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Calling all garlic lovers – Garlic Butter Chicken is the entree of your dreams! Thin, tender white meat chicken breasts are dredged and pan seared then baked to perfection in a medley of butter, garlic, lemon juice, and more. Heavy cream is added to the pan sauce right at the end to make this dinner even more delectable!
If a recipe calls for garlic, heavy cream, butter, and lemon juice, you know you’re in for a real treat. This easy chicken dinner really has it all! Oh, and the best part? It’s SO easy to make in just one skillet. I love a good one pan recipe, mostly because that means less clean up for me when I’m done, which is kind of always my goal!
This really might be my very favorite way to eat chicken. Well, at least lately it is! I have a pretty long list of chicken recipes that I love, but it’s hard to compete with this one. Tender, juicy, dredged chicken is seared to golden brown perfection, cooked through in a buttery garlic pan sauce, then made creamy and served over whatever you’d like. I tend to always go with pasta, because… it’s pasta. With buttery garlic cream sauce. Need I say more?
Why You’ll Love This
- It’s so creamy. A cup of heavy cream (or half in half, if preferred) is mixed in right at the very end to really send this dish over the top! While the freshly squeezed lemon juice keeps the flavors nice and bright, the creamy quality of the sauce makes this dinner pretty decadent.
- One-pan recipe. Well, you have the plate that you’ll dredge the chicken on. Other than that, the only equipment you need is your trusty skillet to make this easy one-pan chicken dinner!
- Garlicky! As the internet would say, I’m a garlic girl. If you’re also a garlic fanatic, you’ll love the way it’s used in this easy recipe. Feel free to toss in even more cloves if you dare.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here is a list of ingredients you will need to make easy garlic butter chicken. Make sure to scroll down to view the full recipe for exact measurements.
- Chicken breasts
- All-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Salted butter
- Chicken broth
- Lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic
- Garlic powder
- Dried thyme
- Heavy cream
- Garnishes – parsley, black pepper, lemon wedges
How To Make Garlic Butter Chicken
Here is a general overview of the steps involved to make chicken with garlic butter. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe.
Prepare the chicken. Trim fat off of the chicken. If the breasts are larger, slice them in half widthwise. The breasts should be no thicker than 1 inch.
Dredge the chicken. Mix together flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge the chicken and make sure it’s fully coated.
Sear the chicken. Heat oil and butter in a skillet over medium heat. Sear the breasts until golden brown on both sides, then remove the chicken and set aside.
Make the sauce. Lower the heat to medium-low. Stir the chicken broth, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and seasonings into the skillet. Stir and scrape the brown bits as needed until the mixture begins to thicken.
Make it creamy. Stir in more butter and the heavy cream. Cook until heated through.
Bake. Take the skillet off of the heat and add the chicken back into it. Spoon sauce over it and toss in the sliced garlic. Bake at 400°F for 10-20 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.
Recipe Tips, Substitutions, and Variations
Make your one-pan chicken dinner even better when you use these simple tips, tricks, and swaps!
- Use a meat thermometer. This is the easiest (and safest) way to make sure your chicken is ready to eat! Inserted into the thickest part of the breast, cooked chicken should reach 165°F before it is sliced and served.
- FRESH GARLIC ONLY! This is crucial for this supremely garlicky recipe. Do not use paste garlic, pre-minced garlic, or any other variation of garlic that’s not fresh cloves. The only exception to this is the sprinkle of garlic powder that’s added to complement the fresh garlic.
- You can use half and half. If you’re concerned about heavy cream being a bit too creamy for you, feel free to swap it with half and half! Your sauce will still be creamy, just not quite as thick.
- Look for thin-sliced chicken breasts. They have this cut at the store now. It’s basically chicken breasts sliced in half or thinly so you don’t have to! I can’t tell you the number of times it has come in handy to get this instead of slicing it myself unevenly.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Once cooled to room temperature, you can store your creamy garlic chicken in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. It reheats well in the microwave, but even better back on your stovetop! Just toss it back into the pan over medium-low heat until it’s warmed through. You may want to add a tiny bit of butter or chicken broth to give some moisture back to your leftovers.
What to Serve with Garlic Butter Chicken
You’ll want to serve this chicken over something like mashed potatoes, pasta, rice or polenta. Any kind of base like that is perfect for soaking up the creamy garlic butter sauce so none of it goes to waste!
Garlic Butter Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds (680 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup (63 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) salted butter, divided
- 1 cup (236 ⅗ ml) chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 teaspoon fresh
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream or half and half
- 5 cloves thinly sliced garlic
- Garnish: 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, black pepper, lemon wedges
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 °F (204 °C)
- Trim chicken of visible fat. If using two large breasts, slice them in half widthwise to make four thinner breasts. They should be no thicker than 1 inch.
- In a bowl, mix flour, kosher salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in the seasoned flour until well coated.
- Heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat in cast iron or other ovenproof skillet.
- Sear the chicken breasts until golden brown on both sides; about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove chicken and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium low. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, thyme, kosher salt and garlic powder. Scrape any browned bits from the chicken and stir until slightly reduced and starting to thicken (about 5 minutes).
- Add in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter until melted, and then stir in the heavy cream. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat. Add chicken breasts to the skillet, spoon some sauce over the top and top with sliced garlic.
- Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes, until the internal temperature of the thickest chicken breast reaches 165 °F (74 °C). Remove from oven and garnish with parsley, lemon wedges and black pepper.
