Quick and Easy Creamy Garlic Chicken

With two children I love a quick and easy dinner. I don’t get a lot of time in the evenings where I can cook in peace. Normally I have one child hanging off my leg wanting to be picked up and another constantly asking me for a snack. My husband predominantly works evenings, so when it’s just me I want something simple but delicious, so this quick and easy creamy garlic chicken is perfect and the whole family love it!

Chicken

In my house I tend to use chicken breasts a lot, mainly because they are convenient with small children and fussy adults like my husband. However, any part of the chicken can be used. I really love making this with thighs on or off the bone too, both work great.

The average weight of chicken breasts I use is four breasts which equate to around 800g. It doesn’t matter if you have less chicken, you can even decrease the sauce or enjoy the extra sauce with your meal.

I tend to buy chicken from the butchers and store it away until needed in batches of four. Then I take them out of the freezer, either the night before or early morning to give them enough time to defrost. I quickly give them a rinse under the tap to make sure they are clean and pat dry before using.

Within this recipe you will be pan frying the chicken. I start by searing the chicken on both sides for a few minutes this gives it a lovely external texture while maintaining the the soft juicy interior.

After this, you add the herbs and spices, allowing them to cook with the chicken until it is cooked through. This allows the chicken to absorb some of that flavouring. It also obtains some of the colour from the smoked paprika.

While we cook the sauce the chicken will be taken out and put aside to rest until it’s time to serve.

Creamy Garlic Sauce

This sauce is so simple, delicious and as the title suggests quick to make. It’s got a beautiful light orange colour with little specks of red from the smoked paprika. Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t tend to have a lot of time in the evening to cook dinners, so I love something that is easy and if it’s a one pan job then even better!

After we’ve cooked our chicken with garlic, herbs and spices in the pan we are going to be using that lovely mixture, along with the juices from the chicken, as a base to our creamy sauce. Butter and white wine is then added to the base to add a lovely depth of tangy flavour.

Remember though if you don’t consume alcohol or generally don’t want to use it then you can swapped out for an alcohol free substitute (see change it up for more details).

Now that you have a beautiful mixture simmering away, its time to make it creamy. For this I’ve used cream cheese, which is a personal favourite of mine for making lovely creamy sauces, but a heavy cream works just as well. After everything is mixed in I like to leave it to simmer on a low heat or even turning off the heat altogether to allow the alcohol to burn away and the source to thicken slightly.

You can dress this quick and easy creamy garlic chicken up however you’d like. I tend to serve it with mashed potato which is a huge crowd pleaser in my house. I plate up the chicken and side dishes, then add however much of the sauce each person would like. For us the kids don’t tend to like a lot of sauce but I like to have lots. Then add a little fresh parsley from our windowsill herbs to serve.

Ingredients for my Quick and Easy Creamy Garlic Chicken

Oil– any type of cooking oil, I personally use sunflower or vegetable. Olive oil tends to be a little strong and changes the flavour slightly.

Chicken– I use chicken breasts from the butchers but any supermarket chicken breast or any other pieces is perfect.

Garlic– I like to use fresh but the pre-cut ones in the jar works just as well.

Rosemary– I use dry but fresh also works.

Thyme

Smoked Paprika

Salt– to taste

Pepper– to taste

Butter

White Wine– any type of white wine works well. I tend to buy the small bottles from the supermarket and use a whole one or half if I want a less tangy taste.

Cream Cheese

Tips and Tricks

• I use 4 chicken breasts which typically will feed 4 adults. This will stretch further if you are feeding children.
• If you want to use less chicken, you can either keep the amount of sauce the same and have extra or scale it down.
• Make sure to finely chop the garlic.

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What You’ll Need

Frying pan– any will do you just need it to be deep enough to hold the sauce.

Kitchen tongs– not a necessity but this is one of my kitchen must haves

How to Make this Quick and Easy Creamy Garlic Chicken

Heat your oil in a pan to a medium to high heat.

Allow the oil to heat up before adding in your chicken breast.

Cook on each side for around 3 minutes

Add in the garlic

Add the Rosemary, thyme and smoked paprika to the pan

Then add salt and pepper to taste. You can add more later when you taste the sauce if needed.

Continue to cook the chicken for around 5 minutes on each side or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Put the butter in the pan and allow it to melt.

Pour in the white wine or stock and stir until combined.

Take the chicken out of the pan and put it aside until ready to serve.

Finally add in the cream cheese and stir until it has fully mixed in to the sauce. This may take a few minutes.

Allow to simmer for a few minutes stirring occasionally. I like to do this to allow the sauce to fully cook through, to burn off alcohol and to slightly thicken the sauce.

Dish up the chicken and pour over your desired amount of sauce along with your choice of sides.

I like to add fresh parsley on top of mine to garnish but this is completely optional.

Change it up!

• Decrease the amount of wine or swap it for chicken/vegetable stock. This will however change the favour slightly. The wine gives it a naturally tangy flavour.
• The sauce also works well with pork. I use pork chops.
• If you don’t have cream cheese you can swap it out for heavy cream or a dairy free alternative.
• Don’t want or fancy chicken breast then you can swap it out to chicken thighs or any part of the chicken you prefer

Storing

The chicken and sauce can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. If you cook the recipe a few hours earlier and want to eat later. Reheat the sauce is the pan until it everything is bubbling and the sauce is well combined and at its original consistency.

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