Creamy Italian Chicken and Vegetables
Recipe Key
In this recipe boneless chicken thighs, zucchini, spinach and sun dried tomatoes are cooked in a rich ‘creamy’ sauce that’s so good you won’t believe it’s paleo and dairy-free. It’s an incredibly flavorful one pan dish you’ll enjoy making for your family again and again.
If you’re like me, you probably find food cooked in a rich cream sauce incredibly satisfying. There is just something so indulgent about a cream sauce, especially when it’s bursting with flavor like this one. The best part of this dish is the sauce is made with coconut milk and broth, so it’s super healthy. And it doesn’t have a coconut flavor. Instead the flavor of Italian herbs and sun dried tomatoes shine through.
There are lots of vegetables too. And if you need more reasons to make this dish, it’s dairy-free, paleo, gluten-free and low carb.
Putting dinner together in one pan also makes me super happy. It’s easy and there’s much less cleanup.
Tips for Making Creamy Italian Chicken with Vegetables
In this dish the chicken is sprinkled with onion powder and garlic powder and sautéed in the pan to make it juicy and moist. Even though the recipe has an exact measurement the for the onion and garlic powder, you don’t really need to measure it. Just sprinkle it on lightly.
Once your chicken is brown, remove it from the pan and set aside on a plate.
The sauce is combination of chicken bone broth and coconut milk, with some arrowroot to thicken. There is a little stone ground mustard and nutritional yeast as well which makes the sauce just divine, but if you don’t have them the dish will still be good.
Since there are a lot of ingredients, to make it easy, line up the ingredients, as your onions are sautéing, then measure them right into the pan as you go.
The good news is there isn’t a lot of chopping to make this dish.
The zucchini and spinach are cooked right in the sauce.
This a low carb dish, the only carbs are in the sun dried tomatoes.
I like sun-dried tomatoes that are dried better than the ones packed in oil. They’re much less expensive and don’t need refrigeration. Read the ingredients to make sure they don’t have any preservatives.
I put them in a bowl of cold water in the morning so they’ll be ready in time for dinner. But you don’t have to plan ahead, you can soak them in hot water for 20 minutes when you start preparing your meal. They get soft and juicy. 
I hope you LOVE this Creamy Italian Chicken as much as I do. Serve it with cauliflower rice or roasted potatoes.
It’s hearty, rich, comforting, satisfying, creamy and incredibly delicious.
This is a good meal to serve on a weeknight or when you’re hosting a dinner party (we’ll do that again when the virus is over). It also reheats very well, great for an easy lunch or dinner the next day.
If you like this recipe here are some other one pan chicken dishes you will also enjoy:
Mediterranean Chicken with Saffron
One Pan Roasted Chicken with Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Potatoes
Garlic Lemon Chicken with Anchovy Sauce and Cauliflower
PrintCreamy Italian Chicken and Vegetables
In this one pan chicken dish zucchini, spinach and sun dried tomatoes are cooked in a rich ‘creamy’ sauce that’s so good you won’t believe it’s paleo and dairy-free.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 20
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Main Dish, Chicken
- Cuisine: Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Whole30
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, softened, or 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in olive oil, roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 pounds humanely raised chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- Celtic sea salt and pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ cups zucchini cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot or tapioca flour
- 1 cup chicken bone broth
- 1/2 cup coconut milk, simple, full fat, mix before using
- 1/2 tablespoon stone ground mustard
- 1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
- 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 3 cups baby spinach or baby kale roughly chopped
Instructions
- Put sun dried tomatoes into a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. You can also put them in a bowl of cold water in the morning so they’ll be ready in time for dinner. Skip this step if using sun dried tomatoes in olive oil.
- Season the chicken with sea salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. In a large skillet add the coconut oil and cook the chicken thighs on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until browned and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.
- Add onions to the same pan and cook over medium heat until soft, then stir in the garlic and cook another minute.
- Coarsely chop the sun dried tomatoes. Add them to the pan and stir.
- Add zucchini, cook 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the arrowroot, add the broth and coconut milk. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the mustard, yeast, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes.
- Add spinach or baby kale.
- Allow mixture to simmer until spinach is wilted 1- 2 minutes.
- Add chicken back to the skillet and simmer another 2 minutes.
- Serve with cauliflower rice or roasted potatoes.
Notes
Recipe adapted from paleorunningmama.com
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This is absolutely delicious…lots of ingredients make for incredible flavors!
Thanks for sharing, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!