Just so that you can be sure I don’t eat cinnamon rolls ALL the time, I thought I’d better share with you something you would be proud to eat for dinner. Not that I eat cinnamon rolls for dinner, just saying! Have you been properly introduced to my good friend, the boneless skinless chicken thigh? I’m pretty sure if you are a meat eater, you are probably well acquainted with her close cousin, the boneless skinless chicken breast. I myself have been ignoring this dark meat beauty for years. I’m not big on dark meat… I thought. Well, no more!
After hearing The Pioneer Woman sing it’s praise, I decided to be open minded and give them a try. Because if Ree says so, we listen. This rich, flavorful, never dry chicken thigh is the perfect base for my Creamy Balsamic Skillet Chicken. You can make it in about 30 minutes from start to finish and all on the stove top. The creamy balsamic sauce is made in the same pan, taking advantage of those golden bits left in the pan after the chicken is browned.
Serve it over your favorite rice medley, and then drizzle that creamy balsamic for all that is good and holy. You won’t be sorry. I’m know I’ll never go back!
Creamy Balsamic Skillet Chicken
Rich, flavorful, never dry boneless chicken thighs served over rice with a delicious creamy balsamic sauce you’ll totally love!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 5 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Pan Fry
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- salt and pepper
- 5 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press, or minced finely
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- fresh chopped parsley
- Serve over rice medley
Instructions
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet (I use my cast iron) on medium high to high heat.
- Season both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper and then place them evenly around the hot pan. Turn heat down to medium high.
- Do not move the chicken around the pan, but let it cook for about 8-10 minutes. You will know when it is ready to turn when it has a nice golden brown color and doesn’t stick too much to the pan. Your chicken will be sizzling pretty good at this point!
- Turn the chicken over and cook for another 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the chicken thighs from the pan and place them on a plate while you make the creamy balsamic sauce.
- Use the chicken broth to deglaze the pan, and use a whisk or wooden spoon to scrape the golden bits off the bottom of the pan as you stir. This is where a lot of flavor comes from. Turn your heat down to medium so that you have a gentle simmer.
- Add your pressed garlic, balsamic vinegar, heavy cream and brown sugar and stir together. Add the chicken back into the pan, and cook uncovered for another 5 minutes per side. This gives your chicken a chance to cook through, and also allows the sauce to reduce and thicken up.
- Plate the chicken on top of your favorite rice medley and drizzle with the creamy balsamic.
- Garnish with fresh parsley for a pop of green and fresh flavor!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Chicken Thigh
- Calories: 293
- Sugar: 4.6g
- Sodium: 468mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 7.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10.2g
- Trans Fat: 0.3g
- Carbohydrates: 5.4g
- Fiber: 0.1g
- Protein: 28g
- Cholesterol: 157mg
I love how juicy and perfectly browned your chicken looks. My hubby and I are huge fans of dark meat, so I know we’ll love it. The flavors are amazing!
I too am just in recent years hopping on the chicken thigh train. It’s a good choice. This looks easy and balsamic! Nuff said 🙂
These look awesome! I love chicken thighs, especially those are easy to prep!
I almost always go for the chicken breast instead of the thigh, but these look too good to pass up! love how simple it is to make! And you mean you don’t eat cinnamon rolls for dinner? 😉 Pinned!
I’m looking at how long you cook these thighs, is that correct? I’ve usually cooked chicken about 6-8- min side? this seems too long to me?
Hi Kay, I always hesitate to give a time, because it really depends on the thickness of the chicken, your skillet, and your stovetop. I like to go more by the feel. When the chicken is firm, I know it’s done. Hope that helps!
I made this tonight and served it with One Skillet Creamy Pasta instead of the rice. I will be making it again, and again. It was delicious. I will make it with the rice next time and decide which I like best.
A favorite here too! I’m so glad you loved it. Thanks for letting me know!
This looks delicious! But, I don’t have a garlic press, is there an easy substitute I could use without sacrificing flavor? Thank you!
Lindsey, no worries – you can just use a knife to cut the garlic clove into very small pieces. Hope you enjoy!
You can also buy a jar of minced garlic too
The chicken came out good…but my sauce never thickened 🙁 would I have had to whip up the heavy cream to thicken it first?
The sauce just reduces as a result of being simmered uncovered, so you don’t really need to do anything to the cream. Maybe yours could have simmered longer at a higher heat? Everyone’s stovetop is a little different, so exact times are hard to say. Glad the chicken was good though!
I made this for supper tonight – huge thumbs up from my husband. He rated this as a $25 restaurant entree. I loved it and it was so simple. Thanks for sharing your talent with all of us!
Cheri, I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for letting me know.
This recipe looks delicious!! Is there something you could recommend as a lower-fat/lower-calorie alternative to the heavy cream?
Thanks!
You could use half and half, and your sauce might be just a little thinner.
Even,if it’s y thinner you could probably thicken it up a bit with corn starch…. Not sure, just an idea.
Thank you for sharing this absolutely gorgeous recipe with us! I simply love the combination of chicken and balsamic vinegar. And the cream just rounds it off superbly. Thanks for the great idea! 🙂
Would this also work well with chicken
breasts? Not a big thigh fan.
Sure thing Ali! You just might need to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of your chicken.
Made this the other night and it was soo good! I’m wondering how would you modify this recipe to bake in the oven, rather than on the stove top? Having a dinner party at my house this week and would love to use the recipe, but would rather be able to just pop it in the oven so that I can be more social. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I’m not sure what temp and how long you would cook it at without having made it myself in the oven. I see how that would make it much more simple for entertaining, but I think you would still want to start it out on the stovetop and then maybe transfer to the oven to finish cooking. Sorry I’m not more helpful, but so glad you like this recipe!
I made this a while back and had to use sour creamthinned out with a little broth in place of the heavy cream. We thought it worked well! Great dish!
Tried this recipe last night and it was delicious. It was my first time trying boneless thighs and I was pleasantly surprised! I used half-and-half instead of cream and it worked fine. I also added mushrooms. Thanks!
Made this tonight and loved it! We also made your blueberry muffins which were awesome.
Thanks for the wonderful recipes.
on your picture, the rice you used looks very good. was wondering what it is. thanks
Kristina, I believe it is from Rice R Roni, wild rice pilaf.
Holy wow was this ever goooood! Scaled sauce ingredients up a bit to accommodate three teens, added a small amount of extra cream at the end. Spectacularly delicious, thanks!
So glad! This is honestly one of my favorites here on LLK. Thanks for letting me know!
I never leave comments, but I have to with this one. I just made this tonight after pinning it a while ago, and it was SO good! Thanks for the great recipe. I will definitely be making this again and often!
Thanks for letting me know Marie! So glad you loved it.
I just had to comment. I cook my lunch to take with me to work in order to save some money and to avoid the temptation of eating fast food garbage every day. I’m always on the lookout for a good recipe, and after buying some thighs at the store on a whim, I googled for recipes and found this. I skipped the butter, used half and half in place of heavy cream, and made sure the chicken broth was low sodium. This was GLORIOUS. Absolutely delicious! The dish produces an aroma so delicious that coworkers surrounded me to see what I was eating. I will make this again and again. Outstanding. Thank you!
Love how you made it your own! So glad you enjoyed.
This recipe was just amazing. I followed your instructions and absolutely loved it. I used a 90 second packet of rice, chicken flavor. and spooned the sauce over the chicken and rice and could not believe how delicious it was. I used 6 thighs (which I love!) and have some now for my lunch at work. Can’t wait to make it again. Thanks so much !
I’m so glad you loved it as much as I do. And yay for leftovers!