You would never guess that this Healthy Tuscan Chicken is paleo, low-carb, and whole30! It's a super flavorful one-pot dinner with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and a dairy-free alfredo-inspired cream sauce. Serve over zucchini noodles to transform it into a to-die-for pasta dish.
If you love Italian food - you will LOVE this Creamy, Healthy Tuscan Chicken Recipe! It just might be one of the best recipes I've ever eaten!
Not only is it really flavorful with sauteed garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, and a dairy-free inspired alfredo cream sauce, but I like to serve it over zucchini noodles transforming it into a to-die-for pasta dish.
Plus, it's a one-pot dinner that comes together quickly for an easy weeknight dinner.
It also fits a variety of diets because it's paleo, dairy-free, low-carb, AND whole30!
To make it lower-carb and keto, you can simply reduce the amount of sun-dried tomatoes since they are the main source of carbs.
The sauce
For the creamy alfredo-inspired sauce, simply add these ingredients to a bowl:
- coconut cream or heavy cream
- chicken broth
- sea salt
- oregano
- basil
- pepper
- lemon juice
- garlic powder
- red pepper
- nutritional yeast or grated parmesan cheese
For the coconut cream, place a can of full-fat canned coconut milk in the fridge for 24 hours, then scoop out the cream.
I only recommended Thai Kitchen, Sprouts, and Native Forest brands. Other brands may not separate well or leave an aftertaste.
If you're not dairy-free: Feel free to use heavy whipping cream in place of the coconut cream and ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese instead of the nutritional yeast.
The chicken
For the chicken, I recommend using chicken thighs or tenderloins. However, chicken breasts can be substituted.
If using chicken breasts, cut them in half. If the halves are extra-thick, cover the chicken with plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a mallet, pound them until they are no more than 1 inch thick.
Then, season both sides of chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
Cook the chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through and set aside. Cover with foil to keep warm.
In the same pan, add additional oil if needed (I didn't need to add any) and add the garlic. Cook for 15 to 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant - being careful not to let it burn!
Stir in the sauce and heat over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Add the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Allow to simmer until spinach is wilted and tomatoes are softened.
Then, very slowly sprinkle in the xanthan gum (do not dump it in or it will clump!) or starch mixture while whisking constantly to thicken. Taste and add more salt if needed.
Add chicken back to the skillet and simmer for another 2 minutes. Serve over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles and enjoy!
Top Tips
- I highly recommend using chicken thighs or tenderloins instead of chicken breasts. If using chicken breasts, cut them in half. If the halves are extra-thick, cover the chicken with plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a mallet, pound them until they are no more than 1 inch thick.
- For the coconut cream, I only recommended Thai Kitchen, Sprouts, and Native Forest brands. Other brands may not separate well or leave an aftertaste.
- If you're not dairy-free: Feel free to use heavy whipping cream in place of the coconut cream and ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese instead of the nutritional yeast.
- The main source of carbs in this recipe is sun-dried tomatoes, so to make it lower-carb and keto, you can simply reduce the sun-dried tomatoes.
Looking for more recipes?
Or these Chicken Leg Quarters recipe from Food Doodles look delicious too!
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📖 Recipe
Healthy Tuscan Chicken {Paleo, Dairy-Free, Low-Carb, & Whole30}
Ingredients
- 6 to 8 Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
- Salt - to taste (around ½ to 1 tsp.)
- Pepper - to taste (around ¼ to ½ tsp.)
- 1 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 2 Tbsp. Avocado Oil - or oil of choice
- 3 Cloves Garlic - minced
- 4 oz Sun-Dried Tomatoes - chopped and drained
- 6-8 Zucchini Noodles - optional, for serving
Sauce:
- ½ Cup Coconut Cream
- 1 Cup Chicken Broth
- ½ tsp. Sea Salt
- ½ tsp Dried Oregano
- ½ tsp. Dried Basil - plus more for sprinkling
- ⅛ tsp. Ground Black Pepper
- Dash of Garlic Powder
- ¾ tsp. Fresh Lemon Juice
- Pinch or 2 or Ground Red Pepper - add more if you want it spicy
- 2 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast - optional but recommended, adds a "cheesy" taste
- ¼ tsp. Xanthan Gum - OR 1 Tbsp tapioca or arrowroot mixed with 1 Tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Add all of the sauce ingredients EXCEPT the xanthan gum or tapioca to a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Season both sides of the chicken with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Heat the avocado oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
- Once heated, add the chicken and cook on both sides for 4 to 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Do not overcrowd the skillet, cook in batches if needed. Set aside and cover with foil to keep warm.
- In the same pan, add additional oil if needed (I didn't need to add any) and add the garlic. Cook for 15 to 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant - being careful not to let it burn!
- Stir in the sauce and heat over medium-high heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Add the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Allow to simmer until spinach is wilted and tomatoes are softened. Very slowly sprinkle in the xanthan gum (do not dump it in or it will clump!) or starch mixture while stirring constantly to thicken. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- Add chicken back to the skillet and simmer for another 2 minutes. Serve over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken can be stored in the fridge for 3 -5 days separately from the zucchini noodles. The zucchini noodles are best eaten the same day
- I highly recommend using chicken thighs to tenderloins instead of chicken breasts. If using chicken breasts, cut them in half. If the halves are extra-thick, cover the chicken with plastic wrap. Using the flat side of a mallet, pound them until they are no more than 1 inch thick.
- Nutrition info does not include the zucchini noodles.
- For the coconut cream, place a can of full-fat canned coconut milk in the fridge for 24 hours. Then, scoop out the coagulated cream. I only recommend Sprouts, Native Forest, and Thai Kitchen brands because others may not separate well or leave an aftertaste.
- If you're not dairy-free, feel free to replace the coconut cream with heavy whipping cream and the nutritional yeast with ¼ cup grated parmesan.
- The main source of carbs in this recipe is sun-dried tomatoes, so to make it lower-carb and keto, you can simply reduce the sun-dried tomatoes.
- This recipe was slightly updated in July 2021 to use coconut cream instead of blended raw cashews for a creamier sauce.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
Looking for more information on the keto diet? Check out these resources:
This has my mouth watering!
Thanks Jen! Yeah, this is one of my favorites 🙂
-Cassidy
my sister made this and loved it, so I threw it on the menu too! Yum!! I decided to throw boiling water over the cashew directly, along with my sundried tomatoes (my were dry, not packed in oil), and a couple cloves of garlic. I then blended the whole thing. Really good dinner, thanks Cass!
YAY Tessa, I'm happy you and your sister liked it so much! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
This sounds delish! It's always nice to find dairy-free cream sauces 🙂 I swear I need to invest in a 100 pounds of cashews just to create all these dairy-free recipes!
Yeah, I buy a ton of raw cashews every time they go on special at Sprouts. I can usually get them for around $4 a Lb!!!
-Cassidy
This is a great recipe! I’d love it if you would share it on my new corn-free link party. http://www.creatingsilverlinings.com/corn-free-everyday-jan-20-15/
Looks like a great dinner Cass, featuring it this week!
Thanks so much Tessa 🙂