Chicken cutlets are quickly sautéed in olive oil and then bathed in a rich, creamy sauce made from sun-dried tomatoes and roasted garlic. Flavor packed!
With the weather here in New England finally getting cooler and more autumn-like, it’s time to turn toward comforting dishes like this Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Roasted Garlic. In this simple recipe, chicken cutlets are quickly sautéed in olive oil and then bathed in a rich, creamy sauce made from sun-dried tomatoes and roasted garlic. This dish has so much flavor! You’ll definitely want to serve it with something that you can use to mop up all of the delicious sauce. I recommend Lemon Rice or some crusty French bread.
I’m a little obsessed with sun-dried tomatoes and always keep a few jars of the oil packed variety in my pantry. They’re intensely flavored and extremely versatile. I mix them into cooked pasta and vegetables, use them as a condiment for grilled meats and seafood, and as an appetizer topping for crackers and cheese. Recently I’ve gotten even more creative with them, pureeing them into pestos and sauces, and that’s how this recipe for Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Roasted Garlic was born. Initially I made this dish with 2 cloves of raw garlic and it was good but I felt like there was something missing. So, on the next recipe testing go-around I used an entire head of roasted garlic, which elevated the flavor big-time. When garlic is roasted, it becomes sweet and mellow – this was just what the dish needed.
Despite its name, Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Roasted Garlic contains no cream. When the roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken stock, and cheeses are fully blended together they are transformed into a thick, smooth sauce with a richness and depth of flavor that eliminates the need for any additional dairy.
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken with Roasted Garlic is a great make ahead recipe and like a lot of other dishes with complex flavored sauces, tastes better the next day, once all the flavors have had a chance to mingle.
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 8.5-ounce jar of oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- ½ cup (4 ounces) mascarpone cheese
- ¼ cup (1 ounce) finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 3½ - 4 lbs. total
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 ounce (about 2 cups very loosely packed) fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped or chiffonade
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Place one of the chicken breasts on a cutting board and hold it flat with the palm of your hand. Using a sharp knife (preferably a fillet knife) slice it horizontally into two even pieces. Repeat with the remaining 2 chicken breasts. You’ll end up with a total of 6 chicken cutlets.
- Place the head of garlic on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle it with olive oil. Wrap it up securely in the foil and place on a small baking sheet. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven for 40 minutes. Once the foil is cool enough to handle unwrap the package and squeeze the garlic out of it papery skin into the work bowl of a food processor.
- Drain the jar of sun-dried tomatoes and reserve the oil. Add the sun-dried tomatoes to the food processor along with the chicken stock, mascarpone, Parmesan, and ½ teaspoon salt. Process until a thick, creamy sauce forms, about 30 seconds - 1 minute. Set aside.
- Season the chicken cutlets on both side with the remaining salt and pepper.
- Heat 1½ tablespoon of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook 3 of the chicken cutlets for 2 minutes on each side. Transfer them to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining chicken cutlets.
- Add the onion to the skillet and sauté until soft and starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Return all the chicken to the skillet and pour the sun-dried tomato sauce on top. Cover and cook for another 3-5 minutes until heated through.
- To serve, garnish with fresh basil. Serve any extra sauce on the side.
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Oh, this looks so creamy and delicious I want a huge bowl of it right now! I love (love, love,love, LOVE!) sun-dried tomatoes and all the fantastic things you can do with them. But sun-dried tomato sauces are by far my favourite!
So you are obsessed with them too!
This sounds like it would have the flavors of a restaurant dish!! LOVE sundried tomatoes. It’s finally cooling down in Indiana too, so I’m definitely craving comfort food 🙂
Yes, definitely a cooler weather dish. I’ll miss summer but I’m ready for comfort food!
I love mascarpone cheese and sun dried tomatoes, so this dish is right up my alley! Pinned to add to a meal plan soon 🙂
Let me know how you like it once you try. Thanks!
I made this last night and it was a true crowd pleaser. We have some seriously picky teenagers, and even the in-laws don’t always like what I serve up. I made extra sauce, because we’re a sauce family and served it with pasta for everyone else, zoodles for myself and my significant other. And there was literally nothing left. They were scraping the pan for the sauce. I will most definitely make this again, but with more chicken, since we had to ration that out.
Hi Jen – thank you so much for your feedback! I’m so happy your family loved it and your idea of serving it with zoodles is great – I’m going to do that next time myself!