Creamed Chicken With Fresh Basil & Tomatoes

This simple and easy creamed chicken recipe included tender chicken cooked in flavorful chicken stock and served with a rich velvet cream sauce and fresh basil and grape tomatoes. 

In my household, we call this creamed chicken recipe velvet chicken, because that rich velvet cream sauce will have you tempted to lick your plate. This is a low-carb and keto recipe that’s the perfect weeknight meal. In fact, it’s ready to serve in under 30 minutes. 

Besides being quick and easy, it’s also super simple and you only need 6 ingredients. This includes chicken breasts, chicken stock, heavy cream, butter, fresh basil, and fresh tomatoes. All you need to do is cook the chicken in a skillet and then add the chicken broth, so it soaks up all that delicious flavor to make the most tender chicken breast possible.

Then we make the low-carb velvet sauce by reducing the chicken broth in the pan and then thickening it with a wonderful heavy cream. I first developed this sauce a few years back for pork chops but since we’ve quit eating pork I adapted it to chicken and was thrilled to find it works just as well.

The final step is to serve the creamed chicken with some fresh basil and tomatoes on top as a garnish. Tomato basil is a popular cream sauce to pair with chicken, so we’re just keeping things fresh this time. It’s the perfect light touch to the rich cream sauce.

Recipe Ingredients

• Boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• Chicken broth
• Heavy cream
• Butter
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh basil and grape tomatoes for garnish

How to Make Creamed Chicken

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add chicken and salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is golden brown, then flip and salt and pepper again.

Continue cooking until opposite side is golden brown (about 2 minutes on each side).

Pour in the chicken broth, reduce heat to medium and cook until broth is mostly evaporated (about 10 minutes).

Once broth has cooked down, remove the chicken from the pan and turn off the heat, but leave the pan on the stove eye/burner.

Have a wooden spoon handy and pour the cream into the pan. Immediately start stirring and continue until the pan remnants are fully blended in with the cream and cream is warm and thick. This should take just a few minutes.

Serve chicken breasts with delicious cream sauce spooned over them.

Garnish with sliced grape tomatoes and fresh basil.

Velvet chicken is so good! I hope you get to try it soon. It is a satisfying dish and a delicious way to liven up chicken.

Storage

• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat either in the microwave or on the stovetop.
• You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. But just note that cream sauces can split once thawed, but usually come back together once reheated. Thaw leftovers overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.

Recipe Notes

• For the cream sauce, you can use heavy cream or even half-and-half.
• You can sub the chicken breasts for skinless chicken thighs. But do note that they might take longer to cook. 
• Want to add some extra flavor to the creamed chicken?
  • Add a teaspoon or two of your favorite dried herbs and spices: Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, dried rosemary, and/or dried thyme are some popular options.
  • For lemon cream chicken, add up to 3 tablespoons of lemon juice when you add the cream to the skillet.
  • Add a tablespoon of dry sherry alongside the cream.
  • Sprinkle the chicken with cayenne pepper or paprika before serving for a touch of heat.

Recipe FAQs

How do you serve creamed chicken?

The serving options for this main dish are truly endless. If you want to remain low-carb and keto, keep things as is. If you don’t mind a few carbs with your creamed chicken, here are some options:

• Serve the cooked chicken breasts over egg noodles, rice, or a bed of mashed potatoes. A keto option is cauliflower rice.
• Enjoy them for breakfast or brunch over toast, waffles, or homemade buttermilk biscuits.
• Add a simple garnish of chopped fresh parsley and serve the creamed chicken with a different vegetable side dish. This might be zucchini and squash, fresh green beans, or even collard greens.

Here are more easy chicken supper recipes you might enjoy:

Chicken Broccoli Skillet with Pimento Cheese Sauce

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast

BBQ Chicken Breast in Oven

Southern Smothered Chicken

Creamy Chicken Skillet

Chicken with Sour Cream Gravy

Click here to see more Low Carb recipes from Southern Plate.

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage. 

~Lao Tzu