Fall in love with my garlic Parmesan chicken and pasta skillet! Juicy chicken pieces in a creamy, buttery garlic sauce topped with melted Parmesan. Stir in favorite pasta or serve with veggies for a delicious weeknight dinner.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 📹 Watch The Video | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🍚 Serving Suggestions | 📝 Full Recipe Card | 🍽 More Dinner Recipes | 💬 Comment On & Rate This Recipe
This garlic and Parmesan chicken is everything you want in a comforting dinner. The chicken is pan-fried to golden perfection and then smothered in a rich, creamy garlic sauce. Melted Parmesan adds a savory, umami touch, making this dish irresistible.
Whether you’re cooking for family or entertaining guests, this recipe is sure to impress. Plus, it’s versatile enough to be paired with pasta, mashed potatoes, or even a low-carb option like cauliflower mash or zucchini noodles. Trust me, once you make this, it’ll quickly become a regular in your meal rotation.
- Flavor: Juicy chicken, creamy sauce, with a burst of garlic and Parmesan goodness.
- Nutrition: Protein-packed with optional low-carb serving suggestions.
- Why Make It: Easy, comforting, and perfect for any weeknight dinner.
- What Makes It Special: The combination of garlic and Parmesan in a creamy sauce.
👩🍳 If you like creamy chicken recipes, check out my creamy pesto chicken pasta, red chicken chili, chicken pasta Alfredo with broccoli, Hungarian paprika chicken, or velvety chicken tikka masala. You might also like my garlic Parmesan chicken skewers (oven-baked or grilled) or these chicken pasta recipes.
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this recipe with garlic Parmesan chicken recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Chicken & seasoning: Chicken breasts, salt, pepper.
- Cooking Fat: Olive oil, butter.
- Flavor Base: Garlic cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice
- Sauce: Chicken stock, heavy cream or half-and-half, Parmesan cheese
- Pasta: If using pasta, you can serve this with pretty much any shape, just not too small.
- Garnish: Fresh parsley
- Swaps and Tips:
- Use diced garlic for a stronger flavor; reduce to 3-4 cloves.
- Swap heavy cream with half-and-half for a lighter sauce.
How To Make Garlic Parmesan Chicken & Pasta
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos.
- Prep the chicken: Cut each fillet into 3 pieces. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken pieces.
- Cook the chicken: Heat oil in a skillet, and cook chicken until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes per side. Don’t overcook the chicken as it will finish cooking in the oven in the sauce).
- Add butter cubes and garlic to the pan, and cook for another 3 minutes.
- Make sauce: Remove chicken, add lemon zest and juice, chicken stock, and cream to the pan. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
- Combine: Return chicken to the pan, coat with sauce, sprinkle with Parmesan.
- Finish in oven: Bake at 200°C / 400°F for 10 minutes, then broil for an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve: Over your favourite side dish, garnished with parsley.
Watch The Video
Recipe Tips
- For a richer sauce: Add Parmesan cheese directly to the sauce, let it melt before adding the chicken back. In this case, you can skip the oven finish.
- Garlic prep: The reason I like whole cloves in this sauce is that the flavor is more mellow. But, if whole cloves in the sauce are not to your liking, dice them finely and reduce the number of cloves as diced garlic will give you a more intense flavor.
- Chicken: You can make this dish with chicken thighs. Cook for a few minutes longer than chicken breasts.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this delicious garlic Parmesan chicken over pasta (my favorite way), mashed potatoes, or a healthier option like cauliflower mash, zucchini noodles or quinoa. A side of steamed veggies or a fresh salad would also complement it well. Try my garlic lemon asparagus or pan-fried broccoli.
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Video
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts cut into 3-4 thick slices
- ⅔ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 oz butter 50 grams, cold, cut into 5 cubes or dollops
- 10-12 medium-sized cloves of garlic if using extra-large cloves, cut them in halves
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- 2.5 oz Parmesan cheese 70 grams, grated
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- 4 cups cooked pasta optional
Instructions
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.
- Heat a large skillet or frying pan with deep sides over high heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and place the chicken pieces in the pan. Cook for 5 minutes on high heat, moving the pieces around if the heat is uneven under the pan, and then turn them over once they turn golden brown.
- When you turn them over, drizzle another ½ tablespoon of oil in the pan if it gets dry. Cook for two minutes.
- Add the butter cubes in the gaps between the chicken pieces. Scatter the garlic cloves into the gaps and let the butter melt in. Swirl it around the pan. Cook the chicken for three more minutes on medium-high heat.
- Remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place them on a cutting board. Add the zest of ½ a lemon to the pan and stir through the garlicky butter. Then pour in the chicken stock and the juice of ½ a lemon (about 1-1.5 tablespoons). Stir through and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat.
- Now pour in the cream, stir, and cook for 1 minute.
- Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return to the creamy sauce and stir through.
- Cover the top with grated Parmesan cheese. Pop the skillet in the hot oven, middle shelf, for 5 minutes. Then change the setting to Grill/Broil and finish for 5 minutes, allowing the cheese to brown slightly on top.
- In the meantime, prepare a side dish of your choice: pasta, rice, couscous, quinoa, mashed potatoes, cauliflower mash, or vegetables.
- Remove the skillet from the oven. Be careful as it will be hot. Sprinkle parsley on top, and add a little extra pepper and Parmesan if you wish.
- Serve the chicken and sauce over your preferred side. I made farfalle pasta for the family.
Notes
- For a richer sauce: Add Parmesan cheese directly to the sauce, let it melt before adding the chicken back. In this case, you can skip the oven finish.
- Garlic prep: The reason I like whole cloves in this sauce is that the flavor is more mellow. But, if whole cloves in the sauce are not to your liking, dice them finely and reduce the number of cloves as diced garlic will give you a more intense flavor.
- Chicken: You can make this dish with chicken thighs. Cook for a few minutes longer than chicken breasts. Swap heavy cream with half-and-half for a lighter sauce.
- Storage tips: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the stove or in the microwave.
- Nutrition information is for chicken only; for added pasta, add 130 calories and 5 grams protein per serving.
Loved all the flavors and how simple this dish was to make. Chicken was very tender. Served over mashed potatoes.
Made this today – delicious!