Ready to make the chicken dish so good it might just lead to a proposal? This Marry Me Chicken is creamy, garlicky, and absolutely irresistible—the kind of recipe that’ll have everyone at your table begging for seconds!
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What is Marry Me Chicken?
Ever wondered why it’s called “Marry Me Chicken”? Legend has it this sun-dried tomato and cream-based chicken dish got its name because it’s so delicious, serving it to your significant other might just inspire a marriage proposal!
But proposal or not, this recipe has earned its spot in countless home cooks’ weekly rotation, and for good reason. The combination of tender chicken breasts smothered in a rich, creamy sauce, with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh herbs creates pure magic in every bite.
What sets my recipe apart? It’s not just another version of Marry Me Chicken—it’s a masterclass in creating a customizable, high-quality dish that tastes like it came straight from a restaurant. From searing the chicken perfectly to using the best ingredients like fresh parmesan and oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, my step-by-step instructions ensure you’ll wow your family or guests every single time.
You’re not just getting a recipe here; you’re learning how to cook with confidence, how to adjust flavors to suit your palate, and how to make a dish that’s truly unforgettable. Plus, it just so happens that this creamy, indulgent dish is naturally low-carb, making it a great choice for those watching their carbs without sacrificing flavor.
Whether it’s for date night, family dinners, or impressing friends, Marry Me Chicken will become a beloved staple in your kitchen! And don’t forget, with my easy scaling feature, you can make this recipe for two or a crowd without stress.
Easy Marry Me Chicken Ingredients
- Olive Oil: Use a high quality olive oil to sear the chicken breasts!
- Salt & Pepper: A simple seasoning of salt and pepper is all that is needed for the chicken.
- Chicken Breasts: Larger chicken breasts can be sliced in half horizontally so that they are thinner or pound them into the same thickness for even cooking.
- Garlic: All Italian dishes must have garlic! Use fresh garlic or if you must jarred minced garlic.
- Fresh Thyme: Classic Marry Me Chicken recipes use fresh thyme to season the sauce. If you don’t have fresh thyme on hand, you can replace it with 1 teaspoon of dried thyme. Or substitute with fresh basil.
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: For a hint of spice! Use more or less depending on how spicy you want it.
- Chicken Broth: The sauce base is chicken broth, so use a high-quality broth or chicken stock.
- Heavy Cream: This will make the sauce perfectly creamy! I wouldn’t replace this with half and half or milk, since it will create a thinner sauce. But it’s your dinner, so make it how you like it!
- Sun-dried Tomatoes: They add a tangy flavor that balances the richness, use dried or those packed in oil.
- Parmesan Cheese: Stir in some parmesan cheese at the end for an added layer of savory flavor. I recommend using fresh grated parmesan cheese as it will melt into the sauce much easier.
Get the full recipe in the recipe card below.
How to Make Marry Me Chicken
Step 1 – Sear the Chicken
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C). Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet (I love my Lodge Cast Iron skillets) over medium-high heat.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper and if they vary greatly in thickness, pound until even thickness. When the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts in the skillet and leave them undisturbed to get a nice sear. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, then remove the chicken from the pan onto a plate.
Step 2 – Make the Sauce
Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining olive oil if needed in the same skillet, then add the minced garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and red pepper flakes. Stir until fragrant, about thirty seconds or so.
Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese, stir to combine and bring it to a simmer.
Step 3 – Bake & Serve
Add the chicken breasts to the pan and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°F (this is my favorite inexpensive meat thermometer). Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over it and garnished with fresh thyme. It goes great with pasta or mashed potatoes.
Best Marry Me Chicken Recipe Tips
- Slice your chicken breasts in half lengthwise! I find that chicken breasts are often quite large in the store, so I will often buy two, and slice them in half lengthwise. If you need to pound them for a more even thickness, that works well for a more even cooking time.
- For the perfect sear, preheat your pan nice and hot before adding the chicken – you should hear a satisfying sizzle when the meat hits the surface. A good sear creates a beautiful golden crust and starts the flavor-building process in this easy Marry Me chicken recipe!
- Always pat your chicken completely dry with paper towels before seasoning. Excess moisture is the enemy of good browning and can cause the chicken to steam rather than sear.
- The resting period after cooking is essential for the juiciest results. During these five minutes, the meat’s internal temperature equalizes, and the juices redistribute throughout the chicken instead of running out when you cut into it.
- Skip pre-grated parmesan and opt for a block of good-quality Parmigiano-Reggiano that you grate yourself. Pre-grated cheese often contains anti-caking agents that can make your sauce grainy instead of silky smooth.
- When it comes to the red pepper flakes, start conservatively and adjust upward. You can always add more heat, but you can’t take it away once it’s in the dish.
What to Serve with Marry Me Chicken
Looking for the perfect sides to round out this Marry Me Chicken recipe? The creamy sauce is basically begging to be soaked up by some crusty bread or spooned over al dente pasta.
I love serving it with linguine pasta, creamy mashed potatoes, or even white rice. Anything that will soak up that gorgeous sauce will work well!
Feel free to serve it with something bright on the side, like my steakhouse wedge salad, some roasted broccolini, or roasted broccoli and sweet potatoes. And if you really want to take it over the top? Throw in some tiramisu for dessert—now that’s a meal worth saying “I do” to!
How to Store Marry Me Chicken
You can store any leftover chicken, completely cooled in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Can you freeze Marry Me Chicken?
Freezing Marry Me Chicken is possible, but not always recommended because the cream-based sauce can separate or become grainy when reheated. If you do freeze it, use heavy cream in the sauce, as it holds up better, and add a splash of cream or broth when reheating to restore its texture. For best results, enjoy the dish fresh or within a day or two, as the sauce is at its peak when freshly made.
Best Way to Reheat Marry Me Chicken
- Preferred Method (Oven): Preheat to 350°F. Place chicken and sauce in an oven-safe dish, cover with foil, and heat for 15-20 minutes, or until warmed through.
- Quick and Effective (Stovetop): Warm chicken and sauce in a skillet over low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add a splash of broth or cream to keep the sauce creamy.
- Fastest Option (Microwave): Place chicken and sauce on a plate, cover loosely, and heat on 50% power in 1-minute intervals, flipping the chicken and stirring the sauce until heated through.
Tip: Always add a bit of liquid (broth or cream) if the sauce seems thick to keep the chicken moist and flavorful.
Best Marry Me Chicken Recipe FAQs
If your sauce seems too thin, first try simmering it for a few extra minutes before adding the chicken back to the pan. For a quicker solution, create a cornstarch slurry by mixing one teaspoon of cornstarch with one teaspoon of cold water, then stir this mixture into your simmering sauce until it reaches your desired consistency.
While this recipe doesn’t require dredging to achieve its perfectly tender results, proper dredging technique starts with patting the chicken completely dry and seasoning with salt and pepper before lightly coating in flour. We intentionally skip dredging in this recipe to create a lighter dish that lets the silky sauce shine through.
Sun-dried tomatoes are typically found in the pasta aisle near other Italian ingredients or sometimes near jarred roasted red peppers. If you can’t find them in either spot, check the produce section near fresh tomatoes or in the salad topping area.
Dried sun-dried tomatoes work perfectly well in this recipe, but they’ll need a little more time in the sauce to soften up. You can chop them into smaller pieces and add them directly to the sauce and let them simmer!
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 1 ½ – 2 pounds
- 3 cloves garlic minced or pressed,or 3 teaspoons jarred minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves + additional for garnish
- ⅛ – ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes more if you like heat
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained and sliced or chopped
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated,
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190° C). Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet (I love my Lodge Cast Iron skillets) over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and if they vary greatly in thickness, slice in half lengthwise or pound until even thickness. When the pan is nice and hot, place the chicken breasts in the skillet and leave them undisturbed to get a nice sear. Cook for 3-5 minutes per side, then remove the chicken from the pan onto a plate.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining olive oil if needed in the same skillet, then add the minced garlic, fresh thyme leaves, and red pepper flakes. Stir until fragrant, about thirty seconds or so.
- Add the chicken broth, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan cheese, stir to combine and bring it to a simmer.
- Add the chicken breasts to the pan and transfer the skillet to the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the internal temperature of the chicken is 165°F (my favorite inexpensive meat thermometer). Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes.
- Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over it and garnished with fresh thyme. It goes great with pasta or mashed potatoes.
Notes
- Preferred Method (Oven): Preheat to 350°F. Place chicken and sauce in an oven-safe dish, cover with foil, and heat for 15-20 minutes, or until warmed through.
- Quick and Effective (Stovetop): Warm chicken and sauce in a skillet over low-medium heat for 8-10 minutes. Add a splash of broth or cream to keep the sauce creamy.
- Fastest Option (Microwave): Place chicken and sauce on a plate, cover loosely, and heat on 50% power in 1-minute intervals, flipping the chicken and stirring the sauce until heated.
- Chicken breasts are often large; slice in half lengthwise or pound for even cooking.
- Substitute 1 teaspoon dried thyme if needed.
- Adjust crushed red pepper to taste; spice levels vary by type and freshness.
- Use low-sodium chicken broth or stock.
- Grate fresh parmesan for the best flavor.
- Use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (drained and blotted) or dry ones (they’ll soften in the sauce).
- For added flavor, keep fresh herbs like thyme or basil; Trader Joe’s has affordable options.
- Make sure the skillet is very hot to sear chicken properly without sticking.
- Oven times vary; check chicken at 10 minutes.
- For a thicker sauce, stir in a cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 teaspoon water) in step 4. Add more if needed.
- Basil can be substituted for thyme for a twist, like in my Tuscan Chicken.
Nutrition
chellie
My family loved this! This is a great weeknight meal that comes together quickly and is soooo flavorful.
Fabulous, Chellie!! So glad you loved it as much as we do!
Teresa Mauro
The ‘jump to recipe” link does not work. Can you please check it out as I would like to print it without all the other pages.
I will definitely provide a rating once I’ve had the chance to make it. Thanks.
Hi Teresa, I’m so sorry. I’ll have my developer look at that. I’ll email you the recipe tho. Are you not able to see or print the recipe at all?