This healthy Skillet Chicken with Grapes in White Wine Cream Sauce is a low carb 30 minute dinner recipe with mushrooms, leeks and tender chicken breasts in a creamy thyme sauce for an impressive one pot meal.
Healthy Chicken Skillet Recipe
This chicken skillet recipe sounds fancy and the flavors are layered and absolutely amazing, but you’d be surprised to hear that it is a very easy 30 dinner recipe that you can whip together in no time! Seasoned chicken breasts are seared in a skillet and cooked with mushrooms, leeks, grapes and a white wine cream sauce with thyme.
Serve this delicious Skillet Chicken with Grapes in White Wine Cream Sauce as it is for a healthy low carb dinner or add some quinoa or your favorite grain to the side. A thick slice of grilled French bread to soak up that spectacular sauce would also be a good bet.
Chicken and Grapes Recipe
If you aren’t immediately sold on the idea of eating grapes with chicken, hear me out. It’s really no different than one of my favorite holiday side dishes, Grape & Chicken Pasta Salad. Juicy grapes with their natural sweetness pair amazingly well with savory chicken, which is practically a blank canvas when cooking.
Chicken pairs great with just about any fruit. From these popular Cuban Chicken Rice Bowls with pineapple to Roasted Peach BBQ Chicken Bake, you can’t go wrong. This Fruit and Goat Cheese Chicken Bowl is the perfect example of chicken and grapes being enjoyed together in their simplest form.
Chicken in White Wine Cream Sauce
We are keeping this Chicken & Grape Skillet low carb, but that doesn’t mean low flavor. The white wine cream sauce with thyme that grabs some of it’s flavors from the bite of chicken seared in the cast iron skillet is absolutely divine. It’s hard to believe such a simple cream sauce made with only a few ingredients can be so flavorful!
Lots of people think of alfredo when they think of cream sauce, but a cream sauce doesn’t have to be heavy and thick. This sauce let’s the ingredients shine in their simplicity. Your favorite white wine, some heavy cream and fresh thyme come together with the pan drippings into a fantastic sauce.
What white wine should I use in the sauce?
There is no better excuse to crack open a bottle of your favorite wine than a great recipe. Whatever you are drinking is what you can use in your white wine cream sauce.
If you are selecting a wine specifically or this recipe, a dryer white wine like Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc is the best bet. Sweeter wines like Riesling aren’t the best choice, but will work when they are all you have.
Whatever you do, just avoid the “cooking wine” in the grocery store. There isn’t anything good coming from those bottles next to the vinegars. If you aren’t a wine drinker, make a quick trip to the liquor store and grab a four pack of mini bottles of wine.
How to cook chicken in a skillet
Using a cast iron or heavy skillet to cook chicken breasts will create a wonderful sear on the meat which adds flavor and helps lock in the juices. For this Skillet Chicken with Grapes in White Wine Cream Sauce, we start by seasoning boneless chicken breasts with skin with garlic salt and black pepper.
Add some oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shiny and hot, add the seasoned chicken breasts and sear for 4 minutes.
If you are just cooking chicken breasts, you can flip it over and sear the other side until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Remove the chicken from the heat and allow it to rest or 5 minutes before serving.
Chicken Skillet with Grapes and Leeks
For this chicken skillet with grapes, leeks and mushrooms, once one side of the chicken is seared, we will flip it over and push it to one side of the pan to make room for the vegetables. Add another generous drizzle of olive oil to the pan and the sliced leeks and mushrooms. Season with some more garlic salt and pepper.
After the vegetables cook for 2 minutes, add the skillet to a pre-heated 425°F oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until chicken has reached internal temperature of 165°F.
Substitutes for Leeks
Leeks have a mild onion flavor that adds to the overall flavors of the dish so it’s important to not skip them entirely. If you don’t have leeks on hand, sweet onions, shallots or green onions are a good substitute.
Finish skillet chicken and vegetables in oven
Remove the hot skillet from oven and being careful, use tongs to remove chicken breasts to cutting board to rest. Keep in mind the pan will be very hot from the oven!
Add the white wine and grapes to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir everything to let u any bits of flavor from the seared chicken and vegetables.
Add the fresh thyme and cream to the pan and season with additional garlic salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens just slightly. You will know it is thickened properly when it coats the back of a spoon.
What to serve with Low Carb Skillet Chicken
Serve the chicken, vegetables and grapes all on their own for a complete and wholesome meal. If you are looking for a more filling dinner for the whole family, serve it with a side of rice, quinoa or any grain of your choice. I like using microwave packs of mixed rice and grains for a quick and easy supper.
This chicken skillet would also be great served with a side salad or some roasted carrots for even more vegetables.
Don’t forget to pour yourself a glass of that dry white wine that you used to make the cream sauce! It will pair wonderfully with the light and delicious flavors of this chicken skillet.
More healthy chicken skillet recipes
If you love a good one pot chicken recipe as much as we do, here are some more great skillet dinner recipes you should be sure to check out!
- Grilled Lemon Chicken Skillet – This easy 15 minute dinner with just 3 ingredients is so healthy and fresh!
- Thai Peanut Chicken Noodle Skillet – I love the sweet and spicy flavors in this wholesome Asian inspired dish.
- Pesto Chicken & Vegetables with Burrata – Another great complete chicken dinner with veggies and a little cheese.
- One Pot Southwest Chicken & Quinoa – We love quinoa here and this recipe is a great use of it with some spicy flavors.
- Spanish Chicken & Rice – Loaded with veggies, this one pot meal with chicken thighs is hearty and tasty.
Skillet Chicken with Grapes in White Wine Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 2 pounds boneless chicken breast with skin on
- 1 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Vegetables
- 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
- 1 cup sliced leeks whites and green
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- pinch of black pepper
White Wine Cream Sauce
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1 1/2 cups red grapes
Instructions
- Chicken
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Pat the chicken breasts dry and season with garlic salt and pepper. Add oil to cast iron or oven-safe skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
- When the oil is shiny and hot, add the seasoned chicken breasts, skin side down. Cook for 4 minutes. Turn the chicken over using tongs and push to one side of the pan.
- Vegetables
- Add additional 2 teaspoons oil to pan along with mushrooms and leeks. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add the pan to the oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until the chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165°.
- Remove the hot pan from oven with pot holders. Being careful, use tongs to remove chicken breasts to cutting board to rest.
- White Wine Cream Sauce
- Add the white wine and grapes to the pan and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir to lift any cooked on flavorful bits from the chicken. Add the thyme and cream and season with additional garlic salt to taste.
- Cook for a couple minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. Serve over rice or the grain of your choice.
Macie says
My family loved this dish. It was pretty out of our comfort zone and I am so glad we tried it, it was amazing!
wilhelmina says
This dish was absolutely amazing! The flavor was out of this world!
Alison says
Creamy thyme sauce was so yummy! Loved this comfort dish.