Creamy Chipotle Chicken is a simple but super flavorful 30-minute dinner with a delicious smoky chipotle cream sauce – that’s secretly healthy! Serve over rice to soak up the extra sauce!
With spring out in full force and summer knocking at the door, I’m ready to relax into a little less work and a little more play. You know, long afternoons at the pool or playground, lazy weekend mornings in our PJs in the backyard, evenings looking for fireflies and sipping on something delicious. Maybe this Hawaiian stone sour! Or this raspberry champagne cocktail. Mmm… Sorry, distracted by the drinks. Anyway, today I’m bringing you creamy chipotle chicken — a quick and easy dinner that’s big on flavor! It’s ready in 30 minutes so you can spend more time in play mode!
CREAMY CHIPOTLE CHICKEN
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This recipe is based on my chicken breasts with jalapeño cheese sauce recipe – same technique, just a slightly different flavor in the sauce. Can you tell I like some spicy and some smoky flavors?! (Go check that one out if you’re with me – you will LOVE it!) And this one too. This creamy chicken dinner – which doesn’t use any cream, by the way, so it’s still nice and light for spring and summer – is saucy and smoky and rich and all kinds of spoon-licking good!
We love serving this over steamed brown rice with plenty of extra sauce! You could also try it over quinoa or even pasta. As for sides, we love this steamed lemon butter asparagus in the spring or just some steamed or roasted broccoli or broccolini. Whatever’s your favorite veggie! Flavor up your next chicken dinner with this easy creamy chipotle chicken!
A few notes on this creamy chipotle chicken:
- You sear the chicken in the pan and then remove it to make the sauce. The chicken will be returned to the pan to cook the rest of the way through.
- To make things efficient, you can chop your onion, garlic, and chipotle peppers while the chicken is searing.
- I use 1/3 less fat cream cheese here. Full fat would work fine, too. You could substitute fat-free cream cheese if that’s what you prefer, but it’ll lose a little richness.
- I use 3 chipotle peppers and 1 tablespoon of the adobo sauce in this recipe. You can increase or decrease that to your liking.
Want more 30 minute meals?
Want more chipotle flavor?
- Cheesy Chipotle Fries
- Cheesy Bacon Chipotle Ranch Dip
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Ranch Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Ale Chili
Tools used in this Creamy Chipotle Chicken
Large Skillet: This skillet is my go-to kitchen tool. It’s large circumference and high sides make it perfect for cooking anything from one pan meals to soups and sauces.
Tongs: A good pair of tongs is a kitchen essential. I like having a couple sizes – a longer set for grilling and a shorter set for stovetop cooking.
Wooden Spoon: Wooden spoons are a kitchen essential. I keep a bunch of them on hand for every meal from breakfast to dinner.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo: These spicy peppers give a great smoky flavor to any dish!
Chicken Broth: I like cartons of chicken broth over cans. This way if I don’t use all the broth for one meal, I can pop the rest in the fridge for later use.
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 3 chipotle peppers minced
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 oz. cream cheese I use 1/3 less fat
- 2-3 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt I use non-fat
Instructions
- Heat 2 teaspoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Season chicken breasts with the salt and pepper. Add to pan and sear for 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Remove chicken breasts from the skillet to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. (They will finish cooking later.)
- Reduce heat to medium and add remaining two teaspoons olive oil to the pan.
- Add diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes, until softened. Add garlic and chipotle peppers and saute for 30 more seconds.
- Add adobo sauce, chicken broth, and cream cheese and stir until melted.
- Return the chicken breasts to the skillet, along with any accumulated juices, and turn to coat in the sauce.
- Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 7-9 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. (It will depend on how thick your chicken breasts are.) I like to spoon some of the sauce over the chicken breasts halfway through the cooking time.
- Once the chicken is cooked through, turn off heat and stir in Greek yogurt. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Serve chicken breasts with extra sauce spooned over the top, and enjoy!
Nutrition
Anna says
Made this tonight and it was great! I can’t have dairy so I subbed the cream cheese for vegan cream cheese and the yogurt for vegan sour cream to thicken the sauce at the end. I’d be interested to see how it would be subbing with canned coconut milk! Like many other reviewers, I only used two peppers and that gave it plenty of heat. I also chopped up the chicken once it was done cooking so all of the pieces could be coated in the sauce 🙂
Jan Ean says
My family and I gave this a solid three and a half with the potential for 5 stars with minor modifications.
1) The sauce is absolutely delicious – I mean killer good. I was worried there wouldn’t be enough, but there was with a little extra to spare.
2) I would strongly suggest you brine and/or marinade the chicken beforehand just to infuse a little more flavor into the meat … I suggested brining then poaching the chicken and then shredding and allowing it to soak in the sauce … my husband (brilliant man that he is) suggested we sous vide the chicken IN the sauce (which I simply can’t wait to try …)
3) We served with your Chipotle Tomato Wedge Salad (perfect for adding some freshness), steamed rice, and a side of flour tortillas (which no one used).
4) All in all, this was a darned good meal – quick and easy to get on the table and one that we’re going to try again.
Thanks SO much for the recipe
Rose says
Hi, why is the greek yogurt added at the end? Today I made some homemade cordon bleus and used greek yogurt to make a chilpotle sauce and it became kinda chunky like it had gone bad but still tasted really good. Is it because I added it from the beginning you think? Thanks
Real Housemoms JK says
Hey Rose! Yes, just add it at the end. It just makes it creamier without overcooking the yogurt.
leslie gerson says
I am dairy free- can I sub coconut milk yogurt or canned coconut milk for the Greek yogurt?
Real Housemoms JK says
Hey Leslie! You will want something thicker like full fat coconut milk for the cream cheese and yogurt to keep it creamy. I haven’t tried it so let me know how it works.