★★★★★ 170 reviews · 40 minutes · Gluten free · Serves 4 · Tender skillet chicken in balsamic caramelized onion cream sauce. All you need are a few simple ingredients, and you’ve got a restaurant quality meal at home. And you won’t believe how easy it is to put this together! #chickendinner #balsamiccreamsauce #caramelized
Easy and delicious comfort food at its finest. Lightly floured boneless chicken breasts are pan fried in butter and oil until golden and crispy before being added to a mouth-watering garlic cream sauce. Filled with caramelised flavour, you will LOVE how easy this is!
Crispy, golden chicken on the outside → tender and succulent on the inside → lightly simmered in a creamy sauce with so much flavour. The combination of your dreams! Chicken breasts tend to have a bad reputation for being too dry, chalky or hard to swallow. However, this recipe yields perfectly juicy breasts lightly floured and pan fried.
With all of the creamy sauce recipes I have on this site (Creamy Garlic Tuscan Shrimp, Creamy Dijon Chicken, Creamy Salmon Piccata, or Creamy Parmesan Shrimp), this one stands out from the crowd!
prep time: 10 MINS
cook time: 30 MINS
total time: 40 MINS
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
DIRECTIONS:
COOK THE CHICKEN: season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook the chicken all the way through. Remove the chicken to a plate.
caramelize the onions: add the butter to the skillet along with the onions. Push the onions around the pan so they pick up all the flavor bits left behind by the chicken, lower the heat to medium-low and allow the onions to cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring them as needed to prevent from sticking. The onions are done when they soften completely and deepen in color. Add the thyme, red pepper flakes, sugar, and balsamic vinegar, let the vinegar cook out for a couple of minutes.
MAKE THE SAUCE: Grab a whisk for this next step. Slowly pour in the chicken broth in a steady stream while you whisk, this will help deglaze the pan. Kick the heat up to high and let the sauce reduce for 2-3 minutes or until it thickens a bit. Once the sauce reduces, lower the heat again, and add in the cream. You don’t want the cream to start boiling immediately as it will cause the sauce to split. Let the sauce come to a gentle simmer, once it does, add in the chicken breasts and spoon the sauce on top. Serve immediately. The sauce will thicken as it sits so you may need additional broth to thin it out.
NOTES:
this makes just enough sauce for the chicken. If you want more sauce to serve with veggies or rice, I suggest doubling everything starting from the chopped onions all the way down to the heavy cream on the ingredient list.
