Chicken Artichoke Skillet Dinner

Don't you just love a dinner that can be made in one skillet? Busy weekdays can beg us to call for take-out, right? But having a recipe like Chicken Artichoke Skillet Dinner on the menu plan can save the day!

Something Spring does right is delicious vegetables like sweet peas, young lettuces, and artichokes. Man, if I could just get artichokes year round! I guess I can, if I buy them canned, right?! Or jarred, as I prefer. This recipe calls for jarred ones just to make your life easier, but you can totally use fresh ones that you've cooked up yourself.

How to make Chicken Artichoke Skillet Dinner

To make the Chicken Artichoke Skillet dinner, start out by browning the chicken. I like to use chicken thighs, but since I'm married to someone who prefers white meat, I usually prepare both thighs and breasts. I cut the chicken breasts in half so that they cook in about the same time as the thighs. 

Remove the chicken from the pan after browning and add the onion and red pepper flakes. Scrape up any chicken bits left in the skillet. There's lots of flavor in them!

The artichokes, lemon zest, and oregano are added just to warm through and bring out the fragrances, then the white wine and chicken broth are added and reduced a little. Finally, some cherry tomatoes join the party.

Nestle the chicken back to the pan to finish the cooking.

Cover the skillet and cook another 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Use a thermometer to test the temperature ... it should be 165F in the thickest part.

How to make the cream sauce

After whisking the Dijon into the cream, you need to temper it, (which means bringing it to a warmer temperature) especially if it's cold directly from the fridge. You can do this a few ways ... here are a couple of my favorite ways:

• Leave it sitting out to come to room temperature.
• Put some of the vegetable mixture from the hot pan into the cream to allow both temperatures to have happy hour and ease into the evening.

Pour the cream around the chicken and vegetables and heat on low or turn the heat off completely and allow the residual heat to bring the cream to the temperature needed for serving.

If you're going for a rustic dinner experience, serve it straight from the cast iron skillet. If you want to be more refined, put it all on a beautiful platter!

Recipe

Chicken Artichoke Skillet Dinner

Adapted from splendidtable.org who copied from Dinner: The Playbook by Jenny Rosenstrach.

Simple enough to make on a weeknight, impressive enough to serve to guests!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 1⅓ pounds chicken thighs (bone-in or boneless) salted and peppered
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• ¼-½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 small onion chopped (about ½ cup)
• 8 ounces canned artichoke hearts drained and sliced lengthwise
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½  cup chopped grape tomatoes (or ½ cup canned diced tomatoes)
• ½  cup white wine
• ½  cup chicken broth
• ⅓  cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

 

• In a large skillet, brown the chicken pieces in the olive oil over medium-high heat, in batches if necessary, 2 to 3 minutes per side. They do not have to cook through.
• Remove the chicken, reduce the heat to medium, and add the red pepper flakes and the onions. Cook for a minute or two, scraping up any brown bits left over from the chicken. Keep those brown bits in the pan -- they add lots of flavor.
• Add the artichoke hearts, lemon zest, oregano, and salt and black pepper. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes then stir in tomatoes.
• Nestle the chicken thighs among the vegetables, then add the wine and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
• Cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through.
• While the chicken mixture is simmering, whisk the cream and mustard together in a small bowl. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the creamy mustard sauce. Serve topped with parsley or thyme.
• Bon Appétit!

Keyword artichokes, chicken, cream, cream sauce, mustard