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This Creamy Parmesan Basil Chicken Recipe is a quick chicken breast recipe that tastes like it came from a restaurant! This one pan chicken dish is easy to make for a weeknight dinner, and is full of so much flavor!
What are you making for dinner? If you want to know what you should make with chicken breasts, I have the answer. This Creamy Parmesan Basil Chicken! Ever since I shared my Creamy Parmesan Basil Shrimp, you guys have been going crazy for it! But sometimes you just need a tasty chicken recipe, so I decided to adapt it to a chicken recipe. No more dry boring chicken breasts here – this recipe is a flavor explosion!
How to make chicken breasts tender
This is a technique I used in my Baked Chicken Parmesan Recipe. I found that by slicing the chicken breast in half lengthwise (like a book), and then pounding them to an even thickness, it makes the chicken breast so much more tender, and tastes better. The easiest way to do this is to use a zip top bag. After slicing the chicken breasts in half, place them in a zip top bag and seal it. Use a rolling pin to slightly pound them until they are an even thickness.
The other key to tasty chicken breasts is to SEASON your chicken with salt and pepper before cooking. This makes a huge difference!
This is a simple chicken recipe, all made in one pan. First we sear the chicken on both sides, then make the sauce for the chicken. Add the chicken breasts back to the pan, and dinner is ready! This creamy chicken is great served over pasta, but if you want to keep it low carb, we LOVED this served with roasted cauliflower!
Creamy Parmesan Basil Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pounds chicken breast 2 large breasts
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 4 large garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 yellow onion finely minced
- 3-4 ounces roasted red peppers thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves plus more for garnish
- 1 cup fresh grated parmesan
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut breasts in half lengthwise, pound to even thickness
- In a large non stick pan on medium-medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then sear, 4-5 minutes on each side, until just cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- In the same skillet add 1 tablespoons butter. Add onion, garlic, peppers, paprika, red chili pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Saute for about five minutes, until onions and peppers are softened.
- Add wine to deglaze the skillet and bring to a gentle simmer until reduced by half.
- Reduce heat to medium low. Add cream to the skillet and stir until a creamy sauce forms. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Add Parmesan, stir until melted into sauce. Stir in basil, simmer until wilted, 1-2 minutes.
- Add chicken back to the skillet, allow to warm up if needed. Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Nice recipe however
“slice them in half lengthwise like a book” is really bizarre instruction xD
Thankyou this recipe is amazing only change i made was i used light cream definitely a keeper
So happy you loved it Vicki!
This was delicious!! I am an amateur cook and I found the recipe easy to execute and LOVED the dish!!
So happy you loved it!
Made it for my spouse and his son who just moved from France (so have different tastes and experiences than us North Americans ;-). I was looking for a dish that is a 100% winner and this was it! I made it with couscous and it was great! The sauce soaked into the couscous and was terrific! I warmed the leftovers up 2 days later and again, super amazing! Big hit, thank you for sharing! *I know its not the healthiest with all of the cream, but at least its a sure thing and the amount of sauce is terrific and necessary 🙂
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hello, so when I made it and put the cream in (just bought that day so it wasn’t spoiled), it curdled. What am I doing wrong? Great flavours though! Thanks!
Hi Louise – I’m sorry that happened! I haven’t had that experience before, but it can happen if you don’t cook down the wine enough. I would just be sure that the wine reduces by half before adding the cream. I hope that helps!
Yum! Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing! Definitely adding to the rotation and sharing with friends!
Hi Angela – I’m so glad you love it!
This was AMAZING!! Best chicken dish I’ve had!! Some many amazing flavors oh man it was delicious! Definitely a keeper
So happy to hear that Naomi!
What can I say but AMAZING!! I’ve made this twice now, one with chicken, one with tilapia, both have turned out sooooo good. Instead of roasted red peppers, I used small sweet peppers. It made the sauce sweet and spicy and creamy. So delicious. This is a recipe to save for sure!
Wonderful, so happy you loved it Kelsey!
Changed it slightly. Used cream cheese for the sauce base, and chicken breasts and bacon, mushrooms and white onion.
Cooked pasta and veg rice all steamed as options.
Added loads of black pepper and a touch of salt.
A total winner all round.
Sounds delicious! So glad you liked it!
Holy carp! Thought this would be good but it is fan-freaking-tastic. It’s crazy easy and a dish you whip out to impress people with.
Ahhh, thank you so much Mike! I’m so glad you loved it!
I love this recipe! Even my two year old ate his whole plate. Im wondering if there is a way to tweak it so you could make it in the crock pot?
This was delish!
Hi Shayla, I’m so happy to hear that!
We have a ton of fresh basil growing, so I googled “chicken basil”, and this was one of the first recipes that showed up! I had to adjust a few things with what we had on hand…chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, our garden’s bell peppers plus oregano instead of roasted red peppers, coconut milk instead of heavy cream…This all likely changed up the overall flavor profile, but was still DELICIOUS. I think I found my new go-to online recipe blog 🙂
Hi Sarah – Yay, I am so happy you loved it!
I made this for dinner tonight, and oh my goodness, it was fabulous! I used light cream instead of heavy cream because that’s whatI had on hand and I used brined chicken thighs. It was rich, creamy, and delicious! My husband said that this is definitely a keeper, please make this again. Thank you for a tasty recipe!
Hi Maggie – Yay! I am so glad you and your family loved it!
I made this tonight and it’s definitely a keeper. Very delicious. The only thing I changed was after pounding down the chicken breast & seasoning, I did a light flour dusting on them. I added paprika to the flour for a little more seasoning.
I followed the rest of the recipe as is.
Thank you.
So happy you loved it! Thanks Anne!
My oh my! I would give it 10 stars if I could. It was so delicious, my husband liked the plate clean. Followed the recipe exactly. Thank you so much for this recipe. This is a keeper for sure!!!
Yay! I love hear that! SO happy you loved it Lisa!
Oh. My. Dear. God. This was absolutely amazing. Thank you thank you for this!!!!
Aww, yay! So glad you love it!
This was absolutely unbelievable, like in an authentic restaurant in Italy! Follow all the tips, will definitely make this again.
Hi Hana – Yay, I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for your comment!
Made this for dinner today! Was amazing! I added farmer sausage, and instead of chicken breasts I used thighs. I also didn’t have any white wine OR chicken stock, so I used half beef stock and half lemon juice. I also had a broad assortment of miscellaneous cheese ends in my fridge, so I just threw the whole assortment in! Turned out absolutely incredible! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sounds wonderful! Thanks Mark!
This is a favorite dish in our home now. Even my pickey eaters devour it. Its pretty easy and taste like a million dollars. Thank you so much.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Rachel!
This is a great chicken breast recipe! I loved the creamy basil flavor.