Creamy Chicken Milano is the sort of dish that makes you want to lick your plate. This creamy and delicious sauce seems like something straight off the menu at your favorite Italian restuarant. Don’t be surprised if your family starts calling you “Chef” they get a taste of this magic sauce. You may even be tempted to make extra sauce just so you can have more later.
Sun-dried tomatoes are one of my very favorite ingredients. I love the concentrated zing of acidity along with the special sweetness of sun-dried tomatoes. They’re like magical little bursts of flavor in almost any dish, but I think this recipe sets them off in the best possible way. They pair spectacularly with the creamy rich sauce and chicken, and they’re the thing that makes this dish so memorable.
I vastly prefer sun-dried tomatoes preserved in oil for this dish. Not only do I feel like they add a bit more flavor to the dish, I think the texture works much better. Dry packed sun-dried tomatoes can certainly work, just be sure to simmer them longer in the chicken stock so they get nice and soft before you move on to the next step of the recipe.
I like to cut my chicken breasts in thin strips for this recipe. To me, bigger more substantial bites of chicken are nice in this rich creamy sauce. However, if you prefer more bite-sized pieces, you can cut the chicken in the way you would most prefer.
When you have a sauce as rich and creamy as this one, it’s important to have a bit of acid to help cut through the richness so it isn’t too overwhelming. The sun-dried tomatoes have enough acidity to help to cut that richness a bit, but I also like to use a splash (2 tablespoons) of dry white wine. If you cannot use alcohol in your kitchen, a bit of white wine vinegar could also work but I wouldn’t use more than a teaspoon. If you’re desperate, lemon juice could also work, but I would wait to add it just when the sauce is finished cooking, perhaps 1-2 teaspoons.
Ingredients
3 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 lb 1 fettuccini
2 cups 2 chicken stock
1 cup 1 heavy cream
1/2 cup 1/2 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup 1/4 all-purpose flour
2 cloves 2 garlic, minced
2 tablespoons 2 vegetable oil
3 tablespoons 3 fresh basil, chopped, divided
2 tablespoon 2 dry white wine
1 tablespoon 1 butter
1 teaspoon 1 salt
salt and pepper
Directions
- Cut chicken breasts into thin strips, or large cubes.
- Place flour in shallow dish. Season flour with salt and pepper, mix thoroughly. Dredge chicken pieces in flour.
- Bring large pot of salted water to a boil for fettuccine. Do not cook fettuccine yet.
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium or medium-high heat. Cook chicken. Chicken is done when it is no longer pink in the middle and juices run clear, or it reaches internal temperature of 180° F (82° C). Once cooked, remove chicken from pan. Cover it so it stays warm, and set aside. Drain excess oil from pan.
- Reduce heat to medium-low or medium. Melt butter in skillet. Add garlic and stir briefly, about 30 seconds. Do not allow garlic to brown. Add wine and chicken stock to pan. Scrape caramelized bits on bottom of skillet into the sauce and stir. Add sun-dried tomatoes and simmer 7-8 minutes until tomatoes soften.
- Add heavy cream to chicken stock mixture along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of fresh basil. Bring to softly bubbling simmer, adjust heat if needed. Simmer 4-5 minutes, or until sauce slightly thickens. Add cooked chicken to sauce once thickened.
- Meanwhile, cook fettuccine to al dente, according to package directions. Drain pasta and add to skillet. Toss pasta thoroughly in sauce and allow to cook in sauce, stirring occasionally, for about 1 minute.
- Serve pasta with sprinkling of remaining 1 tablespoon of fresh basil.
Notes
- Substitute fettuccine with pasta of your choice. Linguine or spaghetti work well, as would different shapes like penne or gemelli.
- Any dry white wine that you like to drink will work, like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. A dry Sherry will also work.
- White wine may be substituted with 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar.
- Sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil are preferred for this recipe. Dry sun-dried tomatoes may be used, simply extend cooking time of tomatoes in stock from Step 5 as needed to soften tomatoes.
- If sauce has over-reduced — or not enough remains to coat pasta — add 1/2-1 cup of pasta water, as needed, to loosen and extend sauce.
This is a dish where many different sorts of dried pasta will work equally well. I like it with fettuccine noodles because they are large and hold up well to a simple twirl. Linguine or spaghetti could both give a bit of the same sensation. But if you’d prefer a smaller pasta shape, something like penne, rotini, gemelli, or farfalle (butterfly) would be delicious as well.
i made this last night and while it was good did not rise to the level of flavors in the description. My picky eater was skeptical but ended up saying better than expected. I followed the recipe almost exactly. my chicken broth was a 14.5 oz. can so i added white wine to make the 2 cups. My heavy cream had spoiled so i used half & half. I went a bit heavy on the garlic. everything else was as written. the recipe looked like a lot of work but actually went together more easily and quickly than expected. thanks for sharing.