Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions - Tender, juicy chicken breasts, pan-seared to perfection, caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms, paired with a silky balsamic cream sauce. This dish will have your loved ones feeling like they are eating at a fine dining restaurant. The pan drippings from cooking the chicken, paired with the acidity of the balsamic vinegar and the richness of the heavy cream come together to make an incredibly flavorful sauce that also doubles as an amazing gravy.
Ingredients in Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce
Ingredients Notes
This Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions is one of my oldest, and dearest recipes. It's a quick and easy one pot chicken recipe that only takes minimal ingredients, but will have you feeling like you are eating in a fine dining restaurant. In fact, I love it so much, that I made it the cover recipe of my book Craveable Keto. Let's talk about some of the ingredients...
Step by Step Instructions
How to make Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce
STEP 1: Lightly season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.
STEP 2: In a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, add 2 tablespoons of the butter and the onions. Cook until the onions are nice and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.
STEP 3: Increase the heat to medium-high heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and pan-sear the chicken on both sides until it is a deep golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. (Chicken will not be fully cooking during this stage)
STEP 4: De-glaze the pan with chicken stock. Using a rubber spatula, scrape up and mix in any remaining bits of chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
STEP 5: Reduce the heat to medium-low to low, add the heavy cream, parmesan, balsamic vinegar, mushrooms and a little salt and pepper. Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half and thickened.
STEP 6: Add the chicken and caramelized onions back to the pan, and simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes or until it has reached an internal temperature of 165°F. Garnish with fresh parsley before serving.
Recipe Tips and Variations
Side Dish Suggestions
Frequently Asked Questions
When in doubt, use a meat thermometer. Chicken is fully cooked once it has reached an internal temperature of 165°F.
If you do not have balsamic vinegar, you could substitute red wine vinegar and add a little bit of sweetener.
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Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Pan-Seared Chicken with Balsamic Cream Sauce, Mushrooms and Onions - Tender, juicy chicken breasts, pan-seared to perfection, caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms, paired with a silky balsamic cream sauce. This dish will have your loved ones feeling like they are eating at a fine dining restaurant. The pan drippings from cooking the chicken, paired with the acidity of the balsamic vinegar and the richness of the heavy cream come together to make an incredibly flavorful sauce that also doubles as an amazing gravy.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds chicken breasts (4 total) (I get my organic, pasture raised chicken here)
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste
- 5 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Lightly season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large sauté pan over medium-low heat, add 2 tablespoons of the butter and the onions. Cook until the onions are nice and caramelized, about 30 minutes. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside.
- Increase the heat to medium-high heat, add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter and pan-sear the chicken on both sides until it is a deep golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. (Chicken will not be fully cooking during this stage)
- De-glaze the pan with chicken stock. Using a rubber spatula, scrape up and mix in any remaining bits of chicken stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let simmer for 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low to low, add the heavy cream, parmesan, balsamic vinegar, mushrooms and a little salt and pepper. Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half and thickened.
- Add the chicken and caramelized onions back to the pan, and simmer until the chicken is cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes or until it has reached an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Garnish with fresh parsley
Notes
- net carbs per serving: 6.7g
- Storage: Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: I recommend reheating this on the stovetop and adding a little extra cream to the sauce to help revive it.
- Use chicken thighs: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe, but chicken thighs would work also. You've gotta love the crispy skin on bone-in chicken thighs. Yum! (Keto Chicken Recipes)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Chicken Recipes
- Method: Saute
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 618
- Fat: 44.2
- Carbohydrates: 7.8g
- Fiber: 1.1g
- Protein: 44.9g
**Recipe originally posted January 24th 2012 - Updated June 3rd 2021**
Karen says
I do something similar to this with thick cut bone in loin pork chops and half cream and half coconut milk. Instead of balsamic vinegar I use a chardonnay. I am definitely going to put this one in the rotation!
Bobby D says
This is a great substitute for Chicken Marsala since Marsala Wine is a little pricey. The combination of caramelized onions, balsamic vinegar, and cheese is to die for. I added a little more cream and chicken broth at the end because it got very thick after adding fresh grated parmesan. Served it with fettucine (not low carb, What?!). Yum!!!
Karen Goldberg says
So good! I used a.little more cream and added ond large clove of garlic when I added the balsamic. I omitted the mushrooms as my husband doesn't like them. Served over steamed rice.
Kyndra Holley says
So happy you enjoyed it!
Brittany Patterson says
LOVE the sauce this makes! We are not on a diet so I added some egg noodles to make it more complete for my family. This has been added to my recipe book, thanks for sharing!
Kyndra Holley says
No problem. So happy to hear you enjoyed it.
Anonymous says
I made this dish for my parents and it turned out great. My mom is gluten-free so I served it over rice noodles which really soaked up the sauce nicely. I think if/when I make this again I will dice up the chicken and cook it in the sauce rather than keeping the filets whole. Not only will the chicken cook faster, it should make it easier to serve.
Side note: I used half and half in place of whole cream and it was still great!
Jannelle says
Made this for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious! My boyfriend said this recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Kyndra Holley says
Thanks so much. I'm so happy you liked it.
Anonymous says
I made this dish today and served it over angel hair pasta and it was delish.
Kim says
Wow! Also glad I missed all the drama, I purchased your book a few weeks ago and LOVE it!!! I have you on Facebook and share tons of your posts I hope I bring you some more business by sharing. Keep doing what you are doing there are plenty of us who appreciate all that you do
Autumn Cabral says
Well, thankfully, I missed all the drama, and got the recipe after you reposted it. I loved this recipe. I did have to make an adjustment. I used a greek yogurt/skim milk mixture (3:1 combination) instead of heavy cream - mostly because I didn't have heavy cream, and also to reduce some fat (I used fage 0% with 9g carbs per serving). I also forgot the cheese, and I don't think I missed it. The yogurt was pretty rich, although, parmesan does have that wonderful smoky flavor that would have added just that much more dimension to the finished product. I served this with couscous, and a wonderful meal was had by all. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe. I'm going to save it to my personal recipe box (just in case), because this one is a keeper.
rebekah moreno says
What are some good sides to go with this? (other than asparagus, which is fabulous btw!)