Description
Quick and easy Tomato Basil Chicken recipe featuring tender pan-seared chicken cutlets in a creamy garlic sauce with fresh tomatoes and basil. Ready in 30 minutes, this restaurant-quality dish uses simple ingredients like heavy cream, Dijon mustard, and fresh herbs. Perfect for weeknight dinners, this Italian-inspired chicken recipe delivers impressive flavor without the fuss.
Ingredients
For the Chicken:
-
2 large chicken breasts
-
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
-
Salt and pepper (to taste)
-
Flour (for dredging, about ¼ cup)
-
1 tablespoon olive oil
-
1 tablespoon butter
For the Sauce:
-
3 cloves garlic, minced
-
¼ cup chicken broth
-
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
-
¾ cup heavy (whipping) cream
-
1 medium tomato, chopped
-
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
-
Small handful fresh basil, chopped or torn
Friendly Notes:
-
Fresh tomato and basil aren’t optional here sorry not sorry
-
Got white wine open? Use that instead of broth
-
Sometimes I throw in spinach at the end when my mom guilt kicks in about vegetables
Instructions
Take each chicken breast and cut it in half going horizontally like you’re slicing a bagel. You’ll have 4 thinner pieces total. First time I did this I was super nervous about cutting myself but once your knife is sharp it’s actually pretty straightforward. Season both sides really well with the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Don’t be stingy here – the chicken needs flavor. Then take each piece and coat it in the flour, shake off whatever extra falls off. I just use a regular dinner plate for the flour dredging station because I hate doing extra dishes.
Heat up your skillet on medium-high and add the olive oil and butter. Wait until the butter melts and starts smelling good – that’s when you know it’s ready. Add your chicken and it should make that satisfying sizzle sound immediately. If it doesn’t sizzle your pan isn’t hot enough yet so take the chicken back out and wait a minute. Cook for about 4-5 minutes and don’t touch it during that time even though you’ll want to. I know it’s tempting to keep checking but just let it do its thing. Flip and cook the other side. It’s fine if it’s not totally cooked through yet because it’s going back in the sauce later. Take it out and set it aside on a plate.
This part is so satisfying I can’t even tell you. See all that brown crusty stuff stuck to your pan? Keep it. That’s flavor gold. Add your minced garlic, the Dijon mustard, and chicken broth. It’s gonna start bubbling and smelling incredible. Take your wooden spoon and scrape the bottom of the pan to get all those brown bits incorporated into the liquid. My grandma always called this “the magic” and she was right. Let it bubble for maybe 30 seconds while you scrape.
Pour in the heavy cream, add your chopped tomato, Italian seasoning, and most of the basil. Keep some basil back for the end because it looks prettier on top. Stir it all together and once it starts bubbling bring the heat down to like medium or medium-low. You want it barely simmering not going crazy. I learned this the hard way when my sauce broke and looked all separated and gross. Low and slow here.
Put your chicken back in the pan and spoon some of that gorgeous sauce over the top. Let everything simmer together for 5 minutes or so. The chicken will finish cooking and the sauce will thicken up. If you have a meat thermometer check that the thickest part is 165°F. Taste the sauce at this point and add more salt and pepper if you need to. I always need more salt but that’s just me. My husband says I oversalt everything but whatever he’s wrong.
Get the chicken onto your plates or a serving dish if you’re being fancy, pour all that sauce over the top, sprinkle your remaining basil on there.
Notes
-
If your chicken pieces are super uneven after cutting use a meat mallet to pound them flat. Or don’t. I usually don’t bother unless they’re really bad
-
Take your chicken out of the fridge like 15-20 minutes before you cook it. Room temp chicken sears way better but I forget to do this probably 60% of the time
-
Too thick? Add more broth. Too thin? Just let it keep simmering
-
Whatever you do don’t let this boil hard once the cream is in there or it’ll separate and look oily and weird
-
I’ve added cream cheese to this before when I had some leftover and it made it even creamier which was good
-
Wait until the very end to add most of your basil or it turns brown and wilted looking. Nobody wants sad brown basil
-
Keep tasting as you go. My mom always said you can’t fix under-seasoning at the table but you can fix it in the pan
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian-American