Easy Chicken in Cream Sauce for Two, crispy breaded chicken served over orzo or rice with a two-minute basil and Parmesan cream sauce.
I’ve shared a few of my favorite date-night or special-occasion meals on the site already. These are dishes taste great, look a little fancier than your average dinner, but are secretly incredibly easy so you don’t have to stress about them. Those dishes include my Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken, Chicken Parmesan, and Broiled Steak in Mustard Sauce. I have another one for you today, Chicken in Cream Sauce for Two.
This is a perfect dinner for special occasions because it looks fabulous and fancy on a plate, but is very simple to make. The chicken is just cut into cutlets (you can also buy cutlets if you prefer) and coated in seasoned bread crumbs and then pan-fried on the stove.
Since you are working with very thin cuts of chicken, they cook quickly and are much easier to fry than larger pieces of meat. Once the chicken is cooked, you deglaze the pan with a little chicken broth and make a quick pan sauce of cream and Parmesan with toasted red peppers and basil.
You end up with a rich and creamy sauce that looks fabulous poured over your sliced chicken breast and takes literally 2 minutes to make. I always serve this dish over orzo because I love orzo, but if you are a rice person, it’s also fabulous over rice. You slice your chicken, lay it over a bed of the carb of your choice, and spoon the sauce over the top.
The chicken looks and tastes like a million bucks, but really takes very little effort, and isn’t that the perfect dinner?
Chicken in Cream Sauce Recipe Tips
- If you’ve never cut a chicken breast into cutlets before, it’s super easy and I give instructions for it in the recipe, but here’s a good video tutorial if you want to see it done.
- I don’t recommend cutting the butter too much in this recipe. It helps to keep the breading on the chicken from burning in the pan. If you want to cut the butter completely, instead bake the breaded chicken on a lightly greased baking sheet for 8 to 15 minutes at 400°F, until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.
- If you have a keto guest, this recipe is really easy to make keto-friendly! Just skip the milk and breading on the chicken and instead sprinkle with a little salt and Italian seasoning, and cook according to recipe instructions. Then replace the half and half with heavy cream, and serve over cauliflower rice.
- This recipe calls for half and half. Check out my post What to Do With Leftover Half and Half for freezing instructions and ideas on what to do with the leftovers.
Easy Chicken in Cream Sauce for Two
Ingredients
Peppers
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 red bell pepper finely diced
Breaded Chicken
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning *
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast or 3 small cutlets
Basil Cream Sauce
- 3 tablespoons (1.5oz) butter
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup half and half *
- 1/4 cup (1oz) shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Serve Over
- 4 ounces (2/3 cup) orzo or rice
Instructions
Peppers
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and grease lightly with cooking spray or 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Cook diced bell peppers for 3 to 5 minutes, until the peppers just start to lose their crunch (this is all the cooking they will get, so if you prefer softer peppers, cook them longer). Transfer to a plate, set aside, and wipe out the pan.
- Place a medium pot of lightly salted water on to boil for the orzo.
Breaded Chicken
- Cut your chicken breast into 3 even cutlets by placing one hand flat on top of the breast and running a sharp knife horizontally through the breast 1/3 of the way down and then again with halfway through the bottom piece of the meat so you have three thin, even pieces.
- Place two containers on the counter large enough to fit your chicken breast pieces for dipping. To the first add the milk. In the second, stir together bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Dredge the first breast piece in the milk and then coat in the crumbs. Repeat with the remaining pieces.
- Start orzo and cook according to package instructions. Drain and keep covered when finished.
- While your orzo cooks, heat your skillet over medium heat and melt butter. Add chicken breasts to the hot pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes per side until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the breasts reads 165°F.
- Transfer chicken breasts to a cutting board and tent with foil to keep warm.
Basil Cream Sauce
- Over medium heat, add chicken broth to the pan and use a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape the cooked bits of breading and chicken off the bottom. Add half and half and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 1 minute until slightly reduced.
- Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan, bell peppers, basil, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut chicken into strips and serve over the orzo. Spoon sauce over everything. Enjoy!
Notes
Recipe Adapted From AllRecipes
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All That I'm Eating says
Love the idea of this, really simple and perfect for some weeknight cooking.
Tracy says
Thank you!
Barbara Karr says
Tried this recipe yesterday and want you to know how much I loved it! This was the best chicken recipe I’ve gotten on Pinterest.Even though the cutlets are thin the chicken was moist and fork tender! I was thrilled not having to eat dried out chicken.Thank you for a lovely meal.Going to try some of your other recipes SOON. Awesome recipe. Barb
Tracy says
Thank you, Barb! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe!!
Laura Wood says
Tried this tonight for the first time and it was absolutely delicious! We are now empty nesters and this was perfect. Ended with three portions from the way I cut one chicken breast so now I have a lunch portion. Would do over again!
Tracy says
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Laura. Thanks for reporting back!
Allison Rice says
This was so good!!!! I’m not great at cooking so I always get excited when I actually successfully cook something haha. I had trouble getting the cutlets to cook all the way through, but I think I’ll try baking them next time .
So good!!
Tracy says
LOL, so glad you enjoyed it, Allison!
Casey says
So I had a fail moment when I realized I bought tenderloins rather than cutlets after I’d already started cooking. Ugh. BUT! It ended up turning out perfectly! Still cooked really quickly and were a bit easier to portion out for the family/fit in my pan all at once to cook. Loved this recipe just like all your others!
Tracy says
Thanks, Casey! So glad the tenderloins worked out for you and you enjoyed the recipe!
Kathryn says
This was a great foundation for my large family. I cooked four chicken thighs. For the sauce I chopped a whole green pepper and a small onion. I cooked those in 4T butter. After adding the chopped chicken I sprinkled 4T flour over all of it. Then I added 1 1/2 cups bone broth and 1/2 cup cream with 1 tsp basil, and 1/2 tsp each garlic powder and salt. Really really good. I served it over rice and even added soy sauce to mine. Thanks!!
Tracy says
Oooo. That sounds good!
teachermrw says
I made this for my Dear Dad and me for dinner recently. It was very flavorful! With the exception of adding a splash of white wine to the chicken broth, and, using finely grated Parmesan cheese, as it tends to have a better melting factor for sauces than shredded, I followed the recipe exactly. Next time, however, I think I will cook the chicken in canola oil, or, perhaps a combination of canola oil and butter. Although butter is certainly more flavorful, canola oil has a higher smoke point. I found, however, that the bread crumbs didn’t adhere firmly to the chicken breast pieces. Other than that, it was an easy recipe to prepare. Anyway, I will certainly make this dish again.
Tracy says
I’m so glad this was a win! And love the idea of adding a splash of white wine!
Deb Parsons says
I told my BF tonight that this was the BEST chicken dish I have had in my life. I adore fried chicken and mashed potatoes with milk gravy…..but this is ABOSOLUTELY, the best chicken dinner I have had in all my 44 years. I can’t relate how wonderful these flavors are together. Thank you so much for one of the best meals I have ever had.
Tracy says
Yay!! This makes me SO happy to hear. Thanks for reporting back!!
Kate says
This is so delicious. I did use roasted red peppers. I double the sauce ingredients and add a quarter cup of Chardonnay. I also use cornstarch and cold water to thicken as needed. Can’t wait to make this again for company.