This creamy paleo tuscan chicken is a super-tasty one-skillet meal that’s perfect for weeknights and full of flavor! Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are seared and cooked with a creamy sauce packed with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Paleo, dairy-free, Whole30, and Keto friendly!
One-skillet dinners make my ain’t-no-time-momma heart sing. That’s a real thing, of course.
And by “heart singing” I just mean I feel approximately 15% less stressed out by the chaos of life when I know I can make dinner in just one skillet. I’m sure there’s at least a few of you ladies out there who can relate!
When there’s only one skillet needed to cook dinner from start to finish, it gives me hope that I can, in fact, make it to 9pm without a complete meltdown. Not anything to take lightly – we need these one-skillet meals.
Okay, hopefully I’ve sold you on the one-skillet thing but if not, I’m sure I will with everything else about the actual recipe.
It’s a creamy Tuscan chicken that’s totally dairy-free, paleo, gluten-free and packed with veggies! It’s relatively low in carbs as well, with the only carb source really being the sun-dried tomatoes.
If you’d like an even lower-carb keto option, you can always use fewer sun dried tomatoes.
For the chicken, I knew from the start I’d have to go with boneless skinless THIGHS, not breasts. Breasts are great if you’re “breading” your chicken but honestly they are way too dry in my opinion for anything else – even a creamy sauce.
The thighs cook almost as quickly and they have 10x the flavor, crispiness, and juiciness of the breasts. We’ll season them, sauté, and then remove from the skillet while we make the yummy sauce.
So yes – it’s one skillet only, but, you’ll need a plate of some sort. Use a paper one if you’re like me and can’t stand the thought of another dish!
The sauce itself is similar many creamy sauces I make – a combination of chicken bone broth and coconut milk, with some tapioca to thicken.
I add a little stone ground mustard and nutritional yeast as well, which, in my opinion, cuts the flavor of the coconut milk enough so that you can barely taste it.
I know many of you are sensitive to coconut flavor, so if you really want to cut the taste, you can use a bit more tapioca to thicken, more broth, and less coconut milk. But, I encourage you to try the recipe as written since the coconut flavor is really quite minimal!
I hope you’re ready for a full-of-flavor, one-skillet meal that you’ll want to throw right into your dinner rotation ASAP! Grab your chicken and a nice big skillet because it’s time to cook – let’s go!
Creamy Tuscan Chicken {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Creamy Tuscan Chicken {Paleo, Whole30, Keto}
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs chicken thighs boneless and skinless
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil plus additional if needed
- Sea salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 small onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot
- 1 cup chicken bone broth
- 1/2 cup coconut milk full fat, blended before adding if needed
- 1/2 Tbsp stone ground mustard
- 1 1/2 Tbsp nutritional yeast optional
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or to taste
- 1/8 tsp black pepper or to taste
- 2/3 cup sun dried tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach roughly chopped
Instructions
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Season the chicken with sea salt, pepper, garlic, and onion powder. In a large skillet add the coconut oil and cook the chicken thighs on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until browned and no longer pink in center. Remove chicken and set aside on a plate.
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Add additional oil if necessary and cook the onions over medium heat until soft, then stir in the garlic and cook another 45 seconds.
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Whisk in the tapioca or arrowroot, the add the broth and coconut milk. Stir to combine, then stir in the mustard, yeast, Italian seasoning, sea salt and pepper. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until it starts to thicken.
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Add the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and allow mixture to simmer until spinach is wilted and tomatoes are softened. Add chicken back to the skillet and simmer another 2 minutes. Serve over cauli rice, zucchini noodles, or with roasted potatoes. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Want More Paleo Chicken Recipes?! Try One of These!
Honey Mustard Chicken in the Instant Pot
General Tso’s Chicken in the Instant Pot
Chipotle Lime Chicken in the Instant Pot
Chicken Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Chicken Broccoli “Rice” Casserole
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Looks delicious! Could I use almond milk instead of coconut?
This was absolutely delicious!
Made this tonight. Oh my yummy!!! I increased the liquid because I like lots of sauce. Thanks for the great recipe.
Can cashew milk be used instead of coconut? Hubby doesn’t like the coconut taste
This looks delicious! Any recommendations to substitute for the the full fat coconut milk? My husband is allergic to coconut, but I would love to make this recipe!
This sounds and looks absolutely delicious! A warm, creamy, and hearty meal! Yum!
Another great recipe! My husband and I both enjoyed it. I shouldn’t be surprised, we love all of your recipes!!
Can I use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
This was amazing! So flavorful and pretty easy. My husband and kids loved it. Served it with white rice for the kids and cauli rice for the adults. Would also be great with mashed potatoes/cauli!
Can this be made ahead?
I made this for company and it was great. I love your recipes. Thank you.
Hi Michele,
Your Creamy Tuscan Chicken pictures make me hungry!! What happens if I leave out the garlic?
This was absolutely delicious. And super easy.
Very delicious meal, better than with dairy products. My non paleo son (19) even liked it.
This was so delicious. I added some basil. Yum.
Loved this recipe! Also added some mushrooms along with the sun dried tomatoes and spinach.
Made this for company and it was great. Will make again.
This is absolutely delicious!
I do agree. Give the coconut milk a try in this recipe and you won’t remember there’s coconut milk used. I absolutely loved eating this dish. It was easy and flavorful. The coconut-based sauce was delicious and definitely different from other coconut-based sauce I tried! Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight!! It is delicious… I will definitely make it again! Highly recommend
Would it still be Whole 30 with Chicken Breast instead of thighs?
Definitely good but I wouldn’t say great. Very innovative though! (And yes, I followed the recipe exactly.) I love that it is grain and dairy-free so I’ll probably use it as a base recipe and tinker with it to suit our tastes.
I made a revised version of this recently and it’s delicious. I was a little skeptical with it calling for mustard but it was so good! I didn’t keep it paleo because I used cream and parmesan but I’d like to try it just as written. I’m sure it would be amazing.
Delicious, interesting flavors and honestly so easy! Thank you for a new and fail proof dinner!
Actually got a round of applause when I made this recipe….lol….First time ever!! Thanks so much for sharing your awesome recipes, just experimenting with them recently with some picky eaters and having really great results.
Actually got a round of applause….wrote this earlier but forgot to click on the stars…..hope it doesn’t affect the rating of this delicious dish…thanks again.
It looks really delicious. So delicious in fact that I don’t mind seeing the same picture of it 19 times before getting to the recipe…
This dish was fabulous, with tastes abounding. Loved the ease and simplicity, even with a number of great ingredients and spices. Will become a family staple.
Made this tonight!!.. Had to use Almond milk and fire roasted diced tomatoes – because our little small town grocery store didn’t have everything. BUT, it still turned out amazing! Thank you so much!
I made this chicken recipe, for the first time, for family and friends and they loved it. It was sooo good. It’s the perfect meal for those who are diabetic too. It’s a very impressive recipe. I totally recommend it. I didn’t put the yeast or the spinach in it though. Per Mary K, adding basil would be good too. Good job.
This recipe is fantastic! Easy to make and delicious! I almost doubled the chicken and doubled the spinach so had less sauce:chicken but loved it.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was SO good! We all loved it. It tasted much fancier than a 30 minute meal. I would totally serve this to guests.
Wow! Tasted so incredible!!
Lovely meal enjoyed by all the family had oven roasted potatoes with it (slightly less Keto)
Such a great recipe!!! My family said it was a keeper. Thanks for this simple and quick dinner option!
OMG!! This was ahhhmazing!!!!
I made this last night for dinner and everyone loved it, including my toddler! I used bone in chicken thigh which needed more time to cook. I also added mushrooms and didn’t use the nutritional yeast.
I double the recipe which meant two pans, making it a bit harder. I wish there was an easier way to double or triple the recipe. I may cook triple the chicken in the oven and the sauce in a Dutch oven and combine together next time. This mama’s gotta batch cook with two little ones!! Thanks again, very delicious!!
We really like this recipe. I’m Whole30, the fam is not but they eat what I cook. I was told to add more sundried tomatoes and keep the recipe. 🙂
My husband and I love this recipe! I have made it twice, the second time a double batch because leftovers re-heat well for lunch. It’s very forgiving and I don’t have to measure things exactly which fits my cooking style (that looks like 1/4 cup coconut milk, a few handfuls of spinach will do…). I have added asparagus and red peppers for a veggie boost (cooked with the onion). I’ll be including this in my rotation
This meal was fast, tastey the kids loved it. I had energy afterwards. I didn’t feel like that heavy feeling. Thanks so very much.
Is the something I can use instead of nutritional yeast? Any good substitute you can recommend? I’m excited to try this recipe!
Recipe looks good. I wish included would be recommendations for doubling/trippeling the recipe. Also we should know ALWAYS about making ahead so we are not frazzled last minute in the kitchen and can enjoy our company.
Oh my goodness! Incredible article dude! Many thanks,
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Thanks!!