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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.
I saved this one. Thank you. It looks great!
Enjoy! 🙂
Fantastic chicken dish. Simple and easy to prepare and thoroughly enjoyed by my darlin 🙂
Thank You for sharing x
You're very welcome! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
This recipe is terrific. I added a pound of mushrooms and a lot more spinach. a lot more.
Glad you liked it! Yes, the more spinach, the better! Adding mushrooms is a great idea!
This was an awesome meal! The chicken was tender, the creamy tomato sauce delectable -and- my husband was not compelled to pick the meat out to make a sandwich! I did add some portobello mushrooms to make the sauce chunkier. I served it with mashed potatoes. Very easy!
So glad you liked this recipe! Adding portobello mushrooms sounds so delicious! Mashed potatoes is a great choice for a side dish for this meal.
What size can of tomato sauce? Number 10?
8 oz of tomato sauce from the can.
What would you suggest in place of the cream if you are trying to go low calorie and or non dairy?
For low-calorie sauce you can use cauliflower "alfredo" sauce (you can omit Parmesan to make it dairy free): https://juliasalbum.com/cauliflower-alfredo-sauce-recipe/
Other non dairy option would be to use coconut milk, but coconut milk is not low in calories - it's pretty high in calories.
This is really good recipe, The first time I made this I added some sliced baby bella mushrooms because they needed to be used up and because I love mushrooms. It was a hit with my family and me although I had wished for more sauce. The second time I made this I used some leftover rotisserie chicken which made it SUPER fast! I felt like it could use a bit of acid so i added a jar of drained marinated artichokes and quadrupled the sauce. I served it over linguine, It was to die for. Totally a restaurant quality dish! Thank you for the recipe, I can't wait to try more! I think the beet and goat cheese fettuccine will be next!
Thank you, Bridget, for such a sweet and thoughtful comment! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! Adding mushrooms sounds delicious! So does adding marinated artichokes and serving this dish over the linguine. Enjoy the recipes! I hope you like the beet and goat cheese fettuccine. If you enjoy beets, try this salad with beets and goat cheese: https://juliasalbum.com/beet-salad-with-spinach-cashews-and-goat-cheese/
This recipe is pregnancy approved! Five stars! The only chicken dish I’ve been able to eat
So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 🙂
Could you substitute the heavy cream with something else if trying to make it a healthier dish?
You can use cauliflower "alfredo" sauce, I have a recipe here: https://juliasalbum.com/cauliflower-alfredo-sauce-recipe/
This was an awesome recipe.
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it!
Hello, is there anyway i can make the sauce but without chicken..like vegetarian version?? Anything you coul recommend replace it with? Without using tofu, tempeh exc..?? Thanks!
How about using garbanzo beans in the sauce instead of the chicken and then serving everything over quinoa? Take a look at this curry recipe I made with garbanzo beans and quinoa - even though it's a curry, it's a similar concept to this recipe if you want to make it vegetarian: https://juliasalbum.com/easy-chickpea-and-vegetable-curry-recipe-with-quinoa/
I forgot to give it 5 stars
Thank you, Walter! I am glad you liked this recipe! 🙂
As always a great recipe.
Thank you! 🙂
This was soooo delicious! Sunday dinner.
So glad you liked it! 🙂
I loved this recipe! It was so easy and I was able to find all ingredients in just one place. Thank you so much!! ☺️ So easy and at the same time to delicious.
I am so glad you liked it! Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! 🙂