Marry Me Chicken Recipe

What is Marry Me Chicken?

Marry Me Chicken is a name coined for this Sicilian chicken dish a few years ago by delish.com because this flavourful skillet chicken is so crazy delicious that it could potentially trigger a marriage proposal. (Or maybe because the dish is so good that you want to marry it?)

The recipe was an instant hit and has been wildly popular ever since.

What Makes This Chicken Recipe So Good?

• If you like easy chicken recipes, you'll love this creamy marry me chicken recipe. It's so simple and uses just one pan and just a handful of ingredients.
• Marry me chicken is perfect for meal prep.
• No flour is needed to thicken the simple sauce , so the recipe is gluten free. It's also low carb and keto diet friendly.
• This easy recipe is fancy enough for a romantic dinner, but with only 30 minutes cook time it's also a great recipe for busy weeknights.

What You Need To Make This Recipe

Chicken

This recipe uses bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Chicken thighs stay juicy and tender, and the crispy skin is, I think, a big part of the appeal of this dish. However, you can certainly use skinless chicken breasts instead, or boneless skinless chicken thighs, or a combination and you will still have a delicious meal.

Chicken Stock

If you are using store-bought chicken stock (or broth), try to find a no or low sodium version. You will be salting the chicken, and the cheese and capers add saltiness as well. You can substitute vegetable stock if that's what you have.

Heavy Cream

Heavy Cream is essentially, whipping cream, with a fat content of around 35%. Although you could use light cream such as half and half, which has a lower fat content of around 10-18%, your dish may not be quite as thick and creamy. For a non-dairy alternative, you can use coconut milk, but be aware that the recipe will have a definite coconut flavour.

Olive Oil

Because this is an Italian recipe, I'm using olive oil to oil the skillet. However, don't waste your good extra virgin olive oil for this purpose. It will bet lost in the recipe, and it has a very low smoke point, making it unsuitable for frying and searing. If you don't have olive oil, you can use any cooking oil

Mushrooms

I used cremini button mushrooms for this recipe, but any mushrooms will work! if you have porcini mushrooms, all the better.

Sun Dried Tomatoes

You can buy sun-dried tomatoes two ways; dry-packed, or oil-packed. I'm using the dry-packed ones in this recipe, but you can use oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes if that's what you have. Just be sure they are well-drained and also patted dry so that you don't introduce extra oil into the recipe.

Capers

Capers add a bright punch to this creamy dish, but if you don't have them try pitted green olives, quartered.

Parmesan Cheese

Nothing but the real thing will do for this special dish. It is, after all, called Marry Me Chicken, is it not? So pull out all the stops and use either freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, or Grana Padano.

Additional Ingredients

In spite of the cute name for this Marry Me Chicken recipe, it is really just a Sicilian skillet chicken. I have added mushrooms, capers, and spinach to my version. Olives, grape tomatoes, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, feta cheese are also good additions.

How To Make It, Step by Step

1. Heat oil in a large skillet ( oven-safe).
2. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring until they're are tender and brown. Remove mushrooms to a plate.
3. Season chicken with salt and pepper
4. Add chicken. Sear until golden brown, on both sides. Transfer chicken to a plate lined with paper towels.

5. Add garlic, thyme and chili flakes to the skillet. Cook for 1 minute
6. Add cream, chicken stock, sundried tomatoes and mushrooms, capers and parmesan cheese. Cook for 1 minute
7. Allow sauce to come to a simmer
8. Return chicken, skin side up, to the skillet. Transfer skillet to the oven. Bake 15-20 minutes.

9. Remove skillet from the oven and stir in spinach leaves until wilted
10. Garnish with basil and serve

Recipe Tips

• You will need a large oven safe skillet because the recipe goes from stovetop to oven. I used my Circulon pan, and a large cast iron skillet would also be ideal.
• When searing chicken pieces, leave enough space around each piece so that they will brown instead of steam. If your skillet isn't large enough, brown in 2 batches. 
• The secret to a good sear is to flip only once. It might be tempting to keep checking, but if you leave the chicken for the full four minutes on each side, you will get a beautiful golden sear that doesn't stick, as well a crispy skin.
• The finished chicken should have an internal temperature of 165°. The only safe and sure way to tell if chicken is cooked properly is using a meat thermometer. It's an inexpensive tool and let's you have perfect results every time.
• If you are making this dish ahead of time, don't add the spinach and basil until after reheating.

Frequently Asked Questions

Serving Suggestions

You could serve Marry Me Chicken with pasta, cauliflower rice or rice (especially wild rice) to soak up the delicious sauce, or you can serve it on its own, with just a side vegetable, like these tender-crisp green beans that I used. Asparagus, roasted cauliflower, roasted carrots or steamed broccoli, are all good choices, too.

Want More Chicken?

Try some of these recipes too!

• Air Fryer Whole Chicken
• Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breasts
• Jerk Chicken Salad
• Grilled Harissa Chicken Drumsticks
• Ranch Chicken and Potato Casserole
• Thai Peach Chicken - Easy Skillet Chicken Recipe
• Easy Chicken Parmesan Recipe
• Air Fryer Orange Chicken
• Buffalo Chicken Thighs