The Garlic Diaries

Food and Life with a Punch of Flavor

  • About Me
  • Recipes
  • Life
    • Marriage
    • Parenting
    • Meal Plans
    • Random
  • Contact Me

Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free)

April 15, 2020 by Annie Chesson 3 Comments

Jump to Recipe
30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free) - This is one of my all time favorite meals! Comes together in no time, easy to make, and SO creamy and flavorful - you’d never guess it was dairy free! TheGarlicDiaries.com

I think this is officially my favorite meal right now. Like if I could choose one thing to eat for a birthday dinner, it would be this. That’s how obsessed I am with this recipe. You guys don’t even know, and pregnancy with its lovely cravings probably doesn’t help, but I’ve wanted this EVERY DAY. I ate it for dinner last week and then made it again for lunch the very next day. That’s how much love I’ve got for this delicious-ness!

No matter who you make this for, NO ONE, and I mean no one, will ever guess it’s dairy free. It’s crazy creamy, perfectly rich, and tastes like it’s made with whole milk and heavy cream. I LOVE.

30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free) - This is one of my all time favorite meals! Comes together in no time, easy to make, and SO creamy and flavorful - you’d never guess it was dairy free! TheGarlicDiaries.com

My one year old has a dairy allergy, so I have extra appreciation when I make a recipe like this that he can eat reaction free + the rest of us can eat and feel like we’re totally indulging in a dairy-laden meal. Because let’s be honest, dairy is delicious. So I LOVE to fake it.

Here’s the other amazing thing, instead of dumping two cups of half and half into your pan, this entire dish is made with whole foods. It’s a whole 30 approved dinner – there’s only the good stuff in here! SO – you’re eating a dinner that feels like you’re totally indulging, but it’s healthy!! I’M TELLING YOU GUYS – I’M PASSIONATE OVER HERE.

30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free) - This is one of my all time favorite meals! Comes together in no time, easy to make, and SO creamy and flavorful - you’d never guess it was dairy free! TheGarlicDiaries.com

So how do we make this black magic happen? Cashews. Cashews are literally the answer to dairy free cooking. I make homemade cashew cream at least once or twice a week, and it’s the easiest thing in the world. Boil raw cashews for ten minutes (I never think far enough ahead to soak overnight), and then blend them up in a high powered blender until super smooth. And it acts like heavy cream in any dish!

We use a combo of cashew cream plus a tiny bit of almond milk to thin the sauce out. That + shallot, garlic, spices, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and a little bit of lemon juice, and you’ve got the most luscious, flavorful sauce in the world. PERFECTION.

30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free) - This is one of my all time favorite meals! Comes together in no time, easy to make, and SO creamy and flavorful - you’d never guess it was dairy free! TheGarlicDiaries.com
Print

30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free)

30 Minute Creamy Tuscan Chicken (Dairy Free) - This is one of my all time favorite meals! Comes together in no time, easy to make, and SO creamy and flavorful - you’d never guess it was dairy free! TheGarlicDiaries.com

This Whole 30, paleo, keto approved dinner is dairy free and unbelievably delicious! It comes together quickly for the perfect weeknight dinner!

  • Author: Annie Chesson
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 chicken breasts, sliced through the middle to make two thin breast halves
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano, divided
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil, divided
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup packed spinach leaves, chopped
  • 1/4 cup packed sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped (dry or packed in oil both work – if packed in oil, drain, rinse, and dry first)
  • 1/4 cup almond milk (plus more if needed to thin out sauce)
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced

Instructions

  1. Add your cashews to a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, drain, and add to a high powered blender* with 1 1/2 cups of water. Blend until completely smooth – I usually let mine go for a full 30 seconds – 1 minute or so. Leave the cashew cream in the blender and set aside
  2. While the cashews are coming to a boil/boiling, cover your chicken with plastic wrap and pound with a meat tenderizer until the chicken halves are even thicknesses (this step is optional)
  3. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of your oregano and 1 teaspoon of your basil. Season both sides of each chicken half with salt, pepper, and your oregano/basil combo
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with olive oil
  5. When hot, add your chicken breast halves and cook on both sides until golden brown and just cooked through. Set aside to a plate
  6. Reduce the heat to medium and add a little olive oil to the same pan. Add your shallot and garlic + a little salt and pepper and cook until the shallot has softened, just a few minutes
  7. To this, add your cashew cream, almond milk, remaining oregano and basil, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach. Season with salt and pepper and stir to combine
  8. Let this mixture simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5-10 minutes, until the spinach has fully wilted and the flavors have had a chance to cook together (thin out with more almond milk if needed).
  9. Add your lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper
  10. You can serve this 3 different ways: add the chicken back to the pan with the sauce and serve family style, plate your chicken and spoon lots of sauce over each (don’t be shy!!), or toss the sauce with pasta (or zoodles/spaghetti squash if whole 30/paleo/keto) and serve your chicken over top. My favorite is serving this with pasta, but all three are WONDERFUL!

Notes

*A high powered blender like a Vitamix works best for things like this, but I know they’re expensive and a lot of people don’t have them. A regular blender works too, it just won’t get it quite as silky smooth! If you’re on the fence about investing in a high powered blender, I waited years before finally getting one and I LOVE mine!

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 chicken breast half, 1/4 of the sauce
  • Calories: 390
  • Sugar: 4 g
  • Sodium: 104 mg
  • Fat: 7 g
  • Saturated Fat: 3 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 9 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 58 g
  • Cholesterol: 145 mg

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and tag @thegarlicdiaries so I can see!

Pin It

Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, All Recipes, Dinner, Gluten Free, Keto, One Pot Meals, Paleo, Whole 30 Tagged With: chicken with sauce, creamy chicken keto, creamy chicken paleo, creamy chicken whole 30, easy keto recipes, easy whole 30 recipes, Gluten Free, keto, keto tuscan chicken, paleo, paleo tuscan chicken, tuscan chicken pasta, tuscan chicken whole 30, whole 30, whole 30 chicken

« Instant Pot Mojo Pork
Mongolian Beef Meatballs »

Want posts delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe to The Garlic Diaries today!

Comments

  1. Mike Wright says

    June 19, 2020 at 12:34 pm

    OMG! its looking delicious, thanks for sharing :)

    Reply
  2. yash dongre says

    June 19, 2020 at 5:55 am

    i just loved the creamy tuscan chicken
    i am drooling literally

    Reply
  3. Vinyl Fencing says

    April 30, 2020 at 9:07 am

    I really love these, Thanks for the recipe.
    Can’t wait to try it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts

Search

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Annie Chesson
I am a passionate Christian, wife, cooking addict, and mom to the two sweetest boys in the world! Join me in my journey to create delicious, flavorful food. More About Me...

Subscribe to The Garlic Diaries

view my food post on usrg.com

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress