This one-pan Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken is quick, easy, and tossed in an incredibly creamy and delicious sun-dried tomato sauce. Serve it with your favorite vegetables, grains, or pasta.
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Hey, friends! Tania from Cooktoria here, sharing one of my all-time favorite dinner recipes – Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken. This dish made it to my favorites because it’s tasty, simple, and comes together in about 30 minutes. Are you excited to try it? Let’s discuss the two main ingredients.
White Meat vs. Dark Meat Chicken:
Skin-on chicken thighs or drumsticks would yield the best results in this sun-dried tomato chicken recipe. Dark chicken meat is the most succulent and tender, and the skin helps it retain moisture while frying. Of course, you can use chicken breasts if that is what you prefer or have on hand.
What Kind of Sun Dried Tomatoes?
There are two kinds of sun-dried tomatoes sold in most grocery stores:
- ‘Dry’ or plain sun-dried tomatoes
- Sun-dried tomatoes in oil
The good news is that you can use either of them in this recipe. If you buy sun dried tomatoes in oil, just drain the oil out and reserve it for future recipes. It’s very flavorful, and you can use it in many different dishes. You can even substitute the olive oil with the reserved oil from the sun-dried tomatoes.
How to Make Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken:
As mentioned above, it is quite easy to make this dish. You’ll need to:
- Blend the sun-dried tomatoes. Process the sun-dried tomatoes with water in a blender or smoothie cup for about a minute.
- Sear the Chicken. Sear the chicken in oil on both sides. You don’t need to fully cook the chicken, since it’ll finish cooking in the sauce.
- Make the sauce. In the same pan, make the sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, cream, and Parmesan cheese.
- Simmer the chicken. Return the chicken back to the pan and simmer it in the sauce until cooked through.
What to Serve with Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken
This dish goes really well with pasta. Arrange the chicken meat on serving plates and add cooked pasta (your favorite kind) to the pan with the sauce. Mix it all together and add the pasta to the serving plates.
I also love serving it with steamed veggies, such as green beans, broccoli, zucchini, and asparagus.
Another option is grains. Quinoa, rice, couscous, and bulgur will pair well.
Try These Easy Chicken Recipes:
- Stuffed Chicken Parmesan – so easy and impressive
- Creamy Chicken Thighs – with an irresistible sauce
- Cabbage and Chicken – a classic family favorite
- Instant Pot White Chicken Chili – one look and you’ll just know!
Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 oz. sun-dried tomatoes
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 lbs. chicken thighs , (skin-on, boneless)
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 cup half & half, or heavy cream
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, to garnish
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
Instructions
- Place the sun-dried tomatoes and water in a blender or smoothie cup and process for 60-90 seconds, until it resembles tomato sauce.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down. Cook for 5 minutes, until deep golden brown and crispy.
- Flip the chicken and fry for an additional 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and remove the chicken from the skillet.
- To the same skillet, add the sun-dried tomato mixture. Cook for about 3-4 minutes. Add the cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Stir.
- Reduce the heat to low, so the sauce is simmering gently. Return the chicken to the skillet and cook it for an additional 10-15 minutes, until cooked through. Add a little water to the sauce, if needed. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve.
Nutrition Per Serving
Usually always love your recipes but this one was not a hit. Easy to make but kind of bland. Wouldn’t make again.
I tried this recipe today. Based o earlier comments (and thank you to the reviewers!), I added some onion and garlic to the oil before the tomato purée. I also substituted the chicken thighs for chicken breast and it worked just fine. I added the freshlg grated parmesan with the cream etc as per the recipe and did not have the issue of it sinking to the bottom as reported by one reviewer. The dish was a real success and I will be sharing the recipe as well as saving it for future use. Very easy to follow, quick to execute.
Can you use chicken breasts instead? My family is not a fan of chicken thighs.
Yes, you can use chicken breasts if you prefer.
This was wonderful, as most of yours are! I don’t like to alter anything when trying something for the first time so I kept it as was! Your blog is one of my favorites!
Thank you so much!
What substitute would you recommend for the cream. I’m having gut issue and I am removing all diary from my diet.
Hi Heather, you may use half and half but other than that, I have not tried any other substitution to advise.
I was really excited to make this as I love sun dried tomatoes and working with chicken thighs bone in. I was surprised the recipe had me add the Parmesan with the cream – and THEN had chicken added back to complete simmering in the sauce. Was worried about the Parmesan separating and it did, and stuck to the bottom. It still tasted good – but could have been so much better. Any idea on how to just melt the Parmesan into the sauce at the end ?
Hi Terri, you could try adding in the parmesan at the very end to see if that makes a difference. High heat is the most common reason that cheese sauce curdles. Be sure to not overheat the sauce, it doesn’t take a lot to melt the cheese. Also, did you use half and half or heavy cream? You may notice a better texture when using heavy cream for the sauce. I also recommend using freshly grated parmesan cheese, not the pre-shredded type as this contains anti-clump agents and other fillers that could make the sauce grainy. I hope this helps.
Turned out delicious. This is my new favorite sauce now! So simple yet so much flavor!
Thanks for the great review, Carina. So good to know that this is not your new go-to sauce!
I like that this recipe lends itself to some flexibility. I made a few tweaks based on what I had on hand and personal preference. I brined then grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts, using the salt and pepper on the chicken as they grilled. Because I grilled the chicken, I didn’t need the olive oil. I doubled the sauce, added sautéed onions and garlic, subbed reduced sodium chicken broth for water, and used fat free half and half. It was delicious and a definite keeper.
Hello Amy, thank you so much for sharing the tweaks that you tried for this recipe. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This was really good! I used boneless, skinless thighs and served with steamed Jasmine rice and steamed broccoli.
So delicious indeed! I’m glad you enjoyed it, Marcia.