Creamy Italian Chicken and Vegetables (Paleo, Dairy Free)
Recipe Key
In this recipe boneless chicken thighs, zucchini, spinach and sun dried tomatoes are cooked in a delicious ‘creamy’ sauce that’s light and dairy-free. It’s an incredibly flavorful one pan dish you can make in 30 minutes. 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 15 minutes when you start preparing your meal. They get soft and juicy.
Storing
You can store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
It reheats very well, great for an easy lunch or dinner the next day.
I don’t recommend freezing, the vegetables get too mushy.
Serving
This is a good meal to serve on a weeknight but is delicious enough when you’re hosting a dinner party.
Serve it with cauliflower rice or roasted potatoes for paleo. It’s also good with rice or quinoa.
I hope you LOVE this Creamy Italian Chicken as much as I do. It’s hearty, rich, comforting, satisfying, creamy and incredibly delicious.
More Delicious One Pan Chicken Dishes
- Mediterranean Chicken with Saffron
- One Pan Roasted Chicken with Broccoli Rabe and Sweet Potatoes
- Garlic Lemon Chicken with Anchovy Sauce and Cauliflower
Creamy Italian Chicken and Vegetables (Paleo, Dairy Free)
In this one pan chicken dish zucchini, spinach and sun dried tomatoes are cooked in a flavorful ‘creamy’ sauce that’s paleo and dairy free. You can make it in 30 minutes.
- 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
- 2–3 Tablespoon olive 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 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
- 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 (optional)**
- 1 1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)**
- 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or to taste
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 4 cups baby spinach or baby kale roughly chopped
Instructions
- If using sun dried tomatoes (not in olive oil) put them into a small bowl and cover with hot water. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.* 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 heat 1 tablespoon of the olive 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 another tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions to the same pan and cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic and cook another minute. If the pan is dry add another tablespoon of olive oil.
- Coarsely chop the sun dried tomatoes. Add them to the pan and stir.
- Add zucchini and Italian seasoning, cook 2 minutes.
- Sprinkle the arrowroot and stir. Add the broth and coconut milk. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the mustard, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes.
- Use tongs to mix in the 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, roasted potatoes, rice or quinoa.
Equipment
Buy Now → Notes
Recipe adapted from paleorunningmama.com
*You can also put the sun dried tomatoes into in a bowl of cold water in the morning so they’ll be ready in time for dinner.
**The nutritional yeast and mustard add flavor but if you don’t have them the sauce will still be delicious.
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This is absolutely delicious…lots of ingredients make for incredible flavors!
Thanks for sharing, I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!