Today I am sharing another beautiful chicken main course. I call it Chicken in Cream Sauce, because that’s what it is:) It’s beautiful, high in protein, low carb, easy to make and easy on the wallet!
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Chicken in Cream Sauce:
For this Chicken in Cream Sauce I use tender bone in/skin on chicken thighs, rubbed in herbs and spices and then seared until golden and crispy. Once golden we pop that chicken in the oven to finish, this allows us time to prep whatever else we are serving. Once done, we remove the chicken from the pan, then add butter, garlic, shallots and cream to the pan to make the sauce. Yum! This meal reminds me of Marry Me Chicken but without the sun dried tomatoes.
Why Thighs? And Can You Use Chicken Breasts?
I get asked these questions frequently. I prefer thighs to breasts because the low fat content of breasts make them less flavorful and more likely to dry out during cooking. Thighs stay juicy and tender! Thighs are much less expensive as well. That said, yes, you can use breasts for this recipe, just make sure they are small, basically the size of thighs or the cooking time will have to change.
What to Serve it With:
You can serve this chicken over rice or pasta, but if you’re a carb watcher like me, you can serve with steamed broccoli or asparagus.
Love Chicken and Need More Recipes?
Try my Garlic Butter Chicken Tenders!
The Recipe: Chicken in Cream Sauce
What you need: I prefer to use a large cast iron skillet for this recipe. As always, I use a clean flaked sea salt!
An easy, delicious, low carb chicken main course
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon shallot, minced small
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (or grated with a microplane)
- juice of half a lemon
- 10 fresh thyme sprigs, separated
- 1/2 cup good quality chicken broth
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depending on hot much heat you want)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place oven rack in center position
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Heat a large skillet, preferably cast iron on medium high heat for two minutes. . While pan heats, place first five ingredients (dried spices) in a small bowl and stir until combined. Rub both sides of chicken thighs with spices. Add olive oil to pan, allow to heat for 30 -60 seconds. Add chicken, skin side down to pan and cook for 6-7 minutes, or until chicken is nice and golden. Turn chicken skin side up and place pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until thighs are cooked through (internal temp of 165). While chicken is in the oven, prep shallot, garlic, thyme and measure out broth, cream and lemon juice. If you're making rice, pasta, or broccoli, you'll start that while chicken is cooking.
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When chicken is done, remove pan from oven and place chicken thighs on a plate. Place pan back on cooktop on medium heat. Add butter, shallot, garlic, lemon juice, and four thyme sprigs to pan. Allow to cook for one minute using a spatula to scrape chicken bits from bottom of pan.
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Add chicken broth and cream to pan. Bring to a low simmer for five minutes, this will thicken up the sauce a bit. Turn off heat, add chicken thighs to pan, garnish each thigh with remaining thyme sprigs and serve. Pour sauce over rice, pasta or vegetables. (Garnish with parsley if desired)
The skin on the chicken is intended to be crispy, so I recommend serving the chicken on top of the sauce. If you want to pour sauce over chicken, like a gravy, that's fine too, just know the skin won't be crispy.
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