Chilly nights call for easy, cozy dinners! This healthy tuscan chicken recipe is all kinds of delicious and super simple to make in just one skillet, plus it’s loaded with veggies and budget friendly. This tuscan chicken recipe is dairy free, Whole30 and Paleo, and I’ve included a slow cooker adaptation, too.
Tuscan Chicken Recipe
This is one recipe you’ll come back to again and again! There’s just so much flavor in every bite. This tuscan chicken recipe is indulgent without being heavy, the perfect balance of savory goodness and healthy ingredients.
I like to make this delicious comfort food for date night, or if I’m entertaining guests with dietary restrictions —especially if they’re dairy free. Really, I just make it anytime because when is there ever a bad time to dig into a creamy tuscan chicken recipe.
Tuscan garlic chicken has truly become one of our favorite meals. The juicy chicken is just so flavorful and tender, I can’t stop eating it! This recipe is fabulous exactly as-is, but I sometimes serve it with a helping of spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
This fancy meal isn’t such a fancy recipe. It is actually so super easy to make, which makes it just that much better. With the incredible flavor of the chicken and the simplicity of the recipe, you’ll soon find yourself making this chicken dish every single week! It’s just that good.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
What’s not to love about easy dinner ideas for a simple weeknight meal? Step into central Italy with this amazing dish:
- Need a 30 minute dinner idea? This is the recipe for you! Creamy tuscan chicken can be made in just about 20 minutes. It’s great for those evenings that you are super busy and need dinner on the table quickly.
- Not only is this recipe Whole30 compliant, it is also Paleo and dairy free. A great recipe to add to you go-to list if you have dietary restrictions that you find hard to cook for.
- This tuscan chicken can be made in either a large skillet or the slow cooker. Choose whichever works best for you because both methods make the perfect chicken!
Ingredients
I love that this meal is made with just 8 simple ingredients, most of which I have on hand all the time anyhow! This tuscan chicken recipe features:
- boneless skinless chicken breasts
- sun-dried tomatoes
- artichokes
- sundried tomato oil or olive oil
- minced garlic
- fresh baby spinach
- coconut milk or cream:
- chicken or vegetable broth
- salt and black pepper
Substitutions and Variations
Tomatoes: I prefer to use the sun-dried tomatoes that are packed in oil, but whatever you have will work great. I then use the oil from the sundried tomato jar, because it adds loads of flavor, but olive oil or avocado oil will do the trick too!
Artichokes: For this recipe, I typically use frozen artichoke hearts but canned artichoke hearts will also work.
Spinach: Feel free to substitute kale instead of using spinach. However, keep in mind that it needs a bit longer to cook. If you use kale, add it to the skillet along with the artichokes and tomatoes.
Coconut milk: I use full fat coconut milk from a can. If you haven’t used it before, it’s solid at room temperature but melts into the sauce when heated and brings a lovely, rich, creamy element to the sauce. Can’t have coconut? Then you can swap it out for unflavored, unsweetened almond milk. If you’re not dairy free, you can use heavy cream or whole milk.
Olives: I personally don’t like olives, and choose to leave them out of this dish. But kalamata olives would be a beautiful addition to this dish if you like them!
Cheese: If you don’t need to be dairy-free, you can add parmesan cheese to this dish to make a creamy parmesan cheese.
Chicken: You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs in place of chicken breast if you want!
How to Make this Tuscan Chicken Recipe
You won’t believe how easy it is to make healthy, crowd pleasing tuscan chicken recipe with a creamy sauce. My preferred method is in a skillet, since it’s faster and I’m always in a hurry, but the slow cooker works wonderfully to make these tender chicken breasts too!! Here are instructions for both:
Skillet
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and then brown the chicken breasts on one side. Then flip the chicken and add in the artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and minced garlic.
Sauté everything together until well combined. Then stir in the chicken broth and coconut milk.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, then add the spinach and cover the dish.
Once the spinach wilts, season the creamy sun-dried tomato sauce to taste and serve!
Crock Pot Tuscan Chicken
Place chicken, broth, minced garlic and all seasonings into your slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hour or high for 2 hours. Then stir in the cream sauce ingredients — artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and coconut milk.
Place the cover back onto the slow cooker and cook for 15 more minutes on high or 30 minutes on low.
Lastly, stir in fresh spinach and cover the dish again until the spinach is wilted.
Season the chicken and creamy sauce to taste with salt and pepper and serve!
What to Serve with Healthy Tuscan Chicken
If your dietary restrictions don’t exclude pasta, you could serve this dish over fusilli or penne pasta. Or if you can have rice, fresh jasmine rice would soak up this cream sauce and pair so well with the chicken. And if you can have beans, my Mediterranean inspired cannellini bean salad would go beautifully with this, too.
Air fryer garlic mushrooms are also another tasty addition to pair with this meal. Easy bacon wrapped asparagus would go well with this dish too.
Serve this dish with a crunchy quinoa arugula salad if you want something healthy and light to pair with this rich and creamy dish!
Tips for Success
Here’s a few tips to make this easy tuscan chicken recipe extra successful:
- Use a meat thermometer to check the cooked chicken breast and see if they have reached a safe internal temperature. This will keep you from overcooking the chicken!
- If you are using smaller chicken breasts, you may not need as much cooking time. So be sure to adjust accordingly so that the seasoned chicken breasts cook perfectly.
- For best results, try to cut the chicken so that they are even sizes and will finish cooking at the same time.
FAQ
This creamy chicken recipe is best served fresh since there is spinach in the dish. However, you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Keep in mind that the spinach may not reheat well. If you know ahead of time that you will have leftovers, then I would just leave the spinach out of the dish.
The creamy sauce in tuscan chicken is most often made from garlic, sundried tomatoes, butter and spinach. Many people add cream cheese or heavy cream to make the sauce extra creamy. This recipe uses full fat coconut milk to make a creamy tuscan chicken sauce!
More Main Dish Recipes
- Dutch Oven German Pork Chops
- Butter Chicken Meal Prep
- Orange Sesame Chicken & Broccoli
- Egg Roll in a Bowl Skillet
- Chicken Pad Thai
- BBQ Chicken Lettuce Wraps & Pineapple Slaw
Making this recipe? I’d love to see!
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Tuscan Chicken Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lbs chicken breasts
- 1 cup artichoke hearts
- 6 ounces fresh baby spinach
- 1/3 cup sundried tomatoes preferably packed in oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup coconut cream or milk
- 1/4 cup kalamata olives, optional
- 1 Tablespoon oil from sundried tomato jar or regular olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoons italian seasoning, optional
Instructions
Do the Prep Work
- Pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel. If the thickness of the chicken breasts is uneven, place the chicken, one at a time, between two sheets of wax or parchment paper or inside a gallon plastic bag, and gently pound to a standard thickness. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Mince the garlic.
Cook the Dish (Skillet Instructions)
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-low heat.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and brown for about 2-3 minutes. Flip the chicken once it easily releases.
- Add the garlic, tomatoes, and artichokes to the pan and saute as the chicken browns on the second side, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stir in the broth and coconut milk and seasonings. Bring to a simmer, then add in the spinach and olives, if using, and cover. Allow to cook together for about 5 more minutes, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken is cooked through.
Video
Notes
- Add the chicken, stock, garlic, and seasonings to your slow cooker or crock pot.
- Cover and cook on low for 3.5 hours or high for 2.5 hours.
- Stir in the artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and coconut milk. Cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes on high or 30 minutes on low.
- Stir in fresh spinach, and cover just until wilted.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.
