Marry Me Chicken
Marry me chicken is seared chicken simmered in a creamy Parmesan sauce with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and a little chilli, finished with fresh basil. The name comes from the idea, repeated all over the internet, that it’s good enough to prompt a proposal. Behind the name is a straightforward pan sauce: you brown the chicken, build the sauce on the browned bits it leaves behind, then let the chicken finish cooking in the sauce.
It takes about 35 minutes and one large skillet. Most of the work is getting a good sear on the chicken and keeping the sauce at a simmer, not a boil, once the cheese goes in.
Serves 4.
What goes in the pan
For the chicken
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 700 g / 1 ½ lb total), or 6–8 boneless thighs
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning (or ½ tsp dried oregano and ½ tsp dried thyme)
- 30 g (¼ cup) plain flour, for dusting (optional)
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil or oil from the sun-dried tomato jar
- 1 tbsp (15 g) butter
For the sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 small shallot, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp (16 g) tomato paste
- ¼–½ tsp chilli flakes, to taste
- 240 ml (1 cup) low-sodium chicken stock
- 240 ml (1 cup) heavy cream (double cream, 35–36% fat)
- 70 g (½ cup) oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and sliced
- 50 g (½ cup) finely grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
- A large handful of fresh basil (about 15 g / ½ oz), torn
The chicken. Breasts are the usual choice, but a whole breast is too thick to sear well without drying out the edges. Slice each one horizontally into two thin cutlets about 1.5 cm (⅔ in) thick, or pound them to an even thickness between two sheets of baking paper. Thighs need no trimming beyond loose fat, stay juicier and forgive a few extra minutes in the sauce.
Sun-dried tomatoes. Buy the oil-packed kind. They are already soft, and the oil carries their flavour, so use a spoonful of it for searing. Dry-packed tomatoes work if you soak them in just-boiled water for 10 minutes first.
Parmesan. Grate it yourself from a block. Ready-grated cheese is coated with anti-caking starch, which keeps it from melting smoothly and can make the sauce grainy. Grana Padano or pecorino can be used instead; pecorino is saltier, so hold back on salt.
Cream. Use cream with at least 30% fat. Lighter dairy is more likely to split when it simmers with acidic tomatoes and salty cheese. There’s a lighter option further down.
Method
- Prepare the chicken. Pat the cutlets dry with kitchen paper. Season both sides with the salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. If using flour, dust the chicken lightly and shake off the excess. The flour helps browning and thickens the sauce slightly.
- Sear. Heat the oil and butter in a 30 cm (12 in) skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Lay in the chicken, leaving space between pieces, and cook without moving for 3–4 minutes, until deep golden underneath. Turn and cook 2–3 minutes more. It doesn’t need to be cooked through yet. Move to a plate. Cook in two batches if the pan is crowded; crowded chicken steams instead of browning.
- Start the sauce. Lower the heat to medium. If the pan looks dry, add a teaspoon of oil. Cook the shallot for 2 minutes until soft, then the garlic for 30–60 seconds until fragrant but not brown. Stir in the tomato paste and chilli flakes and cook for 1 minute, until the paste darkens a shade.
- Deglaze. Pour in the stock and scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 3–4 minutes until reduced by about a third.
- Add cream and tomatoes. Stir in the cream and sun-dried tomatoes and bring back to a gentle simmer, small bubbles at the edges only. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Add the cheese. Turn the heat to low and add the Parmesan a handful at a time, stirring until each addition melts.
- Finish the chicken. Return the chicken and any juices from the plate. Spoon sauce over the top and simmer gently, uncovered, for 5–7 minutes until the chicken reaches 74°C (165°F) in the thickest part, or the juices run clear when you cut into it. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon and leave a clear line when you draw a finger through it.
- Serve. Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper. Scatter with basil and extra Parmesan and serve straight away.
Getting the sauce right
A cream sauce with cheese goes wrong in two ways: it splits, or it turns gluey.
Splitting shows up as an oily, broken sauce, sometimes with tiny curds. It’s caused by too much heat after the cheese goes in, or by low-fat dairy. If it starts to happen, take the pan off the heat and whisk in 2–3 tbsp of cream or stock. A sauce that has only just started to split will usually come back together.
Glueyness comes from boiling the sauce too long, or from too much cheese. If it gets too thick while the chicken finishes, loosen it with a splash of stock or water; it thickens again as it sits on the plate. If it’s too thin, lift out the chicken for a few minutes and let the sauce simmer on its own.
The tomato paste is not in every version, but it gives the sauce a deeper colour and a savoury edge that balances the cream. A squeeze of lemon at the end does a similar job if the sauce tastes heavy.
Common mistakes
- Cooking thick breasts whole. By the time the centre is cooked, the outside is dry. Cut or pound them first.
- Moving the chicken too soon. It sticks at first and releases once a crust has formed. Wait for it.
- Burning the garlic. The pan is very hot after searing. Lower the heat before the garlic goes in.
- Adding cheese to a boiling sauce. Lower the heat first, then add the cheese gradually.
- Salting too early. Stock, Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes all bring salt. Season the sauce at the end.
Substitutions and a lighter version
- Lighter sauce: replace half the cream with whole milk mixed with 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch). The starch stops the milk from splitting. Half-and-half (light cream) on its own is more likely to split.
- Dairy-free: use full-fat canned coconut milk and 2 tbsp nutritional yeast instead of cream and Parmesan. It tastes different but is still good.
- Greens: stir in 2 big handfuls of baby spinach (about 60 g / 2 oz) with the cream; it wilts in a minute.
- Herbs: fresh thyme or oregano can go in with the garlic if you have no basil.
- Wine: deglaze with 60 ml (¼ cup) dry white wine before the stock and let it bubble away almost completely.
- Gluten-free: skip the flour dusting and check your stock.
Make ahead, storage and reheating
The dish is best fresh, but leftovers keep well. Cool them and refrigerate within 2 hours, in a covered container, for up to 3 days. Reheat gently in a covered pan over low heat with 2–3 tbsp of stock or water, turning the chicken a few times, until it’s hot all the way through. In the microwave, use medium power and stir halfway. Cream sauces don’t freeze well; they tend to separate when thawed.
To get ahead, slice and season the chicken up to a day early and keep it covered in the fridge. Grate the cheese and slice the tomatoes at the same time.
What to serve with it
The sauce is the point, so serve something to catch it. Short pasta like rigatoni or penne is the most common choice: cook 300 g (10 oz) for four, toss it with a few spoonfuls of sauce, and lay the chicken on top. Mashed potatoes, rice or crusty bread all work, and our homemade potato gnocchi are a good match if you have time to make them. Add something green and sharp on the side, such as a rocket salad with lemon or steamed green beans.
For more chicken dinners that come together on a weeknight, see our easy chicken dinner recipes, or browse everything else on World Recipe Club.
Marry Me Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts 700 g / 1 ½ lb total, halved into thin cutlets, or 6–8 boneless thighs
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 30 g plain flour ¼ cup, for dusting, optional
- 1 tbsp olive oil or oil from the sun-dried tomato jar 15 ml
- 1 tbsp butter 15 g
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 small shallot finely chopped, optional
- 1 tbsp tomato paste 16 g
- ¼–½ tsp chilli flakes
- 240 ml low-sodium chicken stock 1 cup
- 240 ml heavy cream (35–36% fat) 1 cup
- 70 g oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes ½ cup, drained and sliced
- 50 g finely grated Parmesan ½ cup, plus extra to serve
- 15 g fresh basil ½ oz, torn
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry and season with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Dust lightly with flour, if using.
- Heat the oil and butter in a 30 cm (12 in) skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken 3–4 minutes until deep golden, turn and cook 2–3 minutes more. Set aside; it will finish in the sauce.
- Lower the heat to medium. Cook the shallot 2 minutes, the garlic 30–60 seconds, then the tomato paste and chilli flakes 1 minute.
- Add the stock, scrape up the browned bits, and simmer 3–4 minutes until reduced by about a third.
- Stir in the cream and sun-dried tomatoes and simmer gently 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low and stir in the Parmesan a handful at a time until melted.
- Return the chicken and its juices. Simmer gently, uncovered, 5–7 minutes until it reaches 74°C (165°F) and the sauce coats a spoon.
- Adjust the seasoning, scatter with basil and extra Parmesan, and serve.
Notes
Photo: Shameel mukkath on Pexels
For a side, a tray of crispy smashed potatoes works well.
