Chicken with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce – an 80’s throwback! I like to pack in a lot of sun dried tomato flavour here by using the oil from the jar to cook the chicken. Why throw away free flavour??
Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce for Chicken
Sun dried tomatoes don’t feature as much anymore as they should. Back in the 80’s they were ALL THE RAGE!
But they never went out of fashion in my world. Throw a small amount into almost any meal and you get a wonderful burst of extra flavour. I use them to make a super quick 12 Minutes Sun Dried Tomato Couscous Salad, in creamy chicken pasta, I stuff ’em inside chicken breast and Chicken Meatloaf and I use then for pasta salads.
The added bonus is the oil that the sun dried tomatoes are marinated in. Free flavour! Using the oil from the jar to cook the chicken really drives home the sun dried tomato flavour in the overall dish.
I never toss out the oil that olives and other antipasto things come in. I recycle them – either cook with it, or I use it to marinate cubes of feta or char grilled vegetables. Have to you ever tried that? Super thrifty – and extra flavour!
Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce ingredients
Here’s what you need for the creamy sun dried tomato sauce. I’ve used chicken thighs here, but it’s just as great made with chicken breast.
Quick dinner – 15 Minutes!
If you have a skillet large enough to cook all the chicken in one batch, then you’ll get this on the table in around 15 minutes. Chicken thighs should take around 6 -7 minutes to cook, and the creamy sun dried tomato sauce takes about 5 minutes.
I usually prep the sauce ingredients which the chicken is browning, so there’s really not much extra prep time.
Serve this with mashed potato OR, to make this a sensational low carb meal, with Creamy Mashed Cauliflower. It’s also great with pasta, or even just some crusty bread, dinner rolls or even focaccia to mop up the sauce! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Chicken with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 750g / 1.5lb chicken thighs OR chicken breast , skinless and boneless
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes , strips, drained of oil (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp oil from sun dried tomatoes jar (Note 1)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) white wine (sub chicken broth)
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) chicken broth/stock , low sodium
- 3/4 cup (185 ml) thickened / heavy cream
- 1/3 cup (30g) parmesan, very finely shredded (Note 2)
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard (Note 3)
- 1 cup basil leaves , packed (optional)
Instructions
- Breast: Cut chicken in half horiztonally to form 2 thin steaks.
- Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil from sun dried tomat jar in a large skillet over high heat.
- Add the chicken and cook until golden brown on both sides - 6 minutes total for thigh or 4 minutes for breast. Remove onto a plate, keep warm.
- Add the garlic and cook for 15 seconds until light golden.
- Add wine. Bring to simmer and scrape the bottom of the skillet to mix all the brown bits into the wine.
- Let the wine simmer for 1 minute or so until the smell of alcohol is gone which means it has evaporated.
- Mix in mustard, then add the chicken broth, cream, parmesan and sun dried tomatoes.
- Bring to simmer, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes until thickened. Stir regularly to dissolve parmesan cheese.
- Taste sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Stir through basil leaves, then return chicken into pan. Spoon sauce over and simmer 1 minute.
- Serve immediately! Great served over mashed potato, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower or pasta. Or serve with bread on the side to mop up sauce!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published July 2015, updated July 2019 with new photos, new video, new process photos, new writing. And the recipe has been spruced up a wee bit too!
Life of Dozer
I went to the loo, came back and he’d made himself at home on MY cashmere blanket!
Love, love, love the sauce that accompanies this and it is so simple to make – I made it with chicken thighs and they took quite a bit longer than the suggested 6 minutes – not a criticism, just be aware that the whole thing may take a little longer to come together than you are expecting.
Yes my thighs took longer too
I have made this dish and it is wonderful. I’m making again tonight…
I am happy that you enjoyed it Susan! N x
Made this for my girlfriend, served over pasta. She said she would pay money for it at a restaurant!
Love your work Nagi!
Is shaved parmesan okay to use ?
Another winner – thanks Nagi! Added a handful of fresh baby spinach at the end and it worked really well 😊 Served with pappardelle.
My husband went crazy for this dish! “Make it every week!”
Hi Nagi,
I work for a small catering company and I am always looking for new recipes and innovation. I love your recipes, your approach, you are enthusiastic and definitely not too wordy we which I appreciate as a I am often on time limits. Thank you for sharing your culinary skills and enthusiasm and Dozer with me and us!
Absolutely love this recipe. I am on a low salt diet so I did not add any extra salt as the sundried tomatoes, parmesean cheese and the white wine add enough salt for my pallet and high blood pressure condition. I also did use fresh basil, it truly is a flavor profile mark up. Next time I make this I may saute fresh mushrooms at the same time when I add the fresh garlic. I served this over a 3 cheese tortellini. All of my customers were wowed by the dish. Thank you!
I love to hear people are cooking my recipes for others!! N x
Another winner!
Hey Nagi! Love this recipe! Have tried many of your recipes and they are great! Thanks!
Another delicious winner, thank you Nagi! I love a good creamy sauce with white wine and sun-dried tomatoes so I was sure to love this one, but it truly blew me away. The juiciness of the chicken and the freshness of the basil on top of it all was sheer perfection. Plus, it was easy and quick to make. It will definitely become a regular in my kitchen!
How’s the cookbook coming along? Peter
It is getting there Peter – thanks for asking!! We are up to the testing/editing stage now that we have locked down the recipe list! N x
My son – who, independant of me, also discovered your website – made this for me this weekend. It was delicious!!!
Looks amazing ! Cooking this tomorrow!
OMGOSH… this is my FAVORITE recipe ever. I had left overs so we made noodles and mixed the sauce with it and it was amazing
I must say the flavors are wonderful, but unfortunately my sauce came out very thin and separated. I used a homemade cream but I don’t see why my sauce would turn out that way.
Store-bought heavy cream contains thickeners. That’s probably why it was runny with freshly homemade cream. I’d suggest adding cornstarch to fix that.
Made this last night and added some sliced baby bellas and baby spinach! Any way that I can get veggies into my family without them noticing or caring, I take it! And this recipe sounded so delicious that I knew they wouldn’t mind. And THEY DIDN’T. It was incredible! The flavors (without my additions because they really didn’t change the flavor at all) are amazing. ♥️
Yea! N x
Could you make this with chicken breasts or the parts from a whole chicken cut up?
Made this tonight so good! :Thanks once again Nagi 🙂
Perfection.
Thanks Nagi!
Can you make this the day before?
You sure can Sandra, just reheat gently in the microwave. N x
This is a great dish. Follow the ingredients and it’s perfectly balanced.