Last Updated on 20th July 2022 by
The tasty, tender, and juicy marry me chicken is about the best kind of food you could give someone if you want to propose to them. It’s sure to delight anyone who takes a single bite, and I’m going to share with you how to make it at home.
What Is Marry Me Chicken?
When someone sees this dish an hears what it’s called, they may wonder, “Why is it called marry me chicken?” It probably comes from just how good it is as well as how all the different components come together and marry each other for a complimentary taste.
I think after you take a bite, you won’t be able to stop until it is finished.
The creamy sauce, rich, cheesy flavor, and tasty herbs make for a great combination. What really stands out are the tomatoes, as they help add an acidic flavor to the dish and complement the chicken very well.
It’s a pretty easy dish to make to, and you can put it together in a single skillet if you have to. That means there’s not a lot of cleanup to deal with, so why wouldn’t you want to marry someone who asks for this dish or who makes it for you? Either way, everyone is a winner with marry me chicken.
How to Make Marry Me Chicken
Let’s get into the recipe, and as usual, you can feel free to mix up some of the herbs and spices for this dish to make the flavor more to your liking.
And as usual, I urge you to try it according to the recipe I’ve given you first, and then make your variations later on.
I think what you’ll find is that you’ve put together a dish that is enjoyable for the whole family and that you’ll want to have again and again.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- 1 cup of chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons of flour
- 1/2 cup of grated parmesan
- 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup of sun dried tomatoes
- Fresh basil, to garnish
Directions:
- Prepare the chicken breast by slicing them thinly and then season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken and cook on five minutes, and then flip over cook on the other side for another 5 minutes. (This won’t cook the chicken all the way through, but it will finish cooking later.) Set the chicken to the side for now.
- Add butter to the now empty skillet and heat until it is melted. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds, and then add in flour and stir that around to create a paste.
- Add in heavy cream, parmesan cheese, and chicken stock and then whisk together.
- Add in Italian seasoning and sun dried tomatoes, and then season with pepper and salt, if necessary.
- Cook on low heat, simmering your sauce for several minutes until it begins to thicken.
- Add the chicken into the skillet and layer sauce on top of it.
- Set the heat to medium low and keep simmering for another 10 minutes. Then, turn off the heat and garnish with basil and serve.
What to Serve with Marry Me Chicken
The two best foods to serve with marry me chicken our pasta and rice. Of course, you’ll want to choose one or the other, as you don’t want a meal that’s full of starch. You could also swpa the chicken breasts for chicken drumsticks so be sure to read our post on how to long to bake chicken wings at 375F
I would advise using plain rice, as the sauce for the chicken can be used as a gravy on the rice to give it flavor. If you add seasoning to the rice, that may detract from the lovely marry me chicken sauce.
As for pasta, I prefer penne pasta, rigatoni, or bow tie pasta. Those work really well with the sauce and accompany the chicken very nicely.
Simply cook your pasta until it’s al dente or a little bit more than that and serve it up with the marry me chicken, using the sauce from the chicken as sauce for the pasta. There’s no need to add anything to your pasta except maybe a little oil or butter.
What vegetable do you serve with marry me chicken? There are a few veggies I would avoid adding as sides to this dish and some I would definitely say you should try alongside marry me chicken.
I would avoid light colored veggies like watercress or cauliflower, since they will blend in with it chicken and sauce. Instead, use bright and colorful veggies, particularly steamed carrots, green beans, or broccoli. These add a lot of color, and their texture helps stand out next to the chicken.
One of my favorite veggies to add to a meal with marry me chicken is brussel sprouts. Just steam these either on the stovetop or in the microwave and add a little salt and butter. The texture and flavor go really well with the chicken, not to mention the bright green color.
What you may want to do when you make marry me chicken is to make extra sauce. Add some additional ingredients, perhaps even doubling the sauce so that you have plenty of sauce to go around.
This way, you can spoon it onto your pasta, rice, or whatever other dishes you’re serving with the chicken. That sauce is so good that you’ll want to have it on everything.
Now you know how to make marry me chicken and what to have with it. I hope you’ll give it a try, despite the long list of ingredients.
As you can see, using one skillet for this dish makes it pretty simple and minimizes the cleanup. However, I think it’s worth whatever kind of work you have to do to be able to enjoy the amazing flavor of this dish.
I'm Pauline, a retired patisserie chef, mother of four and now a full time food blogger! When i'm not cooking i love long walks, reading thriller novels and spending time with my grandkids. Head to my about me page to learn more about the woman behind the food! You can find my Facebook here
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