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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.
Amazing! Restaurant quality for sure. My family loved it and only wished I had more sauce to go over the pasta. I used Half and Half, chicken broth, and added some sundried tomatoes for a bit of sweetness. This recipe is undoubtedly part of our new rotation.
So happy you loved it!
creamy and delicious!
Made this tonight for dinner – it was incredible. Restaurant quality. Super flavourful. I followed the recipe as is. The ingredients said roasted red peppers so I followed a basic recipe to roast my red peppers beforehand in the oven for 20 mins.
Super delicious! I had a TON of basil and it was a great way to use a lot of it. I bet adding mushrooms at the end would be wonderful in it.
So glad you liked it!
My apologies Meghan for calling u Robin
100% Amazing. Eating it right now & definitely adding to my recipe box!
THIS IS DELICIOUS!!! Followed the recipe exactly…such a wonderful blend of flavors. The chicken was tender…very easy recipe to follow. Served over angel hair pasta. My husband said ‘This is a keeper’ and my picky teenager asked for seconds!! Will make this again and again! Thank you so much!
I’m so happy you loved it!
Fantastic! I’ve made it several times and it’s so good and very easy. Last night I added in a few diced sun dried tomatoes and some broccoli I needed to use. I made mashed potatoes for my husband and after taking the potatoes out of the water, I threw in the broccoli in the same water and cooked them for just a few minutes before adding to the pan. Added in the basil and chicken and Voila! Chef’s kiss for sure. Thanks for this addition to my recipes.
First time I’ve ever commented on a recipe. This was fantastic. I put it over Quinoa and it worked out great. I could eat the sauce with just the quinoa and be happy but I think it would also be awesome with shrimp.
This was great. I actually doubled the recipe. I added a pinch of ghost (powder) pepper and added two cups of chopped spinach. I had roasted red/yellow peppers so that was colorful to the dish
I made farfalle pasta and we all licked our lips. It was so good. Nice and not too spicy.
So happy to hear that!
So good So great..i used coconut milk and it worked out perfect. Damn good !!!!
I’m so happy to hear that!
I don’t normally submit a rating but this was fabulous. Followed the recipe with no alterations…don’t think it’s fair to alter a recipe & then try to rate it. Used the leftover sauce, angel hair spaghetti & veggies with roasted shrimp…turned out perfectly. Thank you for an awesomely good recipe.
I’m so happy you loved it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
Hi,Robin,this dish is wonderful I am going to prepare it for a 91st birthday dinner for 6 and serve it with my homemade pasta Can I prepare the chicken a little in advance,then do the sauce later,can keep it warm in the warming oven.
Hi Patty, I think it would be fine to prepare the chicken ahead of time. I think the sauce is best made right before serving if possible. It may congeal a bit or get a skin on the top if you leave it warming in the oven for very long. I hope that helps!
This is so good..i the flavors together were so comforting .I spooned mine over mashed potatoes thank you so much for this gem of a recipe!
Thank you so much Meghan. A friend gave me organic basil from her garden and I had no idea what to cook! This was amazing.
Thank you so much love you for this.
I’m so happy you loved it!
Ok — this is my first review ever! Make this recipe as is! Fairly easy and delicious. I roasted my red peppers in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes while prepping ingredients — served over vermicelli, but would be great over spaghetti squash or cauliflower rice.
So glad to hear that!
I used 2% Fage Greek yogurt in place of the cream and mine came out pink because of the peppers and paprika but this is absolutely delicious and a keeper! Also, I did it with chicken thighs. Thank you!
So glad you loved it!
I made this with half & half instead of cream and it turned out great. I don’t care for heavy cream recipes so this totally worked for me. Also used boneless thighs instead of breasts, cut them in half and then halved them horizontally to make thinner. Didn’t pound them, cooked minimally – just enough to cook through and they were perfect. Made the rest of recipe as written altho used extra wine as I love the flavor of cooking with wine. Served it over spaghetti and made broccoli which I drizzled a bit of sauce over. Will def make it again.
I’m so happy you loved it!
Great rich creamy flavor. I love basil and it added great flavor along with the roasted peppers. So easy to make, this is a keeper! Both my parents had a second helping. Used real cream.
Delicious, and Simple to make. Thank-you for sharing a great recipe.
So glad you loved it!
This chicken recipe was exactly what I was looking for, as I had fresh basil on hand and I’m always a sucker for anything with Parmesan cheese. The flavor is delicious and savory, without being over the top. (Although I did not have any red pepper flakes on hand, so it wasn’t as spicy as it should have been, I suppose.) I substituted diced sweet red pepper (for color, mostly). I will definitely make this again.
So glad you loved it!
OMG!!! This is def. restaurant quality or better! I forgot the heavy cream so I randomly used some sour cream and crazy I know but almond milk. Still soooo stinking good!!! I also added chopped fresh tomatoes on the side. We will have this again for sure! It is sinfully good!
So glad you loved it!