Dinner will be ready in a snap when you decide to make this skillet creamy mushroom chicken! This easy and impressive chicken dinner is ready in less than 20 minutes, thanks to quick cooking, thin sliced chicken.
Tender and juicy chicken is cooked with browned mushrooms and garlic and then coated with the most amazing creamy sauce. Leftovers of this dish almost never exist in my house, it’s just that good.
I love this type of meal because it tastes and looks like something you ordered at a restaurant, but it’s way easier to pull off than it looks. This dish is great for serving guests, or for just filling your family’s bellies at dinner time.
If you like this recipe, you’ll also love my Marry Me Chicken, which features a sundried tomato cream sauce, and Creamy Lemon Chicken with an irresistible lemon and parmesan cream sauce.
Boursin Chicken, Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry and Honey Garlic Chicken are some other amazing one-pan chicken meals that you have to try.
Want to make this meal in the Instant Pot instead? Check out my well-loved Instant Pot Chicken With Mushrooms recipe.
Why you’ll love this chicken recipe
- One Skillet: I am a huge fan of simple skillet chicken recipes. They cook quickly and make very few dishes for me to clean!
- The Creamy Sauce: What’s better than a savory chicken recipe with a lot of creamy sauce? Probably nothing! I like to serve this dish with rice or pasta to really enjoy every last drop of it.
- Lots of Garlic: 3 cloves of garlic make this dish amazingly flavorful.
- Gluten Free Option: Just one simple swap and this recipe is easy to make gluten free.
- Simple Ingredients: Chicken, Mushrooms, and a handful of common kitchen staples come together to make this beautiful, creamy, tasty dish.
Key Ingredients:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: Use 3 breasts, cut into 6 thin cutlets, or buy your chicken already trimmed and cut into thin pieces. Overall you need about 1 and ½ pounds of thin chicken slices.
- Mushrooms: Simple white button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms both work well in this recipe.
- Salt and Pepper: We’ll season this dish well as we cook it.
- Flour: This coats the chicken, keeping the meat tender and also thickening the sauce. Use regular all-purpose flour, or an all-purpose gluten free flour.
- Garlic: A good amount of fresh minced garlic is one of the main flavors of this recipe.
- Chicken Stock and Heavy Cream: Together these two create a silky, creamy, savory sauce for the chicken and mushrooms.
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated parmesan is best, and adds a cheesy creaminess, plus salt to this skillet chicken.
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Creamy Mushroom Chicken
- Season: Start by seasoning the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle flour over each cutlet and spread to cover.
- Melt Butter: In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat, swirling the pan to coat with melted butter.
- Brown Chicken: Add chicken to the pan, working in batches if needed to avoid crowding the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through to a temperature of 165°F/74°C. Transfer chicken to a plate, cover to keep warm, and set aside.
- Cook Mushrooms: Add remaining butter to the pan, add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms start to soften and have a golden brown edge.
- Cook Garlic: Add the garlic and cook briefly for about 30 seconds, while stirring.
- Deglaze: Deglaze the pan with chicken stock, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let it simmer until it’s reduced and thickened.
- Finish Sauce: Add the cream, whisk everything together to warm through. Add parmesan. Taste the sauce and add additional salt if needed.
Tip!
Use Fresh Parmesan Cheese! Pre-shredded or powdery, grated parmesan just won’t melt as well. Get a nice wedge of fresh parmesan and grate it yourself using a box grater or microplane.
- Combine: Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving.
Tips for making this recipe
Buy Cutlets already sliced: Many grocery stores have chicken cutlets already sliced and ready to buy. Look for thinly sliced white mean chicken, labeled as cutlets.
Or cut your own: To do this, place a chicken breast down flat on a cutting board. Hold one hand flat on top of the breast, and use a sharp knife to cut the breast in half, parallel to the cutting board. Typically, that is all you need to do! The cutlets should be about ¼ inch in thickness. If they are thicker than that, use a meat mallet to pound them down thinner.
Add Flavor: a teaspoon of dijon mustard will elevate the flavor of this dish a notch. It’s not necessary, but a delicious option if you want to try it.
Add Wine: Instead of deglazing the pan with chicken stock, use a dry white wine. This will give a more sophisticated flavor.
Use a Large Skillet: I’m in love with this stainless steel skillet for making skillet chicken meals like this one. A cast iron skillet also works really well. Other tools that you need are a heat resistant spatula and a good set of kitchen tongs.
What to Serve with Creamy Mushroom Chicken
With Carbs: This dish and all of its delicious sauce is best served over pasta, rice, polenta, quinoa, mashed potatoes, or even cauliflower rice. Something to soak up the sauce is ideal.
Try making this easy Garlic Butter Pasta, or making brown rice in the Instant Pot.
With a Veggie Side: A simple vegetable side dish will complement this creamy garlic chicken perfectly. Try steamed broccoli in the instant pot, sauteed spinach, or fresh green beans. For something a bit fancier, try Roasted Frozen Brussels Sprouts or Bacon Wrapped Asparagus.
With a Salad: Fresh greens are perfect with this savory and creamy mushroom chicken. Some of my favorites are this Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad, a Classic Caesar Salad, and a Simple Tossed Green Salad.
Don’t forget dessert! This last minute Bread Pudding comes together quickly and makes the perfect ending to this amazing meal.
FAQs
Yes! While I find that chicken breast is a bit easier to cook, boneless thighs can be used. Use a meat mallet to pound them down so that they are thin all the way around, and remove any excess fat from the meat.
Substitute half and half or evaporated milk for the heavy cream to save calories and fat. Just keep in mind that that heavy cream (double cream in the UK) will give you the best, creamiest result.
Regardless of if you use chicken breasts or thighs, all chicken must be cooked to a minimum temperature of 165°F/74°C. Use an instant read kitchen thermometer to check the temperature of the center of each cutlet.
There are a few reasons that the sauce in this dish might not be thick enough. If you’ve left out any of the ingredients, specifically the flour or the parmesan cheese, the sauce won’t thicken very well. It’s also important to let the sauce reduce after deglazing the pan. Low fat substitutes for the heavy cream can also cause a thin sauce.
If you’ve reached the end of your recipe and the sauce is too thin, you can thicken the cream sauce by adding a slurry of 1 tablespoon of cornstarch or flour and 1 tablespoon of cold water, whisking as you add it in. Bring the sauce back to a boil to thicken it up.
Add this simple creamy mushroom chicken recipe to your weeknight dinner rotation. It’s never let me down when it’s time to feed my family or guests something really amazing.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Creamy Mushroom Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breasts boneless and skinless, sliced into 6 thin cutlets – lengthwise or use 2 large chicken breasts and slice into 4 cutlets.
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ cup all purpose flour GF flour can be used
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8-9 ounces mushrooms cremini or white, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper to taste, if needed – as parmesan is pretty salty
Instructions
- Start by seasoning the chicken cutlets with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle flour over each cutlet and spread to cover.
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat, swirling the pan to coat with melted butter.
- Add chicken to the pan, working in batches if needed to avoid crowding the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through to a temperature of 165°F/74°C. Transfer chicken to a plate, cover to keep warm, and set aside.
- Add remaining butter to the pan, add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and saute until the mushrooms start to soften and have a golden brown edge.
- Add the garlic and cook briefly for about 30 seconds, while stirring.
- Deglaze the pan with chicken stock, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let it simmer until it’s reduced and thickened.
- Add the cream, whisk everything together to warm through. Add parmesan. Taste the sauce and add additional salt if needed.
- Return the chicken to the skillet, spoon the sauce over the chicken. Garnish with fresh herbs before serving (parsley, basil, or chives).
Notes:
- Buy Cutlets already sliced: Many grocery stores have chicken cutlets already sliced and ready to buy. Look for thinly sliced white mean chicken, labeled as cutlets. Or cut your own: To do this, place a chicken breast down flat on a cutting board. Hold one hand flat on top of the breast, and use a sharp knife to cut the breast in half, parallel to the cutting board. Typically, that is all you need to do! The cutlets should be about ¼ inch in thickness. If they are thicker than that, use a meat mallet to pound them down thinner.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs can be used. Use a meat mallet to pound them down so that they are thin all the way around, and remove any excess fat from the meat.
- Add more flavor. A teaspoon of dijon mustard will elevate the flavor of this dish a notch. It’s not necessary, but a delicious option if you want to try it. And Instead of deglazing the pan with chicken stock, use a dry white wine. This will give a more sophisticated flavor.
- Substitute half and half or evaporated milk for the heavy cream to save calories and fat. Just keep in mind that that heavy cream (double cream in the UK) will give you the best, creamiest result.
- Use Fresh Parmesan Cheese! Pre-shredded or powdery, grated parmesan just won’t melt as well. Get a nice wedge of fresh parmesan and grate it yourself using a box grater or microplane.
- Freezing. I don’t recommend freezing creamy sauces as they change textures to grainy when frozen.
- Serve: This dish is best served over pasta, rice, polenta, quinoa, mashed potatoes, or even cauliflower rice. You can also prepare a side salad, or roasted or steamed vegetables and serve that on the side.
Video
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Joyce noden says
CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD AND FREEZE.
Diana says
I don’t recommend freezing creamy sauce as they can separate. But if you decide to freeze it anyway, thaw it in the fridge completely then add a splash of water as you reheat it in the microwave.
Lisa Stokes says
YUMMY!!!! Winner for sure!!!
Kelly says
Great! Easy and comforting. I replaced the cream with evaporated milk and added some cornstarch to thicken it. I also added some fresh spinach just because I had it. Served with mashed potatoes and carrots.
Scott Ermeling says
Holy cow! This was amazing. This is at the top of our recipe list now. Thank you so much.
Jessica Burgess says
Oh my goodness, this recipe was fantastic! My husband has already asked me to make it again next week. Thank you!