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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.
Made this tonight for dinner. Had an abundance of basil and tomatoes from the garden followed the recipe except added a few fresh cherry tomatoes…. Delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe. Oh and very easy.
I am so glad you liked this recipe! Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
How is this to make ahead? I want to cook it today but reheat to eat tomorrow??
You can make this ahead, refrigerate it and reheat it gently the next day. Might have to add extra milk or half-and-half or cream to thin out the sauce when you reheat it. Enjoy!
I used condensed tomato soup (without the water) because I did not have tomato sauce and I served it over low carb ziti noodles. It was excellent.
Geri, so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for stopping by and sharing such a positive comment! 🙂
Have you tried subbing coconut cream for heavy cream?
Coconut milk or cream will work well instead of heavy cream.
This was soooo good! A big hit with the family! Made it with pasta, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese.
Jessica, I am so glad you liked it! Thank you for sharing a 5-star review - I really appreciate it! 🙂
I made this for Sunday dinner. When adding the garlic, I also put garden fresh Roma's, and fresh mushrooms. Followed the rest of instructions. Delicious
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Love the addition of mushrooms!
I made this tonight for dinner and I didn't have tomato sauce so I used tomato basil soup and it came out delicious.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
Very flavorful and easy to make I made rice for the bottom and added extra fresh basil. No leftovers at all.
My family loved the dish!! I added sun dried tomatoes and used boneless chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. Served over bow tie pasta. I made extra sauce to cover the pasta. This dish is so easy and delicious, next time will reach my sons to make it.
Great dish.Thanks.
This is a deicious and easy recipe! I served it over pasta and it was delicious. I love creamy tomato sauce, and this makes a perfect one! You might want to make xtra sauce if you are going to have it with pasta. But otherwise, FANTASTIC!
Did it work good with the evaporated milk??
This looks amazing! Can you use kale opposed to spinach?
Delicious, I had all ingredients on hand so I tried this recipe for dinner tonight. I only had half n half so I used that instead of heavy cream and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
Incredibly easy recipe that taste so good! Kudos!