Simple Garlic Butter Chicken — Tender, juicy chicken bathed in a rich garlic butter sauce with a splash of wine for extra flavor!! This QUICK and EASY stovetop chicken recipe is ready in 15 minutes and will become a family FAVORITE!!
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Skillet Garlic Butter Chicken Recipe
If you’re in need of a fast and easy 15-minute chicken dinner, this comforting garlic butter chicken breast recipe will be a new family favorite. It’s made in one skillet, which is great because there’s less cleanup.
The chicken is pan-fried on the stove-top and is so tender, juicy, rich and buttery tasting with plenty of garlic to provide that extra punch of flavor.
Serve this chicken with rice on the side or a nice salad, and you’ve got yourself a winning chicken dinner.
Garlic Butter Chicken Ingredients
For this fast garlic butter chicken dinner made with common fridge and pantry ingredients, you’ll need:
- Olive oil
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 21 Salute Seasoning (or poultry seasoning)
- Salt
- Pepper
- White wine or chicken broth
- Butter
- Garlic
- Fresh parsley, optional
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Garlic Butter Chicken
To make this quick and easy chicken with garlic sauce, simply pound the chicken to an even thickness and then heat up a skillet!
- To a large skillet, add olive oil, chicken breasts seasoned with 21 Salute Seasoning, salt, pepper, and sear on the first side for about 5 minutes.
- Flip chicken oven and cook on the second side for about 5 minutes.
- When the chicken is done and cooked through, remove it from the pan and allow it to rest on a plate.
- Deglaze your pan with a splash of wine, add the butter, garlic, and cook for one minute, or until the butter has melted and the garlic is fragrant.
- Return the chicken to the pan, toss it in the garlic butter sauce, garnish with parsley, and serve.
I told you this chicken in garlic sauce was fast and easy!
Tips for Making Garlic Butter Chicken Breasts
This is a super quick and easy chicken dinner that comes together in just 15 minutes. However, there are a few key things I wanted to highlight for chicken-cooking success!
Tip 1: Pounding the Chicken Breasts
You need to pound your chicken to an even thickness so that it cooks evenly. Chicken breasts have a thick side and a thin side and you want to pound the thick side so it’s not as thick.
Pounding also breaks down muscle fibers so the finished chicken is more tender.
Tip 2: Searing the Chicken Breasts
When you’re searing the chicken, just let it be. Don’t touch it, move it, peek on it, just let it sear.
After 5 minutes, check on it, and if it needs a little more time, go for it, and then flip it over and allow it to remain undisturbed as well while searing on the second side.
Tip 3: Deglazing the Pan
After searing, your pan (if using a stainless steel or cast iron pan) is going to have lots of chicken bits and cooking juices stuck to it. This is where deglazing comes in. Meaning, you add either wine (or chicken broth) to the pan to remove the stuck-on bits of food.
Adding wine or even chicken broth to a very hot skillet will cause the liquid to bubble up with lots of ensuing steam. Be careful!
Recipe FAQs
Use whatever dry white wine you have open or on hand. Chardonnay, pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, or even a dry rose is fine. Just make sure it’s not sweet. Whatever white wine you buy, make sure it’s one you’d happily drink and NOT a wine labeled as “cooking wine.” (Those just taste awful).
If wine isn’t fitting for you, use chicken broth instead. Note that the alcohol in the wine burns off and what you’re left with is a richer flavor in the garlic butter sauce.
I used Trader Joe’s 21 Salute Seasoning, which is mixture of oregano, thyme, rosemary, and more. Use poultry seasoning or a mixture of those spices if you don’t have 21 Salute. Readers have also said that Costco’s Signature Organic No-Salt Seasoning is a dupe for the Trader Joe’s spice blend.
The flavor of the seasoning is going to be masked by the garlic anyway. Garlic always wins!
Yes! This stove-top chicken recipe works with both chicken breasts and thighs. I prefer using boneless skinless chicken breasts, but use whichever you have. Just note that chicken thighs may have a different cook time. Use your eyes and not the clock!
I prefer using fresh garlic that I mince with a garlic press when making this easy chicken recipe, but jarred minced garlic works just as well. I prefer fresh garlic since the flavor is, well, much fresher — but use what’s easiest for you.
Technically, yes. But I specifically designed this recipe to be quick, easy, and made in a single skillet in about 15 minutes.
Adding veggies would complicate the cooking process and prolong the cook time. If you’d like vegetables with your garlic chicken, I recommend steaming or roasting some in another pot. That way, everything cooks at the same time!
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Garlic Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness (4 average-sized breasts)
- 1 to 2 teaspoons 21 Salute Seasoning or poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- ½ cup white wine* or chicken broth, or as necessary
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, or more if you want extra sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic, finely minced; or to taste
- 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, optional for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the olive oil, pounded chicken, evenly season with 21 Salute, salt, pepper, and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Do not touch, move, or disturb the chicken while it is searing. After 5 minutes, flip chicken over. It should have a medium golden color. For thicker/bigger chicken breasts, sear for 6-7 minutes.
- Allow chicken to cook on the second side for about 5 minutes, or until done and cooked through. Again, do not disturb the chicken while it's searing.
- Remove chicken with a slotted spatula and place it on a plate to rest.
- Using caution, deglaze your skillet by adding wine (or broth) and allow the liquid to bubble up and steam violently for a few seconds.
- Add the butter and allow it to melt, about 1 minute; stir continuously until melted.
- Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minutes; stir continuously.
- Turn the heat off, add the chicken back into the skillet, flip it around in the garlic butter sauce, and spoon the sauce over the chicken.
- Optionally garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Good stuff! I doubled the sauce and everything came out perfect. Very juicy way to cook chicky breast.
Served with 4 cheese rice and green beans. Super fast and simple.
Good stuff! I doubled the sauce and everything came out perfect. Very juicy way to cook chicky breast.
Served with 4 cheese rice and green beans. Super fast and simple.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad this came out perfect, and was fast and simple!
Very good recipe, my husband really like it.
5 star
This was quick, easy and absolutely scrumptious! My picky teenagers loved it too and requested that we make it again.
This sounds delicious and I plan on making it soon. I have a question about the “Poultry Seasoning.” My McCormick “poultry seasoning” ingredients are thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, pepper, and nutmeg. This isn’t anything like 21 Salute…which I don’t have. Do you mean something like Montreal Chicken seasoning? I just want to get it right.
This is a flexible recipe, you can really use any type of favorite chicken seasoning or poultry seasoning. I just found a reference to what’s in 21 Salute:
Onion
Spices (black pepper, celery seed, cayenne pepper, parsley, basil, majoram, bay leaf, oregano, thyme, savory, rosemary, cumin, mustard, coriander)
Garlic
Carrot
Orange peel
Tomato granules
Lemon juice powder
Oil of lemon
Citric acid
Some of that will overlap with your poultry seasoning, some doesn’t. There are so many spice and seasoning blends on the market but you really just need a well-rounded, all-purpose seasoning blend that you know, enjoy, and trust. The rest will work itself out thanks to all the garlic, butter, and wine!
I wanted to let you know that this recipe is AWESOME! I made it exactly as written and it was wonderful. I will make this often. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
I wanted to let you know that this recipe is AWESOME! I made it exactly as written and it was wonderful. I will make this often. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
Thanks for the 5 star review and I’m glad this was awesome as written for you!
Please make it possible to print this recipe without the recipe image. The recipe sounds great but to print it with the image (for me at least) wastes a lot of unnecessary ink. Thank you.
I will have my tech team look into this and hopefully find a way to do as you wish. I know some people like having a photo for reference. Maybe we can set it up to choose…not sure yet.
I made this recipe using vegan butter, chicken broth (made from bouillon), and added more garlic. My kids are very picky eaters, and one has severe food allergies. This recipe was a huge hit for everyone in my family! My kids said that this recipe was a keeper.
I made this recipe using vegan butter, chicken broth (made from bouillon), and added more garlic. My kids are very picky eaters, and one has severe food allergies. This recipe was a huge hit for everyone in my family! My kids said that this recipe was a keeper.
Thanks for the 5 star review and great to hear it was a hit among the picky eaters and that you were able to adapt the recipe for the food allergies hence the vegan butter I am guessing. Great to hear!
Thank you for this recipe! We really enjoyed this, it is definitely a keeper!
I can’t wait to try your other chicken recipes. :)
Thank you for this recipe! We really enjoyed this, it is definitely a keeper!
I can’t wait to try your other chicken recipes. :)
Thanks for the 5 star review and I am glad this is a keeper!
what did you serve with it?
Any type of rice, potatoes, side salad, roasted vegetable, etc. are great.
Absolutely delicious! But my sauce never really thickened. I made it exactly as the recipe is written. Any tips or idea of my mistake?
Quick, easy and delicious. Even my picky husband liked it. I used chicken tenderloins because that’s what I had in the freezer.
Quick, easy and delicious. Even my picky husband liked it. I used chicken tenderloins because that’s what I had in the freezer.
Thanks for the 5 star review and that’s great that even your picky hubby liked it and that the tenderloins from your freezer worked fine!
Absolutely delicious! But my sauce never really thickened. I made it exactly as the recipe is written. Any tips or idea of my mistake?
I am glad it was delicious and thanks for the 5 star review!
You can see in my photos that my sauce is by no means ‘thick’. There’s no cornstarch nor flour to thicken this simple pan sauce so it doesn’t get thick, and it adds moisture and flavor without being a thick sauce.
My 16 year old son found this recepi on Pintrest and said, mum will you help me make this, so we did last night while my partner took care of the chips and rice, wowser this was delish and there was nothing left over, will make again, thanks for sharing and hope you´re having a nice Sunday, greetings from Manchester :)