Chicken thighs with sun-dried tomato and basil sauce
Chicken thighs cooked in a luscious, creamy sun-dried tomato and basil sauce. Served with rice, it is the perfect fuss-free dinner.
I made this chicken recipe a few nights ago when I was in a hurry and was craving something rich, creamy and comforting. This recipe however, screams summer with its creamy sun-dried tomato and basil sauce. I also love that this recipe is completely gluten-free. The sauce is thickened with corn starch but if you want to make it low carb, you can allow the sauce to simmer and reduce without any added flour.
Serve the chicken and creamy sauce with steamed greens, rice, pasta or cauliflower mash or a simple crusty loaf to swipe through the delicious sauce.
How to make chicken thighs in cream sauce
Sear chicken thighs in a large pan or skillet until well-browned on both sides. Remove the chicken thighs from the pan and set aside while you cook the onions, basil stalks (this adds a ton of flavor) and garlic until soft and translucent then add the tomatoes. Pour in the chicken stock and cream and allow to simmer. Add the thighs back into the sauce and allow to simmer and reduce. If you want thicker sauce (or more sauce) add another cup of stock and a slurry of cornstarch and water and allow to simmer until thickened. Season generously and add fresh basil before serving.
How long to cook chicken thighs
Chicken thighs take longer to cook than chicken breasts, approximately 30 minutes all together.
How do you know when chicken thighs are cooked?
Cut into the chicken thigh and if the meat is opaque white all the way to the bone, they are cooked. Alternatively, a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken should read 75ºC/165ºF.
What to serve with creamy chicken thighs
- Easy cauliflower mash
- Potato Pecorino rosemary bread
- Crispy salt and pepper smashed potatoes
- Easy steamed vegetables with feta cheese
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves crushed
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, sliced
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup cream
- 2 teaspoons corn flour mixed with 1 tablespoon milk
- juice of ½ lemon
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large, deep pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of oil.
- Brown the chicken thighs on both sides until they turn a deep golden brown and are cooked 3/4 way through.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
- Add a bit more oil to the pan if necessary then saute the onion until soft and glossy.
- Remove the stalks from the basil leaves and chop finely. Reserve the leaves for later.
- Add the basil stalks and garlic to the onions and saute for 30 seconds before adding the sun-dried tomatoes. Saute for another minute then pour in the chicken stock and cream.
- Allow to come to a simmer then place the chicken back in the pan and cover.
- Allow to simmer for 10-20 minutes, checking regularly to make sure the liquid hasn't cooked away (top up with more stock if necessary), until the chicken is cooked through.
- At this stage, the sauce will probably have reduced but if you want more sauce (to serve with rice, for example), add another cup of stock (and more cream if you wish) then add the cornflour and milk mixture. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes until thickened.
- Slice the basil leaves and add them to the chicken along with the lemon juice, salt and pepper before serving.
Nutrition
Creamy chicken recipes
Easy creamy mushroom chicken
Creamy broccoli chicken gnocchi soup
Made this tonight. Heavenly! Also, quick, simple and straightforward. I did not need to add cornstarch, nor did I need to serve it over rice or anything else. It is so rich, I served it with just a simple lettuce, high grade red wine vinegar and olive oil, salt and pepper salad. Blueberries and a spicy biscuit for dessert.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much we love this recipe! The sauce is fabulous. The sun dried tomatoes…delicious!
Hey all. Planning this for dinner tonight. I can’t see any nutritional info, started keto diet yesterday so furiously tracking lol
Donna
Hi Donna. I’ve added the nutritional information to the recipe card. Hope that helps with your tracking. 🙂
This is one of my absolute favorite chicken recipes and everyone I’ve served it to loves it too. Absolutely fantastic, easy recipe.
Awesome, thanks for letting me know Frankie! 🙂
I just made this dish and both my husband and I loved it. We were going to have it for dinner but it was smelling so good that we decided to eat it for lunch. I’ll be making this again and again.
That is great to hear Kathleen. Thanks for your comment!
Just cooked this for the GF and she was quite happy with it.
Had to use a wok for put everything inside haha. Because my sun dried tomatoes were in an olive oil vinaigrette, I used less lemon to keep the acidity balanced.
All in all the GF says 4.5 out of 5 ?
Thanks for the recipe.
Making this recipe right now!!!! I’m excited, going to serve it over tagliatelle……and drinking a lovely Merlot while cooking…..I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Ooh, can’t wait to hear what you thought of it Tracey!
OH MY, sorry I took so long getting back to you, btw we LOVED IT!!!! Had leftovers and my young adult kids were fighting over them. Happy Birthday, have a wonderful year ahead and keep putting out your wonderful recipes.
I am SO glad you liked it Tracey! The leftovers are really good, aren’t they? I hid them from my family and enjoyed them the next day all by myself. Thank you so much for your lovely birthday wish. 🙂
These sound fabulous Alida! That sauce! I’d have to double it and smother everything with it!
Thanks Mary Ann. That sauce is seriously smotherable!
Amazing recipe, love this!
Thanks! 🙂
Looks delicious! What is corn flour and can I use all purpose flour instead?
Thanks Yolanda! Corn flour is also known as corn starch. It’s a much better way to thicken a sauce as it doesn’t leave that floury taste and is less likely to form lumps.