Creamy Keto Tuscan Chicken
Published August 31, 2020 • Updated July 20, 2026
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This creamy tuscan chicken is the one-pan keto dinner I come back to when I want bold Italian flavors without the fuss. Seared chicken in a parmesan cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and spinach, ready in about 25 minutes.
Low carb tuscan chicken recipe
I make this keto tuscan chicken at least twice a month, and it’s the recipe I reach for when I want something that feels like a real Italian dinner without spending an hour in the kitchen. One pan, 25 minutes, and the whole thing comes together while the chicken rests.
The base is simple: seared chicken breasts in a creamy parmesan sauce loaded with sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and fresh spinach. What makes it work is the layering. I season the chicken heavy with lemon-pepper before it hits the pan, so the crust has actual flavor (not just salt). Then the fond left in the skillet becomes the foundation of the sauce.
Here’s the technique I’ve landed on after making this more times than I can count: lower your heat before the cream goes in. Let it come to a gentle simmer, not a boil. And the parmesan goes in small handfuls, off the heat, stirred between each addition. That’s how you get a silky sauce instead of a grainy one. A reader named Luz asked about this exact issue, and I had the same problem the first few times until I figured out the heat was the culprit.
This is a great weeknight dinner on its own, but I like serving it over cauliflower or zucchini noodles to soak up that sauce. If you’re into Italian keto dinners, my low carb Tuscan pasta uses a similar flavor profile with a different base, and my keto chicken parmesan is another one my family asks for regularly. My sun-dried tomato pesto chicken follows the same one-pan approach with a pesto twist.
One thing I love about this recipe: it actually reheats well. Most cream-based sauces break down the next day, but the parmesan holds this one together. I’ve packed leftovers for lunch and the sauce stays smooth after a quick warm-up. Reader Brandy doubled the batch (left out the arrowroot since the cheese thickened it enough) and said she wouldn’t change a thing. That tracks with my experience too.
At 6.1g net carbs per serving, this low carb chicken dinner gives you that rich, indulgent Italian flavor without the pasta or the breadcrumbs. The sun-dried tomatoes add concentrated sweetness, the spinach wilts right into the sauce, and the parmesan ties everything together into something that tastes way more involved than it is.
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Ingredients
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts -
2 tablespoons lemon-pepper seasoning
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1 teaspoon salt
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2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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1/2 medium size onion, diced
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1/2 cup chicken broth or chicken stock
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4 cloves garlic, minced
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1/2 cup heavy cream
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1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
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2 tablespoons fresh basil (juilienned)
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2 cups baby spinach
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5 sun-dried tomatoes, cut into julienne strips
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1 teaspoon arrowroot powder (optional)
Step by Step Instructions
Step by Step Instructions
Season chicken
Season the chicken breast with the lemon-pepper and salt on both sides.
- Chicken breast
- Lemon-pepper seasoning
- Salt
Pan fry chicken
In a large skillet, add the olive oil and cook the chicken over medium heat, turning once (about 10-12 minutes per side). Cover the skillet if your chicken is thick. Cook until the internal temperature hits 165 degrees. Remove from the skillet and set aside.
Make the cream sauce
Add onions to the skillet and sauté until translucent, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Pour in the chicken broth, cream, Parmesan cheese and basil. Continue to stir until cheese has melted. Stir in arrowroot powder if using to thicken up the mixture. Reduce heat to low and simmer.
- Onions
- Minced garlic
- Chicken broth
- Heavy cream
- Parmesan cheese
- Basil
Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes
Add spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Continue to simmer until spinach has wilted. Add the chicken to the mixture and serve.
- Fresh spinach
- Sun-dried tomatoes
Nutrition disclaimer
The nutrition information provided is an estimate and is for informational purposes only. I am a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.); however, this content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified health provider before making any lifestyle changes or beginning a new nutrition program.
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Get My Macros + Recipes →Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breast in this recipe?
I actually prefer thighs in this dish when I have them on hand. They add more fat, which makes the cream sauce even richer. I season and cook them the same way, just keep an eye on the internal temp since thighs can vary in thickness. My cook time usually runs a couple minutes longer.
How many carbs are in keto tuscan chicken?
My recipe comes in at 6.1g net carbs per serving (7.3g total carbs). Most of that comes from the sun-dried tomatoes and onion. I've trimmed it down by keeping the tomato count to five strips, which gives you the flavor without the carb creep.
Is this tuscan chicken gluten-free?
Yes. Traditional tuscan chicken recipes use flour to thicken the sauce, but I skip that entirely. The parmesan and a slow simmer do the thickening work for me. I've never felt like it needed the starch.
Can I freeze tuscan chicken?
I've tried freezing it a few times, and cream-based sauces are tricky. What I do now is store the chicken and sauce separately in freezer-safe containers, and use them within a month. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat gently on the stovetop. The texture isn't identical to fresh, but it's close enough for a weeknight.
How do I prevent the cream sauce from curdling?
This is the number one thing I had to figure out with this recipe. Lower your heat before the cream goes in, and let it come to a gentle simmer (not a boil). The parmesan is the other culprit. I add it in small handfuls off the heat, stirring between each addition. If your pan is too hot when the cheese hits, it clumps instead of melting. That one adjustment fixed it completely for me.
Can I make this dairy-free?
I've tested it with full-fat coconut milk instead of heavy cream, and it works but the flavor profile shifts. You lose the richness, so I compensate with a tablespoon of nutritional yeast in place of the parmesan. It's not the same dish, but it's solid in its own right. I'd add a pinch of extra garlic too.
What is 'Marry Me Chicken' and is it the same as Tuscan chicken?
They're cousins. Marry me chicken is basically any creamy garlic-parmesan chicken that's good enough to make someone propose on the spot, and my Tuscan version fits that description with the addition of sun-dried tomatoes and spinach. I've seen both names used interchangeably online, but the Tuscan angle adds those Italian pantry staples that make the sauce more complex. I make mine as a one-pan dinner, which is where the two recipes really overlap.
Can I make this in the slow cooker or Crock Pot?
I've done it both ways. Sear the chicken in a skillet first (you need that crust), then transfer everything to the slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours. The key is holding back the cream and parmesan until the last 30 minutes. If they go in at the start, the sauce breaks down and gets grainy. I prefer the skillet version because the sauce reduces better, but the slow cooker works when I want dinner ready without hovering over the stove.
Double the sun-dried tomatoes if you're taking this to a dinner party. The ratio is right for a weeknight but when the cream spreads across eight plates the tomato flavor quiets down more than you want. Brought it to a group dinner last month and someone spent the first few minutes convinced there was white wine in the sauce, trying to place where the sharpness was coming from. It's the lemon-pepper doing that to the parmesan. Most people can't place it until you tell them.
The white wine guess is so specific. Lemon-pepper on parmesan pulls that same sharp note, I get why no one can place it. And Samantha, I'd go heavier on the garlic too when you're scaling up.
Garlic in hot olive oil, onions softening. By the third or fourth time making this, that part became something I actually look forward to. Used to watch the cream sauce like a hawk waiting for it to break. Now I just let it go and it always pulls together. Still pretty new to cooking but I own this one.
I went through the cream sauce paranoia too. Glad you're past it. The garlic-onion start is my favorite part of this one.
6.1 net carbs made me do a double-take because I'd assumed anything in a parmesan cream sauce was going to cost me way more. I'd been putting this off for three weeks because cream-based dishes tend to go sideways on me (scorched milk on a simmer once, I know how fast it turns). Made it on a quiet Thursday with the chicken already thawed. The lemon-pepper step almost got cut because it felt odd for something so Italian, but it gives the chicken this citrus thing that cuts right through the cream. Kept the heat lower than I thought I needed once the cream went in, just kept stirring, and it held. Four stars mostly because the spinach cooked down to almost nothing, but the sauce is the part worth coming back for.
The lemon-pepper is the step I almost cut myself the first time, and it ended up being what makes the whole dish make sense. On the spinach, Denise, double it. Two cups vanishes.
Used chicken thighs instead of breasts and the sauce clung so much better, worth the extra minute of trimming. Next time I'm doubling the sun-dried tomatoes because they basically disappear into the cream.
That cream grip is real with thighs. On the tomatoes - I kept it at five strips to hold the carb count. Double them and you're adding another 2-3g per serving.
Grabbed bone-in thighs by accident. Do I need to debone them or can I just sear longer and let the sauce finish them off? My main worry is the cream sauce sitting on heat an extra 10-15 minutes while the bone does its thing. Not sure if that wrecks it. Worth going back for breasts, or will thighs actually be fine here?
Keep them. Sear longer on each side, then drop the heat before the cream goes in. Low simmer and the sauce won't break. Bone-in thighs make it richer anyway.
The parmesan cream sauce hit me like this little Italian place my family went every Sunday growing up. Had to put my fork down for a sec.
That cream sauce does something to people. Parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes together in that ratio just reads Sunday Italian dinner, not a weeknight skillet.
The jarred sun-dried tomatoes in oil are worth it over the dried kind, and don't toss the packing oil. Used it to sear the chicken instead of olive oil. Picks up that tomato flavor fast. Also: parmesan off-heat, or the sauce breaks. Figured both out by making it twice.
The packing oil trick is one I should have put in the recipe. You get that tomato flavor into the sear before anything else goes in. And yeah, parmesan off-heat every time.
Okay so I've been making variations of Tuscan chicken for years but this version converted me on the lemon-pepper seasoning. I always defaulted to Italian seasoning and kept skipping recipes that called for lemon-pepper because I didn't get it, and now I completely get it. The way it plays with the parmesan cream sauce is just right, bright without being sharp. I also started pounding the chicken breasts to even thickness before searing and the crust is so much better, even browning all the way across instead of pale thick spots. Tip for anyone making this: let the cream sauce simmer a little longer before you add the spinach and it reduces down to almost velvety. Made this last Sunday with cauliflower rice and I'm already planning to make it again this week.
The longer simmer before spinach is the part most people skip. I go until it coats the back of a spoon. And yeah, flat chicken sears so much better.
My wife doesn't do keto but she cleaned her plate and asked when I was making that chicken again before I even finished mine. The cream sauce with the sun-dried tomatoes got her. Making a double batch this weekend.
Non-keto plates cleaned is the real review. Double batch is the right call, it reheats well on low with a splash of broth if the sauce tightens up.
My teenager picks spinach out of everything, but it disappeared into that parmesan cream sauce and she never even noticed. She went back for more and then asked what was in it (not a complaint, she wanted to know if it was going to show up again). That's the highest compliment I get.
Ha, 'is it coming back' from a spinach-picker is basically a five-star review. She'll never know.
Never made a cream sauce before. Went in nervous. Kept the heat low after adding the cream and it just held, parmesan folding right in. The sun-dried tomatoes though. That little punch of brightness in all that richness. Four stars because I overdid the lemon-pepper, but I'm making this again this week and getting it right.
Low heat, nailed it. Try 1 tablespoon of lemon-pepper next time and taste before adding more. Two is technically the ceiling on that seasoning but it sneaks up on you fast.
My son scraped the plate for the cream sauce, and this is the kid who once cried over broccoli touching his rice. The spinach just disappears into the parmesan somehow.
Ha, scraped-plate from a kid like that is high praise. Baby spinach just collapses in that sauce - it's gone in about 30 seconds. That's the whole reason I use baby over regular here.
Made this on a cold Tuesday, my wife who picks spinach out of literally everything just sat there scraping the pan with cauliflower rice, didn't say a word. Something about the parmesan cream with the sun-dried tomatoes, it gets really thick and almost sweet as it simmers down, I think that's what won her over. She texted me the next day asking if I was making it again this week. Doubling the sauce next time.
Sun-dried tomatoes do that when the liquid cooks off - they sweeten and concentrate. I landed on five strips for that reason, any more and it tips too sweet. But yeah, double the sauce. Always.
Made this last week and the cream sauce went grainy near the end. I think my heat was too high when I added the cream. Turn it down first, or is there a trick to stop it splitting?
Yep, lower the heat before the cream goes in - let it come to a simmer slowly. Parmesan will do the same thing if you dump it all at once and the pan's too hot. I add that in small handfuls off the heat.
Made this last night and the lemon-pepper on the chicken was solid. Kept some for lunch today and it reheated fine.
The lemon-pepper does most of the work here. I go heavier on it than the recipe says sometimes. Reheats better than most cream sauces.