This Tuscan Chicken and Potatoes casserole is an extremely satisfying dish. Crispy chicken and potatoes with spinach, sun dried tomatoes and bacon bits, all smothered in a creamy Parmesan sauce. Doesn’t that sound amazing?
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Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Amazing Garlic Parmesan Sauce
Alright guys, this dish really is outstanding. It combines so many amazing flavors… This creamy garlic Parmesan sauce with bacon over a tagliatelle pasta was a “go to” of mine, ever since I was living in Poland, and it’s always been a big hit. I used to fry up some bacon, then add garlic and cream, cook for a bit, and add finally cheese at the end. Then I’d toss it with some tagliatelle pasta and that was it.
I decided to use this sauce in this Creamy Tuscan Chicken casserole dish (affiliate link) and then dress it up a little bit. The result is really awesome. For this recipe, I also added sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. And because bacon makes everything better, I have added it at the end so it remained crunchy.
So how do you prepare this Tuscan Chicken and Potatoes?
Mind you, this is not that kind of “throw everything together” in one pot and you’re done a type of meal. It requires a few steps, but the extra effort is totally worth it.
- You’ll need to brown the chicken;
- Then you’ll need to pre-boil your potatoes;
- Next, you’ll need to make a sauce;
- Finally, you’ll need to fry up bacon bits
But all these steps are actually pretty easy, and the effort will result in a super tasty dinner. The reason why you need to brown your chicken is simple – you want the nice crispy skin. But you may wonder why you have to pre-boil the potatoes. Here again, the answer is simple – they will just not cook through in the time needed to cook your chicken. The potatoes either need direct heat from the oven or water to get cooked in 30-40 minutes.
This creamy Tuscan garlic sauce is very thick, and the potatoes will be submerged which means no direct heat from the oven. But they will be submerged in a thick sauce that fails to produce enough liquid for the potatoes to absorb in a short period of time.
If you really want to cook potatoes in the same pan from the beginning-to-end, you can slice them thin (like in this Potato Leek Casserole), take out the chicken from the oven once cooked, cover and let it rest, and then cook your potatoes until fork tender. But be warned, that it may take a while and your chicken can get cold.
So the easiest way to have all these flavors bend and cook everything evenly within the same period of time is to pre-boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes.
What goes into this Tuscan Chicken and Potatoes casserole?
The ingredients are very simple:
- Chicken thighs;
- Potatoes;
- Garlic;
- Heavy cream;
- Sun-dried tomatoes;
- Spinach;
- Parmesan cheese; &
- Bacon.
As you can see the ingredients list is very simple and quite possibly you may already have everything you need in your pantry. The recipe is also very simple, but again it requires a few steps to make it perfect. My husband LOVED the dish and even my 1-year old son as well. That says a lot! Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
What to serve this Creamy Tuscan Chicken with
This dish is pretty heavy so you may want to serve it with a light salad like this Carrots and Apple Slaw, Greek Horiatiki Salad; or any other salad that you may find in this awesome compilation of 35 Amazing Detox Salads.
What Chicken is the best for this casserole?
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What equipment you’ll need to make this dish?
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- Cast Iron Pan, to brown your chicken and make a sauce; I use these cast iron pans
all the time.
- Pot, to boil the potatoes; I have this pot
and I really like it as the lid has little wholes which makes it easy to drain the potatoes.
- Casserole dish (affiliate link)
to cook everything together.
all the time.
and I really like it as the lid has little wholes which makes it easy to drain the potatoes.
to cook everything together.I hope you will give this Tuscan Chicken and Potatoes casserole a try and will love it as much as we did.
Other awesome Italian Recipes:
- Penne Alla Vecchia Bettola
- Easy Shrimp Scampi Spaghetti
- Lemon Basil Pesto Sauce
- Classic Margherita Pizza
- Italian Rice Salad with Tuna
- Italian Antipasto Skewers
Tuscan Style Chicken and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 6 Chicken Thighs
- 2 cups Potatoes red or creamers, cut up in small chunks
- 2 tbsp Oil for frying
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1.5 cups Heavy cream
- 1/3 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes cut into strips
- 2 cups Spinach
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 2 slices Bacon chopped
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sweet paprika
- Cooking Spray
- Parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 F;
- In a pot bring a water to boil, add a teaspoon of salt and add cut up potatoes; cook them for approximately 15 minutes, then drained and set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a cast iron skillet or other heavy pan;
- Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and sweet paprika;
- Add chicken to the skillet and cook on each side until browned for approximately 3-4 minutes;
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and set aside;
- Discard all but a tablespoon of fat from the skillet and add garlic. Cook for about a minute and then pour in the heavy cream.
- Let the cream cook for a couple of minutes until thickened up (about 5 minutes). Then add spinach and sun dried tomatoes and mix well;
- Turn off the heat and add Parmesan Cheese, mix until melted and well combined with the sauce. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.
- Prepare a casserole dish big enough to hold 6 chicken thighs and potatoes; spray it generously with cooking spray;
- Add potatoes to the casserole dish; pour the sauce over the potatoes and place chicken on top of it;
- Transfer the dish into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and internal thermometer shows 165F and the potatoes are fork tender.
- While your chicken and potatoes are baking, add cut up bacon to a clean skillet and cook until golden brown and crispy;
- Once the chicken and potatoes are cooked, remove casserole dish from the oven, sprinkle with bacon and parsley and serve immediately. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Here are other chicken recipes that you may want to try:
Chicken Provencal with Shallots and Garlic
Greek Chicken with Tomatoes, Cauliflower and Feta
Chicken Tomato Basil Rigatoni Recipe
Slow Cooker Whole Roasted Chicken
One Pot Chicken Saffron Rice with Peas and Olives
Read about the author Edyta here or follow Eating European on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
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I love dishes like this that just get chucken in the oven. They make mid-week meals so much easier!
It would be great for mid-week dinner.
Now this is my kind of dish! Bacon and creamy sauce added to anything makes it a winner in my book.
Mine too! Couldn’t agree more 🙂
Oh my! I’m not sure which part I like better! The creamy parm sauce, the bacon? I just can’t decide! Great pairing of flavors you have here!
Thank you! It really tastes amazing!
Ooooooh yum! This recipe is being printed RIGHT NOW. I have to make it for dinner tonight.
Thank you so much Maggie!
This looks like a seriously fabulous recipe that I need to try!
Thank you Jill
I just scheduled this recipe (Tuscan-style chicken and potatoes) to be shared on my recipes page, Welcome to My Kitchen – I look forward to trying this 🙂
Thanks Karen
Made for dinner last night, delicious, the bacon really adds to the dish, , I used boneless chicken breasts cut in half so looked like a chicken thigh, just something I prefer, , also added some sautéed baby Bella mushrooms I had on hand, that Parmesan sauce was so yummy, Very flavourful dish that will be in my regular rotation, Thank you Edyta
Perfect. I’m so glad you liked it. I like the addition of baby bella mushrooms. Next time I will add to mine too 🙂
Wow this looks truly delicious, my kinda food!
Thank you Emily
Rustic meals are the best in my opinion so full of flavor and so comforting. I need to make this Tuscan chicken of yours =)
Thank you Adriana!
Wow! Pinned this one. I can’t wait to try it out. That sauce, not to mention BACON, has me drooling!!
Thank you Leslie!
What a great chicken dinner! The flavors sound absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to try!
Thank you Jessica
You had me at creamy garlic sauce. This recipe doesn’t only look delicious; it’s also so easy to make. Definitely the perfect weeknight meal.
Can this be frozen?
I don’t see why not. After that you can either defrost it and then place in oven proof dish and heat up. You may need to add a little bit of water if the sauce is too thick. Or you can freeze in a container that can go to the oven straight from the freezer. But again, look for the thickness of the sauce and add some liquid if needed. I hope that helps.
Hi Edyta, I’m not great cook but i love to cook. That’s why I follow Pinterest. Your chicken dish looks great so I’ll try it. Question for you. I love parmesan cheese but find a bit salty. Trying to watch my salt intake. Can you suggest another flavorful cheese that is not as salty? I’ll try the parmesan first. But I am looking for an alternate cheese. I’ll let you know how it turnes out.
Hi Vernon, try Parmesan first but not the one in pasta isle fake type. Buy a real deal (Parmeggiano Reggiano) and grate it yourself or find the store that grates it in house (even Trader Joe’s has a pretty good one). I would just not add any salt to the sauce at all. Add a little bit of cheese at the time and taste it. Real Parmesan has actually some sweetness to it. If you want to try a different cheese, I would suggest Gruyere. They’re both a little nutty and that’s what you want in this sauce. Let me know how it turned out for you. I hope you will like this dish!
Just made this dish and loved the flavours of it! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thank you Sandra. I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
This was absolutely wonderful! I will be making it again- for company next time! I cooked the bacon with the chicken breasts in the skillet, because who doesn’t want more bacon flavor in their chicken and delicious sauce! Thank you for a great meal!
Thank you so much! I’m very happy you loved this dish 🙂
This was so tasty!!! BUT….I made these changes to make for much less cleanup. Started first with the thighs in a cast iron skillet (or any oven safe pan). When done I removed and did the cream sauce. After all was added I threw in my potatoes, gave it a stir then placed the chicken on top. Threw in the oven and baked for 40 mins. One pan and done! Which the hubby liked since he does the dishes afterwards. The skin was beautifully crispy! I think next time I will use half and half since the cream just seemed a bit too heavy. And I totally forgot to add the bacon…doh! Flavors were spot without it so it wasn’t really missed. Thank you!!
Thank you so much Traci, I’m so glad it came out well for you. I didn’t put the potatoes with the chicken as they tend to not cook as fast as the chicken. I’m glad it worked for you 🙂
Currently in the oven and everyone keeps wandering in the kitchen to ask if it’s almost done. This dish is going to definitely be a hit. Thank you for the beautiful recipe!
Thank you Jessica. I hope you guys will like it!
I made this for dinner earlier in the week and it was SO good!! Definitely a keeper recipe.
Thank you so much Julie! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Just thought I’d tell you, and maybe you can edit, but in your article where it says What’s in this – you list Chicken tights not Chicken thighs.
Beyond that your recipe looks amazing!! I’m planning on making it for dinner. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for pointing this out Colleen 🙂
I made this tonight, and it was so delicious, I severed it with steamed broccoli, I had to leave a comment and say how nice it was, and so easy to make
Thank you so much!
This was delicious! I switched it up a little. I used a Tuscan Herb blend with salt and pepper on chicken when I sauteed it. I also added a large sweet onion with the garlic. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
I’m glad you liked it 🙂
AMAZING!!!
Thank you!