Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs

You guys. I don’t have words to describe how easy this recipe is… and the results are so. Darn. Good! Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs is a dish of boneless, skinless chicken thighs lightly dredged in seasoned flour, sautéed, and then smothered in a delicate, yet decadent cream cheese sauce – and topped with bacon! It’s just so tasty and simple, perfect for an easy lunch or dinner.

An Easy and Creamy Chicken Thighs Recipe

I love working with boneless, skinless chicken thighs because they’re already prepped for you. And unlike breast meat, they are easy to cook without drying out. In this recipe, yummy chicken thighs are given a garlicky coating of flour, Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper, and a few other goodies, before gently sautéing in oil.

Totally tasty – but when you deglaze the pan and create a savory white sauce with cream cheese and broth, you’ve really got something special, with hardly any effort! Bacon and parsley round out this craveable entree.

Recipe Ingredients

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs: You’ll need about 6.
• All Purpose Flour: For dredging.
• Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Italian Seasoning, and Dried Parsley: To season the flour.
• Salt and Pepper
• Vegetable Oil: For sauteing. You can also substitute avocado oil, light olive oil, or butter.
• Chicken Broth: I like low-sodium.
• Cream Cheese: You’ll need about 4 ounces, cubed.
• Chopped Fresh Parsley and Bacon Bits: For garnish.

How to Make Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs

1. Make the Seasoned Flour: In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour with all of the seasonings. Mix well to combine.
2. Dredge and Cook the Chicken: Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Pat the chicken thighs with paper towels to dry, and then coat in the flour mixture. Place carefully into the hot oil and cook for about 5-7 minutes per side, until crispy and cooked through. Remove to a plate and set aside.
3. Make the Sauce: Add chicken broth to skillet, and scrape the bottom of the skillet gently with a spatula to incorporate any browned bits into the sauce. Add the cubes of cream cheese and whisk thoroughly to create a creamy sauce, 2-3 minutes.
4. Return Chicken to Pan: Add the chicken back to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes more, until heated through. Remove from heat and garnish with parsley and bacon bits.
5. Serve and Enjoy!

Tips for the Best Chicken Thighs

• Get that sizzle! When you’re trying to get anything crispy in a pan, you have to do two things: avoid overcrowding, and have the heat high enough. One good way to test the heat is to dip just a tiny bit of the meat into the pan. If it begins to sizzle when it touches the hot oil, go ahead and put it all the way down and add the others to the pan. If it doesn’t sizzle at all, or takes a few seconds, the oil isn’t quite hot enough.
• Taste test: You’ll notice that the sauce itself doesn’t call for any seasoning, it takes its flavor from the chicken. As always, however, taste as you go. When the sauce has thickened, and before you add the chicken back to the pan, taste for salt and pepper. Adjust as needed.
• Cook completely: Dark meat is quite forgiving and stays moist a lot longer than white meat, but that sometimes means that cooks think the chicken is done when it needs a little longer in the pan. Use a meat thermometer to test for doneness, and do a fork-check (try to pull the chicken apart with a couple of forks) to see if it’s tender. It shouldn’t be dry, but it shouldn’t be rubbery either! If it’s rubbery and resistant, give it another minute or so of cook time.

What Goes with this Recipe?

• This dish goes really nicely with your favorite pasta, or with rice. I like to add a fresh green side, like Roasted Sugar Snap Peas, to round out the menu.
• If you’d like to start with a salad, tomatoes and feta really set the stage for the cream sauce on the chicken. Try my Avocado Tomato Salad for an easy starter!

How to Store and Reheat Leftovers

• Refrigerate leftover chicken in the sauce, and in a tightly covered container, for up to 3 days. It’s not recommended to freeze this dish, because the cheese sauce may have a poor consistency after thawing.
• To reheat, place leftovers in a covered skillet over medium-low heat. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through.

Print Recipe

5 from 7 votes

Cream Sauce Chicken Thighs

A deliciously easy weeknight meal of crisply breaded and sauteed chicken, with a creamy cheesy sauce and bacon bits.

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: American

Keyword: boneless chicken thighs recipe, chicken dinner ideas, easy dinner idea

Servings: 4

Calories: 384kcal

Ingredients

• 6 (about 1.5 pounds, total) boneless skinless chicken thighs
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
• ¾ cup low sodium chicken broth
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed, room temperature
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• cooked and diced bacon, for garnish

Instructions

• Pat dry the chicken.
• In a small mixing bowl combine flour, garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper.
• Coat chicken with the flour mixture.
• Heat oil in a large, 12-inch skillet set over medium heat.
• Add chicken to the hot oil and cook for 5 minutes; flip over and continue to cook for 6 to 7 minutes, or until cooked through.
• Remove chicken from skillet.
• Set skillet back over medium heat and stir in the chicken broth; mix and stir, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Add the cream cheese; cook and whisk for 2 to 3 minutes, or until cream cheese is melted and sauce is thickened.
• Return chicken to the skillet; turn to coat and continue to cook for 2 minutes, or until heated through.
• Garnish with parsley and bacon.
• Serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 384kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 36g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 193mg | Sodium: 256mg | Potassium: 494mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 422IU | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 2mg