Low Carb Chicken in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce is a delicious creamy sauce with chicken, sun-dried tomatoes, heavy cream, feta cheese, garlic, fresh basil, and parsley.
This recipe is perfect if you follow a keto or low-carb diet and are looking for a delicious family meal or a special occasion dinner. Everyone will be happy in your home with this chicken recipe. Yum!
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🎥 Recipe Video
❤️ Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
"My husband and I call this Date Night pasta. It's the first meal I cooked for him and apparently I hooked him with it. When serving for my family I make pasta for them and a quick side of zoodles for me. Enjoy!" 🙂 -Kori
My whole family loves this recipe, and I've been making it for YEARS. The tomato basil cream sauce is amazing - it gets even better when the chicken is added.
I love that everything can get tossed into one pan and it's pretty flexible so I can use chicken breast, thighs, seafood, or shrimp.
So Much Flavor
It's quite amazing how much flavor is in this recipe considering there are minimal ingredients! 🙂
Healthy
I think you'll love that this recipe is low carb, keto, and gluten-free! So, on top of being easy, it's also quite healthy. Yay!
This recipe works well for the keto diet because of the chicken thighs, heavy cream, feta, and olive oil.
While the full nutritional value is provided at the end of the recipe card, here are the most important if you're following a low carb keto diet:
19.9 g fat | 2.9 g net carbs | 26 g protein
How To Serve
Need easy serving suggestions? Here are some ways that you can serve Low Carb Chicken in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce:
- While definitely amazing served over pasta, those watching their carbs will be loving this dish served over zucchini noodles, hearts of palm "noodles", or riced cauliflower.
- Since this is a recipe that I usually make during the weekdays, I try to keep side dishes super simple - usually frozen the microwaved vegetables or fresh steamed.
- A simple side salad with a favorite dressing makes a side dish. Try our homemade Thousand Island Dressing or Blue Cheese Dressing.
Ingredients and Tools
Here's what you'll need to make chicken with tomato basil cream sauce:
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs - chicken breasts can also be used.
- Green Onion
- Garlic
- Chicken Broth
- Heavy Cream - you can substitute half and half, but you may need to reduce the sauce longer in order to thicken properly, or you can use a thickening agent.
- White Wine - if you don't want to use the wine, you can sub more chicken broth.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes
- Tomato Paste
- Fresh Basil - for best flavor, use fresh in the recipe.
- Feta Cheese
- Fresh Parsley - use fresh parsley in this recipe. I don't recommend using dried.
- Salt and Pepper
- Serve over: pasta (not low carb), zucchini noodles, hearts of palm noodles, or riced cauliflower.
Tools
- 12" Skillet - for making chicken and sauce. You'll also need an additional skillet or saucepan for cooking pasta or zoodles.
- Cutting Board
- Chef Knife
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring spoons
- Cheese Grater
Variations
There are several ways you can vary or make substitutions to this recipe:
- Adjust any of the seasonings to your liking; this is a pretty flexible recipe.
- Play around with different herbs. Fresh parsley, a little thyme, etc., would all be wonderful.
- Substitute chicken breast instead of chicken thighs. You can even use seafood or shrimp.
- Toss in some sauteed fresh vegetables like mushrooms, diced zucchini, or summer squash would all be good. You may have to adjust your sauce at the end as certain vegetables will add more liquid.
Step by Step Instructions
Here's how to make this chicken with basil cream sauce:
Saute Chicken
Add olive oil to skillet and preheat over medium-high. Add chicken and saute for 6 - 7 minutes until cooked through.
Remove chicken from pan and keep warm by covering with foil.
Make Sauce
Using the same pan, add another tablespoon of olive oil, diced green onion and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes.
In same pan add chicken broth, heavy cream, wine, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and basil into pan. Heat to a simmer, and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Approximately 6- 8 minutes. Stir frequently.
Return chicken to pan. Heat until warm.
Add Remaining Ingredients
Add feta cheese, parsley, pepper, and salt. Toss well.
Serve
Serve over pasta, zoodles, or even riced cauliflower. Adjust seasonings as needed.
Helpful Tips
- If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add more chicken broth or cream to adjust.
- Stir frequently when simmering the sauce so that it doesn't stick or burn.
- The chicken does not have to be cut into pieces and can be left whole. Add time for cooking the whole pieces in the pan and serve the sauce over the chicken's top.
- Substitute chicken breasts or shrimp instead of thighs.
- Try playing around with different herb combinations, different cheeses, or adding in your favorites to taste. The options are endless!
Common Questions
How long will chicken keep in the refrigerator?
The chicken will keep in your refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
How can you lower the fat in this recipe?
To lower the fat in this recipe, you can use half and half instead of heavy cream. You could also substitute chicken breast for thighs, which are slightly lower in fat as well.
How can I increase the healthy fat in this recipe?
You can increase the healthy fat in this recipe by adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil. I don't recommend adding more or it will become greasy.
You could also use additional heavy cream or garnish with more cheese.
📋 Printable Recipe
Low Carb Chicken in Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
Bits of tender chicken in a delicious creamy sauce with sun-dried tomatoes, heavy cream, feta cheese, garlic, fresh basil, and parsley. Served over pasta, zoodles, or even riced cauliflower - this recipe is TASTY!
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 6 chicken boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" pieces
- 1/3 cup green onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsp fresh basil
- 6 oz. feta cheese
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- salt to taste
- cooked zucchini noodles, riced cauliflower, or pasta
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a 12" skillet and preheat over medium-high heat. Add chicken and saute for 6 to 7 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken, set aside, and cover with foil to keep warm.
- Using the same pan, add another tablespoon of olive oil, diced green onion, and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes.
- In the same pan, add chicken broth, heavy cream, wine, sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and basil into the pan. Heat to simmer and continue cooking until liquid is reduced by half, stirring frequently. Approximately 6- 8 minutes.
- Return chicken to pan. Heat until warm.
- Add feta cheese, parsley, pepper, and salt. Toss well and serve over pasta, zoodles, or riced cauliflower. Adjust seasonings if necessary.
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Amount Per Serving: Calories: 299Total Fat: 19.9gCholesterol: 141mgSodium: 658mgCarbohydrates: 3.4gNet Carbohydrates: 2.9gFiber: 0.5gSugar: 2.3gProtein: 26g
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Low Carb Chicken in TomatoBasil Cream Sauce is so GOOD!! Easy dinner in one pan. A family-friendly healthy recipe that is low carb, keto, and gluten-free. Perfect weeknight-inspired Italian recipe. #seekinggoodeats #chicken #skillet #italian #lowcarb #keto
Rachel says
I made this tonight for the first time. It is a keeper.
I did a little over a pound of chicken which I thought was perfect for the amount of sauce otherwise I would double the sauce. I used basil seasoning since I didn’t have fresh basil.
I warmed up the zucchini noddles for a minute in the microwave and then topped it off with the sauce. I put my husband’s on a bed of linguine since he is trying to bulk up. We both licked our plates clean. We are going to have a fight over the leftovers. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
seekinggoodeats says
I'm so glad you loved it Rachel! Thanks for sharing. The sauce is addicting! 🙂 I make it with pasta for our boys and zucchini noodles for my husband and I. Works well for everyone!
If you like seafood substitute shrimp - it's really delicious! You can also use it as a sauce over fish too. I've done that with halibut.
Janie says
What are the nutrient facts for this recipe? I'm interested in net carbs
Kori says
Nutrition Information: YIELD: 8
Amount Per Serving: CALORIES: 299TOTAL FAT: 19.9gCHOLESTEROL: 141mgSODIUM: 658mgCARBOHYDRATES: 3.4gNET CARBOHYDRATES: 2.9gFIBER: 0.5gSUGAR: 2.3gPROTEIN: 26g