Every household needs a handful of low carb recipes that are just completely satisfying, no matter what diet you follow. This recipe is one of those! It happens to be keto friendly, with it's high fat and protein content, but this creamy garlic sauce is jus delicious.
If you've been here for a while, you know we love EASY, one-skillet dishes. You probably also noticed that we love anything slathered in a cream sauce. This tasty meal is sure to impress, made with minimal dishes, in just under 45 minutes.
Feel free to skip to the recipe card if you’re ready to get right into it. We do cover common questions, tips, and tricks in the body of this post to keep reading if you’re wondering something. We do also include tons of step by step pictures in the body of the post.
Ingredients:
- Chicken thighs - We like boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this dish, but skinless chicken breasts work perfectly fine if you prefer.
- Olive oil & unsalted butter - We use a mixture of both of these cooking fats. The olive oil is used to cook the chicken, since we cook that at a higher temperature. The butter is added later when the heat is a little lower, to get the creamy and rich sauce going.
- Fresh garlic & onion - The base of any flavorful sauce, in our opinion. If you prefer you could substitute for garlic and onion powder instead.
- Herbs - We are totally obsessed with basil, and parsley is always a good touch too. Add as much or as little of these as you want.
- Dry seasonings - Aside from kosher salt and ground black pepper, we always season our food quite a lot! We opted for Italian seasoning and optional red pepper flakes for a bit of spice.
- Tomatoes - You can use whatever you like here. We prefer fresh, cherry tomatoes, but if you prefer sun dried tomatoes, have at it.
- Spinach - Fresh or frozen work fine here. You will need about 3 ounces of fresh spinach, or more, if you like!
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese - Grating it fresh is the key to getting a smooth, creamy sauce. Pre-shredded doesn't melt well, so we can't recommend using it.
- Chicken broth - This is used to thin the sauce. You could use water if you prefer.
- Heavy whipping cream - This is how we get the sauce so creamy and decadent! If you prefer, you can swap it for half and half to lower the calories. Truthfully though, heavy cream is really hard to beat in terms of its flavor!
How to Make Keto Tuscan Chicken:
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the pan, and sear the chicken in batches if necessary to avoid over crowding the pan. Once chicken is cooked, remove from the skillet and set aside.
Add butter to the pan, followed by onions. Cook until onions are translucent, then add in tomatoes and salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the spinach to the skillet to wilt. Once wilted, add in garlic and dry seasonings and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Pour in the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, followed by the heavy whipping cream. Reduce the heat to simmer, stirring often.
Add in some fresh chopped parsley, basil and freshly shredded parmesan cheese.
Stir the mixture continuously until a sauce forms. Once you have a nice creamy sauce, add back the chicken, then top everything with more fresh parsley, basil and parmesan if desired.
Tips For The Best Creamy Tuscan Chicken:
- If you use milk or half and half instead of heavy cream, the sauce will be quite thin. Heavy cream will create the best sauce. If you'd still like to use a lower calorie milk, you could use xanthan gum to thicken the sauce.
- Chicken breasts can be used in place in chicken thighs.
- Make sure to use freshly grated parmesan cheese instead of pre-shredded or else your cheese won't melt correctly.
- You can use fresh or frozen spinach.
- Sun dried tomatoes can be substituted for fresh tomatoes.
- Garlic and onion powder can be substituted for fresh.
A Note About This Recipe:
No, this is not an authentic Tuscan recipe! It's one of the most popular items at Olive Garden, so we had to remake it at home. Many recipes do use sun dried tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Use whatever you like.
More Recipes To Try:
- Keto Chicken and Dumplings
- Creamy Chicken and Butternut Squash Skillet
- Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Steak and Seafood Skillet with Creamy Parmesan Sauce
Need more ideas? Be sure to check out this massive list of over 85+ low carb and keto friendly recipes on our site!
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Until Next Time,
Briana & Chamere
Keto Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 3 ounces fresh spinach
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 4 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Parsley and basil for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Season the chicken well on both sides with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the pan, and sear the chicken in batches if necessary to avoid over crowding the pan. Once chicken is cooked, remove from the skillet and set aside.
- Add butter to the pan, followed by onions. Cook until onions are translucent, then add in tomatoes and salt. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spinach to the skillet to wilt. Once wilted, add in garlic and dry seasonings and cook until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Pour in the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, followed by the heavy whipping cream. Reduce the heat to simmer, stirring often. Add in some fresh chopped parsley, basil and freshly shredded parmesan cheese.
- Stir the mixture continuously until a sauce forms. Once you have a nice creamy sauce, add back the chicken, then top everything with more fresh parsley, basil and parmesan if desired.
- This dish will keep for about 5 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
Notes
- Chicken breasts can be used in place in chicken thighs.
- Half and half or milk can be used in place of heavy cream for the sauce.
- Make sure to use freshly grated parmesan cheese instead of pre-shredded or else your cheese won't melt correctly.
- You can use fresh or frozen spinach.
- Sun dried tomatoes can be substituted for fresh tomatoes.
- Garlic and onion powder can be substituted for fresh.
Nutrition
These nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy and are only estimates. We cannot guarantee the accuracy.
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