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This creamy garlic chicken recipe is the ultimate easy comfort food! Tender chicken breasts smothered in a creamy garlic sauce are irresistible. Garlic lovers unite!
Love creamy chicken recipes? Try my Creamy Tuscan Chicken, this Creamy Bacon Chicken, or my Creamy Mushroom Chicken.
Why you’ll love it
This creamy garlic chicken is ready in about 30 minutes. It’s good enough to serve company, but it’s also one of those dishes that works for a quick weeknight dinner. A lovely reader said that it’s “one of the best things I have ever eaten!!!” It was an early hit on the blog and actually shaped the direction of S&L towards easy comfort food.
Yes, I include both garlic powder and an entire head of garlic in this recipe. It’s not a typo! Believe it or not, the garlic cloves themselves don’t make the sauce ridiculously garlicky. The flavor of garlic powder is slightly different than the fresh cloves. I’m going for all-out depth of garlic flavor here without making it overpowering.
What you’ll need
- Chicken – we’re using two large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise to cook faster and more evenly, so it remains tender and melt-in-your-mouth
- Flour – for a tasty crust on the exterior of the cutlets, and it also helps thicken the sauce
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing
- Garlic cloves – use an entire head of garlic. Don’t worry if you don’t have the exact same number of cloves as I used. It’s not precise.
- Chicken broth – for the savory base of the sauce
- Lemon juice – a little bit of acidity for balance
- Garlic powder – for a different garlicky aspect! It’s a staple in my pantry.
- Heavy cream – it’s what makes the sauce luxuriously rich
Do I eat the garlic cloves?
- You do! If you’ve never really cooked with whole garlic cloves before, don’t worry. Cooking them in the sauce mellows them right out. It’s nothing like biting into raw garlic.
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- You don’t have to spend a lot time peeling the garlic cloves. Use a silicone garlic peeler tube, or buy garlic cloves that are already peeled if you really want to save a bit of time. I usually just use my knife. Here’s a quick video tutorial how.
- This is my trusty 10.25″ Lodge cast iron skillet, and I use a chef’s knife to cut the chicken.
- Chicken is safe to eat at 165F, and the best way to never have undercooked or overcooked meat is using an instant read thermometer.
How to make creamy garlic chicken
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cut the chicken breasts into four cutlets, season with salt & pepper, and coat with flour. Pan fry until golden, and then take them out of the skillet. Lightly brown the garlic cloves in the same pan.
Add the broth, lemon juice, and garlic powder to the skillet. Let it up bubble for a few minutes until the liquid has reduced somewhat. Pour in the cream, and return the chicken to the pan to cook until it reaches 165F inside and the sauce thickens. Garnish with parsley if desired.
Substitutions and variations
- Sub the cream at your own discretion. If you use something like milk or half-and-half, the sauce may curdle due to the high heat and end up thinner. I recommend reading through the reader comments. There’s tons of tips from readers who have tweaked this recipe to their liking.
- I use boneless/skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. You can substitute for chicken thighs, but keep in mind those may take a bit longer to cook.
- For an elegant touch, swap the chicken broth for a dry white wine like pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- Readers have tried minced garlic in a jar, but the results won’t be the same and our kitchen has not tested that. You’re welcome to experiment.
What to serve with creamy garlic chicken
- Try Mashed Potatoes, a classic Easy Baked Potato, Stick of Butter Rice, pasta, or scoop up those tasty garlic cloves with fresh crusty bread.
- For veggie sides, I suggest sweet corn, Maple Roasted Beets and Carrots, or my very delicious Easy Roasted Cauliflower recipe. Green beans would also go great.
- If you’re pairing it with a salad, I love this Super Simple Parmesan Arugula Salad or going all out with my popular 10-Minute Caesar Dressing.
Leftovers and storage
- Store any leftovers of this creamy chicken in the fridge in a covered container for 3-4 days.
- Reheat in a saucepan slowly and over a low heat until warmed through.
- I don’t recommend freezing this one. The chicken will dry out, and creamy sauces don’t hold up well in the freezer.
More 30-minute chicken recipes
If you made this creamy garlic chicken recipe, leave a star rating and comment below! You can find me on Instagram and showcase your creations.
Creamy Garlic Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 1 whole head garlic cloves peeled
- 1/2 cup chicken broth or stock
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
- Parsley chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the chicken in half lengthwise so you have 4 smaller cutlets. Generously season them with salt & pepper and coat them in the flour.
- Add the olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot, sauté the chicken for 4-5 minutes/side or until it’s nice and golden. Take the chicken out of the pan and set it aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium (or even med-low if using cast iron), and add the rest of the butter to the pan. Let it melt and then add the garlic cloves. Cook them for 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until they’re lightly browned on the outside.
- Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and garlic powder to the pan. Let it bubble for around 4 minutes or until the liquid is noticeably reduced.
- Stir in the cream and add the chicken back into the pan. Let it cook for another 5 minutes or so, until the sauce is reduced and the chicken is cooked through. Serve with freshly chopped parsley if you wish.
Notes
- I recommend using fairly large boneless/skinless chicken breasts for this recipe since we’re cutting them in half lengthwise. If you have smaller ones, use 4 of them and leave them intact.
- If your garlic cloves are particularly gigantic like some of mine were, feel free to cut them in half so they’re all roughly the same size.
- This recipe also can be found in the Salt & Lavender: Everyday Essentials cookbook.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made recipe as listed and it was perfect! Thanks!
Yay! Thanks for letting me know, Mary!
I’ve made this amazing recipe so many times I’ve lost count…always perfect and I’ve never made any adjustments to the recipe. My husband and son LOVE it! I’d give this recipe 11 stars if I could!
That makes me so happy! Thank you, Maria! 🙂
Thank you for the recipe! Mine came out terrific. I actually used a slow cooker and I did it with about seven or eight legs and added parmesan (sp) cheese, half and half and used vegetable buillon (sp) and a whole medium size onion with a teaspoon and a half of flour. AMAZING!!! cooked in for about 7 hours. Very very little water and about a half 3/4 of a cup of half and half.
You are very welcome!! Your Crockpot adaptation sounds delish!
This is absolutely delicious! My husband and I loved it! Thank you! I substituted coconut milk for the heavy cream ( I’m lactose intolerant) and added a bit of sour cream to thicken it! Still delicious yummy! Added fresh dug potatoes from the garden with creamed peas. Wonderful!
Yay! I am so pleased you liked it! I want some of your garden potatoes…
This was so good, but I was wondering could I use milk if I don’t have heavy cream?
So glad you liked it! You could try, but the sauce won’t be as rich or thick. I think some readers did try it with milk – maybe read thru the comments and you might find that helpful.
I’ve cooked Indian food, Italian, Arab, Chinese, and many others yet I’ve never cooked a more perfect piece of chicken like this. The chicken is awfully tender yet flavorful and well done.. You don’t need to season the sauce as its salty enough, the lemon juice as a crucial touch that just breaks into the richness of the broth and the fattiness of the cream. At first I thought it’s going to be creamy and rich only and somewhat boring but honestly it’s amazing. I fried some potatoes and added them at the final step and lowered the temperature lower than medium and let the chicken and the potatoes simmer slowly and absorb the sauce. What a wonderful dish with a wonderful sauce and tender chicken
I am so happy that you enjoyed the recipe, Khaled! 🙂 Those potatoes sound so good right now…
So delish I added mushrooms. I ended up using half and half and I knew it was going to be runny so I made a rough so I could thicken it up. I took part of the butter and then added 3 tablespoons of flour and cooked out the flour so it wouldn’t have a taste then added some of the half and half mixed it then added it to the other mixture and it then thickened up and it wasn’t to runny and not to thick. I used egg noodles and put the sauce over the noodles and then topped it off with the chicken and mushrooms.
I am so pleased that you enjoyed it!! Adding the roux is a great idea.
This is amazing. So much so that I’m making it for the second time in a week. My family loved it. I plan on putting it over pasta this time. I dont have whole garlic so.i just used the diced I have. Great recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
I am so happy to hear that, Tracy! 🙂
My family and I really enjoyed this for our dinner tonight , I served it on a bed of buttered pasta and we ate the lot – lovely subtle garlic flavours from the recipe cooked exactly to spec – thank you 🙏
Wonderful! Thanks for letting me know, Mark! 🙂
What if you are dairy intolerant!? Can you use Coconut milk or almond milk?
Hi Deb! You could try, but it’ll change the flavor and texture. There’s quite a few comments on this post where readers have tried different substitutions and reported back – reading through them may help.