pepper if needed (I added about ⅛ tsp of salt and ⅛ tsp of black pepper). Return the cooked chicken breasts to the skillet and spoon the creamy sauce over top. Allow the chicken to heat through.
Serve with fresh chopped parsley (optional) and enjoy this creamy, flavorful sauce with mashed potatoes, pasta, or any of your favorite sides.
serving suggestions
Creamy sauce recipes like this creamy garlic chicken are perfect to serve with Mashed Potatoes, so the potatoes can soak up all of that extra sauce. You can also serve the chicken and sauce over a bed of pasta or rice, or serve it with a simple side salad or in our case a Caesar Salad. You really can’t go wrong with any side that you choose!
Try These Creamy Chicken Recipes Next:
- I LOVE how this Creamy Asparagus Chicken turns two chicken breasts, fresh asparagus, garlic, and lemon into a dinner that feels fresh and cozy at the same time.
- Tender chicken and mushrooms simmered in a creamy garlic sauce make this Creamy Mushroom Chicken a solid comfort dinner.
- My Creamy Dijon Chicken is a simple skillet dinner with tender chicken and a smooth, tangy sauce!
- This Marry Me Chicken pairs juicy pan-fried chicken with a savory sauce that gets loads of flavor from sun-dried tomatoes.
This was a great weeknight meal – easy to make, very flavorful and tasty. I minced the garlic because my family doesn’t like big pieces. Big success! Will definitely make this again for a family meal.
The absolute BEST garlic chicken we’ve ever made! I had to remove the flour and sub avocado oil for the olive oil due to allergies, but it still turned out amazing! My daughter has asked for this three times in the last three weeks! I’d say it’s a keeper! 😁
Outstanding! I made extra sauce and served it over brown butter rice! Yum!
Made this dairy free by using salted vegan butter instead of butter, and full-fat coconut milk in place of cream. I also added a bit of cornstarch mixed with water at the end to thicken up the sauce a bit more. My family loved it, so I’d say this is a winner!
This was ok. Way too much garlic for us, and you will have to add more flour if you want the sauce to thicken. Tone back the garlic if you like subtle garlic flavor. My kid9 and kid6 really weren’t fans.
I haven’t made this yet, but it’s a good, easy recipe for my Monday dinners. One question for you: Can you make the chicken ahead of time, like a day or 2 before?
I’ll rate after I make it :)
Are you wanting to make the whole dish ahead of time, or just the chicken and make the sauce later? If its the latter, you could make the chicken a couple days before and then make the sauce right before eating. The only thing is that the sauce really benefits from the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, and it also helps thicken the sauce. If you can, I think that whole thing is best made day of!
Thanks!!
I doubled the sauce recipe, cut the chicken up in small pieces, and mixed it in with some rotini- it was delicious!!! Topped it off with a little grated Parmesan too. Will definitely be making it again!!!
I make this when I want to impress people and it works every time. It’s soooo delicious and pretty quick and easy too.
I use chicken thighs, because they’re better than chicken breast. The second time I made this I added spinach (frozen block, defrosted, squeezed out, tossed in with the cream and chicken stock) and orzo (did add a bit more chicken stock for that) and put the chicken back in and let that simmer for 8-10 minutes until the orzo cooked. It is so good.
Tip for the sauce: cook it! With heavy cream you do not need a roux, just cook on medium heat. You want it bubbling and stir only every once and a while. Adding parm will also thicken it if you’d like, but you don’t need to.
Chicken undercooked? Make sure its sliced thin (then you have a better sauce-to-chicken ratio anyway).
Mine came out perfect!! Thank you!
Don’t follow the directions, chicken will come out super undercooked, and the sauce never thickens up.
There’s always variables with cooking! If your chicken breasts are any thicker than ours were, they’re going to take a bit longer to cook. As for the sauce, it shouldn’t be super thick like a gravy and the excess flour from the chicken should be enough to thicken it, but if you find its too thin you can always whisk in a bit more flour to the sauce!
I think this chicken will be great once I make it!!!
I have made this chicken dish several times now and each time it never fails at tasting delicious. I make it exactly as written.
Made it basically exactly as posted and it’s definitely a 5 for a home cooked meal. I limit carbs so no flour on the chicken I added some konjac root to the chicken stock to thicken it up. I’ve made it 3x now I use boneless skinless thighs and tenders and double the recipe for the family. Last iteration I added some paprika, and onion powder to the chicken before browning but the recipe as written works great if you don’t want to deviate.
Absolutely delicious! Made a family pack of chicken breasts with penne pasta and steamed broccoli. Not a morsel of leftovers in sight! This is absolutely going in rotation.
I made this recipe last night, and it turned out amazing! My hubby and kids loved it. One of my teens couldn’t stop raving about the sauce, saying it was heavenly, and even poured some into a cup to drink. LOL