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Chicken in a creamy, flavorful sauce, topped with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Made with coconut milk, this Skillet Tuscan Chicken has less dairy than many Tuscan Chicken recipes, but no shortage of flavor!

Inspiration

I grew up in a small town that had few restaurant options other than fast food. I’m pretty sure there were no big chain restaurants until Outback opened when I was in high school.

When I was able to drive, my friends and I would go to neighboring towns for dinner. One of our, or at least my, favorite spots was always Carrabba’s. And the reason: Chicken Bryan.

Carrabba’s Chicken Bryan dish has grilled chicken covered with a lemon butter sauce, sun dried tomatoes, basil, and goat cheese. To me, it’s like a creamy little piece of chicken heaven on a plate 

Recently I was thinking about that dish and wanted to make something similar, but with a spin my whole family would enjoy. I made this dish six or seven times to get it just how we wanted!

Side Note: This is called Skillet Tuscan Chicken as I also have a Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken coming soon!

Skillet Tuscan Chicken

Chicken

This recipe uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts. To ensure that they cook evenly and that the outsides do not get dry while the center is cooking, I highly recommended that you use thin breasts.

If you have thick chicken breasts (like those which I almost always get from my grocery store) just slice them in half horizontally so that each piece is about 3/4″ thick.

Less Dairy

In a recent post I shared that I don’t always do well with a lot of cheese. Someone sent me a message basically saying that they couldn’t trust any of my recipes with cheese as an ingredient if I didn’t like cheese.

So, let me make sure I say this clearly: I LOVE cheese. Actually, I love dairy in general. My dream day of food would include a giant cheesy calzone, mozzarella sticks, ice cream, lots of creme brulee, and some hot chocolate.

But, things would not work out well if I had a day like that. I’d probably spend the next few days laying on the couch whining about how badly my stomach hurt. So, I don’t eat much dairy.

Creamy Substitutions

One of my favorite things to do is make recipes that are creamy, but not full of dairy. To do that, this recipes uses:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup full fat canned coconut milk

If you want more dairy, use heavy whipping cream instead of coconut milk. If you want no dairy, consider dairy free butter or margarine options, and consider either nutritional yeast or vegan Parmesan for the cheese.

Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Use sun-dried tomatoes that are packaged in oil. The ones that are stored dry have less flavor, and do not go as well with the sauce in this recipe.

If you happen to have a bag of dry sun-dried tomatoes, you might consider rehydrating them and adding some more Italian seasoning to the sauce. Cook’s Illustrated has an article on how to rehydrate sun-dried tomatoes here.

Spinach

Use baby spinach, and chop it. Why, you might ask?

1. Baby spinach has a sweeter, less bitter taste than regular spinach.
2. If you do not chop the spinach, you may end up with big chunks in your sauce. The spinach is a nice accompaniment, but it’s not supposed to be a salad on your chicken.

This Skillet Tuscan Chicken is a quick weeknight dish that is full of flavor! Serve it over pasta for a meal the whole family will enjoy!

Skillet Tuscan Chicken

Chicken in a creamy, flavorful sauce, topped with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Made with coconut milk, this Skillet Tuscan Chicken has less dairy than many Tuscan Chicken recipes, but no shortage of flavor!

4.86 from 7 votes

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Course: Dinner

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 6 servings

Calories: 512

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Ingredients

Chicken

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts if breasts are thick, cut in half horizontally so that each piece is about 3/4" thick
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

Sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium sized onion diced
• 6 cloves fresh minced garlic
• 3/4 cup canned full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (jarred, not dried in a bag) removed from oil and chopped
• 3 cups baby spinach chopped corsley and loosely packed

Serving

• 12 ounces spaghetti noodles cooked according to package directions

Instructions

Chicken

• In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder. Rub spice mixture evenly over all chicken breasts.
• Heat olive in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts (you may need to cook chicken in 2 or 3 batches). Cook 3 to 4 minutes a side, until each side of chicken is browned and breasts are cooked through.
• Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

Sauce

• Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and saute until softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
• Stir in coconut milk, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, oregano, basil, and thyme. Reduce to a simmer and simmer until thickened, about 3 minutes. Taste sauce and add additional salt and pepper as desired (I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper).
• Next, stir in chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped baby spinach. Cook until spinach is wilted.
• Reduce heat to low. Return chicken to skillet and heat until chicken has warmed through, about 2 minutes.
• Serve over spaghetti noodles.

Nutrition

Calories: 512kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 870mg | Potassium: 950mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1781IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 115mg | Iron: 4mg

Disclaimer: All nutritional information provided on this website is an estimate only and is not guaranteed.

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