Skillet Chicken Thighs with Creamy Tomato Basil Spinach Sauce - great idea for a quick weeknight meal! Boneless skinless chicken thighs are seared to perfection and served in a creamy tomato basil sauce with spinach, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese. Easy dinner that a whole family will love!
As I've been shopping at my local grocery store, I realized that I hardly have any recipes with boneless skinless chicken thighs. Instead, I do have lots of recipes with bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. I decided to fix that small problem immediately, so I bought them right away and made these delicious skillet chicken thighs the next day. So glad I did! It's such a great cut of chicken meat and it cooks so quickly, this chicken dish took me only 30 minutes to make. Everything is cooked in a skillet on the stove top - no extra pans, just one skillet. So easy to make, minimal clean-up!
Creamy tomato basil sauce with fresh spinach is perfect for these skillet chicken thighs. So much flavor in one dish!
Ingredients you need to make these easy skillet chicken thighs:
olive oil
1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 can tomato sauce
½ cup heavy cream
garlic
fresh spinach
fresh basil
grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
How long does it take to cook boneless skinless chicken thighs?
They cook easy and fast. First, I seared the chicken thighs for 5 minutes on one side in the skillet on medium heat. Then, I flipped them and seared for 5 more minutes on the other side on medium heat. Next, I cooked them in the creamy tomato basil sauce for about 5 or 10 more minutes and they were done! Make sure the chicken is completely cooked through.
How to make skillet chicken thighs (step-by-step photos):
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet, and cook boneless skinless chicken thighs (seasoned with salt and pepper) on one side for 5 minutes:
Flip the chicken thighs to the other side and cook for 5 more minutes:
Remove the chicken, add tomato sauce, minced garlic, and heavy cream. Stir to combine. Add spinach and basil.
Cook the sauce until the spinach wilts. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper, if needed.
Add the cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs back to the skillet, reheat the sauce with the chicken in it. Make sure the chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
Spoon the sauce over the cooked chicken.
What is a good side dish for chicken thighs?
These will go great over simple pasta. Or, serve with roasted potatoes, or creamy mashed potatoes. Other great side dish ideas are steamed asparagus, cooked spinach, or cooked Swiss chard.
If you enjoyed this skillet chicken thighs, you might like these recipes:
Chicken Thighs with Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce
Bacon Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Skillet Chicken Thighs with Creamy Tomato Basil Spinach Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.5 lb chicken thighs , boneless skinless
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 8 oz tomato sauce
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 oz fresh spinach
- 4 leaves fresh basil (or use ¼ teaspoon dried basil)
For serving:
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese , grated
Instructions
How to cook boneless skinless chicken thighs in a skillet:
- In a large skillet heat olive oil on medium heat. Season boneless skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Add them top side down to the hot skillet. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, until the top side is nicely seared.
- Flip over to the other side and sear for 5 more minutes on medium heat.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet to a plate.
How to make creamy tomato basil sauce:
- To the same, now empty skillet, add tomato sauce, minced garlic, heavy cream. Bring to boil and stir.
- Reduce heat to low simmer. Add fresh spinach and fresh basil. Stir until spinach wilts and reduces in volume.
- Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Add back cooked boneless skinless chicken thighs, increase heat to medium. Reheat the chicken thighs in the skillet with the sauce and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
- To serve, spoon the sauce over the boneless skinless chicken thighs and top with grated Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Absolutely a "Winner" recipe. It was easy to make with ingredients i usually have on hand. Made it last night for the first time, my husband has asked me to make it again tonight!!
That’s great, Janice! Thank you so much for sharing your experience with the recipe. 🙂
Is there a substitute for the heavy cream? I'd like to cut down on the fat and calories
Hi Julia, I stumbled upon your recipe while looking for an Italian style recipe using chicken thighs. I used jarred sauce but added the garlic, cream, basil and spinach. I was going to make pasta to go with it but decided not. I had fresh roasted asparagus and bread to sop up the sauce! So good! And easy to make. I cut it down to one serving and happy you provide that option. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Kit! I love that you paired it with roasted asparagus and bread - something different than the usual pasta. 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
Great recipe! Simple but flavourful- it will be in our regular dinner rotation from now on. I added a handful of mini boccocini balls at the end instead of the Parmesan- yum!
Thank you so much for your 5-star review, Gen! ❤️ I love the addition of Mozzarella "pearls"! 🙂
Hello,
When you say tomatoe sauce (I’m in the UK) what exactly do you mean? I’m guessing not ketchup which is the literal translation, so tomatoe puree, passata, tomatoe paste? I’m thinking, based on volume something akin to passata?
Thanks in advance
Hi Holly! For this recipe what I used is a jarred Italian-style marinara sauce (with garlic, basil, etc) - something that is usually sold here in the US in glass jars. So it's not even tomatoe puree, it's something more elevated. Here are 2 links to similar sauces that I would use:
https://www.amazon.com/Raos-Homemade-Marinara-Tomatoes-Seasonings/dp/B000R720OA?gQT=1&th=1
https://www.amazon.com/Bertolli-Pasta-Sauce-Traditional-Marinara/dp/B07WMGWD4Q/