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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!

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