Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs

Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs are a quick and easy dinner recipe that make the perfect weeknight dinner. Succulent, juicy chicken thighs braised in wine and a sun-dried tomato, creamy garlic sauce require minimal effort yet have so much flavor. Follow my tips and tricks to succeed from the 1st attempt and you will be asked to make them again and again.

Recipes like the Creamy Mushroom Chicken Thighs, Baked BBQ Chicken Thighs and the Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs are all about using chicken thighs as an alternative to chicken breast.

The Air Fryer Whole Chicken, Chicken Ribs and Oven Baked Chicken Skewers give us a variety of ideas for 'Winner, Winner Chicken, Dinner'.

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Everyday ingredients: everything needed for the recipe are simple ingredients and easy to find at the local store. The chicken thighs freeze really well, so you can have some in the freezer and grab them out to whip this up when the craving hits.
• Dinner made easy: ain't nobody got time to get home from work and stand in the kitchen for 2 hours cooking. This recipe will take less than 30 minutes, still offers a lot of flavor and can be served with store bought microwave rice or quinoa for convenience!
• Taste and texture: the sauce brings the flavour and the chicken thighs, fresh garlic cloves and sun-dried tomatoes enable the variety of textures in the dish.
• Comfort food: chicken thighs in sauce are comfort food without the carbs. Unless you want to serve it like I do with a side of rice. Otherwise this is a great alternative recipe to a high carb pasta style dinner recipe.
• Family favorite: this is a recipe that the whole family can enjoy together. The wine can be switched for broth if needed and eaters of all ages enjoy the simple garlic cream chicken thighs.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the easy garlic chicken thighs. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.

As you can see the recipe calls for:

• Sun-dried tomato oil: this is the reserved oil (2 tbs of it) from the jar that the sun-dried tomatoes came it. It is excellent to cook with, has a lovely aromatic flavor and bright taste.
• Salt and pepper: we use a little bit of salt and pepper to season the chicken before we cook it.
• Parsley: fresh parsley adds a lovely few pops of colour when finishing and serving the dish. Finely chopped using kitchen scissors is perfect!
• Italian seasoning: an excellent combination of dried herbs commonly used in Italian cooking such as basil, oregano and parsley. It is handy to have in the pantry so you have it there when needed.
• Sun-dried tomatoes: we do want to try and get the ones that are packed in oil as we use this to brown the chicken in.
• White wine: a bright crisp wine is best. I use a $10 bottle. So nothing too fancy or expensive needed 😉👌.
• Cream: we want to use heavy cream to form the basis of the creamy garlic sauce. This is different to dollop or whipped cream.
• Chicken thighs: boneless skinless chicken thighs are what we are looking for. They will either be in the deli section or meat area at your local grocery store.

Tasty Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make this easy chicken recipe. We start by browning the chicken thighs.

• Add oil, chicken thighs, salt and pepper to pan (Photo 1)
• Sprinkle both sides with Italian seasoning (Photo 2)
• Add the white wine (Photo 3)
• Pour in the cream (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs

We start by placing a frying pan or large skillet on the stove, turning the heat to high and adding the sun-dried tomato oil. Give this a squish to cover the pan and then add the chicken thighs.

Season both sides of the chicken with the salt, pepper and Italian herbs.

Then cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes per side. It won't be fully cooked during this time, as we are focused on browning it and then it finishes cooking in the sauce.

Once each side is browned, use a pair of kitchen tongs to lift the chicken up and out of the pan and place it into a paper towel lined bowl.

Without cleaning or rinsing the bowl, pour in the white wine, followed by the cream.

• Add the dried onion (Photo 5)
• Then add the sun-dried tomatoes (Photo 6)
• Next add the garlic cloves (Photo 7)
• Then stir and add the browned chicken (Photo 8)

🥄 Chicken Thighs In Cream Sauce

We make the sauce by adding the wine, cream and dried onion. Use a wooden spoon to stir till you get a consistent texture. Once the sauce is looking nicely combined, add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and garlic cloves.

Then use the tongs to add the brown chicken thighs back to the pan.

Once the chicken is back in the pan we reduce the heat and let the dish cook. I use toothpicks when I make this to pierce the garlic cloves and ensure that they are super soft and the toothpick goes straight through.

At that point the chicken will also be cooked through and we can get ready to serve the dish!

🍽 Serving Suggestions

I mentioned earlier in the post that you might like to see this as a low carb chicken recipe which it is indeed. In which case more vegetables is a great way to serve the dish.

If however, you are happy to have some carbs on the side, rice is an easy and convenient way to serve the chicken.

For bread sides, you might like to try the Turkish Garlic Bread, Garlic Pizza Bread or Garlic Ciabatta.

For salads you might like the Tomato Mozzarella Salad and you can switch in spinach leaves and out the basil leaves if you prefer.

The Tomato Bread Salad and Fresh Herb Salad will also work well.

For potatoes the Duck Fat Potatoes, Roast Potatoes or Air Fryer Potato Cubes will each work.

If it is a work night and you have zero time and not a lot of energy the simple combination of rice (can use pre cooked) to simply heat and spinach in the bowl takes minimal effort and no cooking (other than a zap of the microwave for the rice).

This combination is shown in photos above and below, it works as it is so not labour intensive 😉👍! Zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice and brown rice will work too if you want a non white rice pairing.

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftovers in a sealed, airtight container in the fridge. They can be kept for 2-3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.

How to Freeze

Allow the dish to fully cool and then portion into airtight, sealed containers. These can be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove from the freezer and thaw them before reheating for best results (as opposed to trying to quickly defrost and reheat).

For convenience, you can also purchase raw chicken thighs and freeze them. Then defrost and allow to thaw when you want to make the recipe. You can't however, refreeze chicken thighs which have been frozen already. FYI on that note 😉.

How to Reheat

The microwave is the quickest and easiest method to reheat leftovers.

Simply pop them in a bowl or container with cling wrap or lid and reheat on high for 2-3 minutes until warmed through.

😉 Substitutions and Variations

Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:

• You can use olive oil in place of the sun-dried tomato oil if you get yours from the deli where they are not packed with oil.
• In place of the dried Italian seasoning you can use 1 teaspoon of either dried basil, dried parsley or dried oregano. You can also use fresh herbs if you wish too.
• You can use chicken breast for the recipe if you wish too. Add an extra 10 minutes of cooking time as they will take longer to cook.
• If you want a wine substitute you can use the equivalent amount of chicken stock.
• If you don't want the kids to have full garlic cloves you can either finely slice them or reduce the amount. Or simply omit from their plates.
• I wouldn't use a real onion (vegetable) in place of the dried onion flakes, but you can use 1 teaspoon of onion powder as a substitute.
• You can add some whole button or sliced mushrooms and cook them in the pan before starting to make the sauce.
• Sprinkle some freshly grated parmesan cheese over the dish if you want a little extra protein 👌.

💡 Tasty Tips

Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:

• Sun-dried tomatoes are firmer and more robust than delicate semi-dried tomatoes. It is the firmer sun-dried tomatoes we want for the recipe as they hold up well to being cooked and still retain their chewy texture.
• Use kitchen tongs to handle the chicken thighs. As we move them around a little, it is handy to have these to help with this task.
• If you want to make the sauce thicker, before adding the sun-dried tomatoes, scoop out 2 tablespoons of the sauce. Then add 2 tablespoons of plain flour to this. It creates a 'slurry'. Add the slurry back to the pan and stir to combine this, thickening the sauce and then continue to follow the recipe steps as is.
• I mention the toothpick trick above for the garlic cloves - it is very handy. When the garlic cloves are at the point where a toothpick slides straight through them and can easily be pulled out again, the dish is ready.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

Do chicken thighs have bones in them?

You can purchase both bone in chicken thighs as well as boneless chicken thighs. You can also purchase skinless chicken thighs or skin on chicken thighs.

How to infuse flavor into chicken thighs?

Seasoning the chicken thighs with salt and pepper as well as a selection of dried herbs will infuse flavor into the chicken thighs.

How do you know when chicken thighs are done?

Chicken thighs will be done when the juices are no longer pink, yet clear.

You can also use a meat thermometer and ensure that the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165-170°F (74-77°C).

😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes

Whipping up dinner every night of the week gets old real fast if you only have 1 or 2 trusty recipes up your sleeve. With a variety of ideas, cook times and proteins dinner can be easy, breezy and fuss free.

Here are some more recipes that I hope will tick a lot of your boxes:

• Beef Back Ribs
• Mushroom and Spinach Risotto
• Italian Short Ribs
• Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs
• Easy Bacon Risotto
• Zucchini And Carrot Fritters
• Panko Pork Chops
• Bacon Corn Fritters
• Wagyu Beef Burgers
• Crumbed Mushrooms

It is Winner, Winner Creamy Garlic Chicken Time my friend 🤣👌! You can also find all of my dinner recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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