Creamy Garlic Chicken and Vegetables
Earlier this week, I was cruising YouTube looking for inspiration. I put chicken in the search bar and found Creamy Garlic Butter Chicken and Potatoes. Garlic, butter, chicken, potatoes – how can this possibly go wrong? Since it is impossible for me to leave well enough alone, I created my own version to serve to my lovely family. Overall the recipe is pretty simple and the end result is creamy garlic deliciousness. To get started, defrost 5-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs.
Mix together all the ingredients of the spice rub. Sprinkle the rub over both sides of the chicken and rub in to combine. Place the seasoned chicken in a gallon sized plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour. In this hour, the chicken fully marinates with all the flavors of the rub.
About one hour before your want to serve dinner it is time to start cooking. First cut up potatoes and onions. Add them to a 9×13 baking dish and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Mix to combine and fully coat and then place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees F.
While the potatoes and onions are in the oven, it is time to prep the rest of the ingredients. First take out a large skillet and place it over medium high heat. Drizzle olive oil in the pan. Once hot, place chicken thighs into the pan and sear both sides. It takes 2-3 minutes to get a nice color. When done, remove the chicken from the pan and place to the side for later.
In the same pan, add spinach and mushrooms. Cook, stirring often, until spinach is slightly wilted and mushrooms have softened. Then remove from pan and place to the side.
Now it is time to make our creamy garlic sauce. Using the same pan, no need to dirty more dishes, add butter and garlic to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently, until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant. Be careful not to scorch your garlic. Scorched garlic will ruin your sauce.
Add flour and stir until well combined. The flour will help to thicken our sauce.
Pour milk and chicken stock into the pan. Cook on medium, stirring frequently. I like to use a whisk for this part of the process. In my opinion it is the easiest way to fully combine things. No one wants lumpy sauce! The sauce is ready when it begins to thicken. The final step is to add the Parmesan cheese and stir until melted and combined.
Time to take the potatoes out of the oven and put all our ingredients together. Stir the potatoes and onions to loosen up any pieces that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Place chicken on top of the potatoes and arrange your spinach and mushrooms around the chicken. Finally pour the sauce over the top of everything.
Place your pan back into the oven for another 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Thirty minutes later you have a creamy delicious meal that definitely falls in the category of comfort food.
I will definitely be making this dish again. It was given a thumbs up by 2 out of 4 people in my family. Two of my kiddos are really anti-sauce. Next time I will fully cook a chicken thigh or two in the pan and let them enjoy their chicken sauce free. This meal is delicious as leftovers as well. It can be eaten “as is” for lunch or dinner, or I heated up the leftover potatoes and veggies added some eggs and called in breakfast. There really are no limits on delicious food. Happy Cooking!
Creamy Garlic Chicken and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Spice Rub
- 1 tsp granulated garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
Creamy Garlic Sauce
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
Vegetables
- ½ onion, diced
- 8-10 red skin potatoes, cut into pieces
- 3-4 cups spinach
- 8 oz mushrooms, cut into pieces
- olive oil
- kosher salt
- black pepper
Instructions
- Mix together all the ingredients of the spice rub. Sprinkle over both sides of chicken thighs and rub in to coat. Put chicken in gallon sized plastic bag and put in refrigerator for at least one hour.
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- After chicken has marinated for at least one hour, cut potatoes and onion. Place on 9x13 baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt. Mix to coat.
- Bake potatoes and onions for 30 mins at 400°F
- Place large skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Sear both sides of chicken for 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and put chicken to the side.
- Using the same skillet, add mushrooms and spinach. Add more olive oil if needed to keep things from sticking. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until spinach is slightly wilted and mushrooms are soft. Remove from pan and place to the side.
- Add butter and garlic to the pan over medium heat. Cook until butter is melted and garlic is fragrant. Be careful not to scorch the garlic.
- Add flour and cook until combined.
- Pour broth and milk into the pan. Cook on medium heat, stirring frequently. Continue to cook until sauce begins to thicken.
- Add Parmesan cheese stir until melted into sauce.
- Remove potatoes and onions from oven. Stir well to move any potatoes that may be sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Arrange chicken on top of the potatoes and onion.
- Place spinach and mushrooms around the chicken.
- Pour sauce over contents of pan.
- Bake in 400°F oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove, serve, and enjoy.