Healthy Marry Me Chicken Recipe
Published Dec 15, 2022 Updated Aug 11, 2025
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
A healthier version of the trending “Marry Me Chicken” recipe. Same delicious chicken, but made completely dairy-free, gluten-free, and can be tailored to be Whole30, Paleo, and Low-carb! Your guests will definitely want to “marry me” for this recipe!
Why You’ll Love This Marry Me Chicken Recipe
Marry Me Chicken is tender, juicy chicken coated in flour and drenched in a sundried tomato, white wine cream sauce, parmesan cheese, and topped with fresh basil. I mean, that sounds absolutely fabulous, right? But, so many of us can’t enjoy this ingredient list for various reasons. So, in Healthy Little Peach style, I set out to make a cleaner, healthier version that fits more diets and lifestyles!
The result? An insanely delicious chicken recipe sans flour, milk, cheese, and wine- but STILL SO GOOD! And the best part is, this recipe is Whole30, Keto, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and all-around healthier for you. Yum!
If you’re looking for healthy, delicious chicken recipes, try this Creamy Italian Chicken Soup, this Chicken Pot Pie Casserole, or this Creamy Chicken and Tomato Bake.
Table of Contents
Ingredients You’ll Need
- chicken breasts: For this recipe, I used 4 chicken breasts. If preferred, you can butterfly the chicken breasts to make them thinner. Be aware that this will affect the cooking time.
- olive oil
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- minced garlic: You can mince fresh garlic cloves or use a jar of minced garlic, whichever you have on hand.
- oregano
- shallot
- red pepper flakes: Use more or less depending on your spice preference.
- chicken broth: If you don’t have chicken broth on hand, you can substitute veggie broth.
- canned coconut milk or original Nutpods: Choose one of these if you want to make a dairy-free version. If preferred, you can use regular heavy cream.
- sun-dried tomatoes: You can buy these jarred at most local grocery stores. Make sure to chop them for this recipe.
- nutritional yeast: This is a swap for the cheese in this recipe. It’s a protein-packed seasoning that adds a cheesy, nutty flavor without any dairy!
- fresh basil
How to Make Marry Me Chicken
Step 1: Cook the Chicken: Season the whole chicken breast with salt and pepper. Add a large skillet over medium/high heat, along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Once the oil is heated, add the chicken and cook for about 6 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
Step 2: Once done cooking, transfer the chicken to a plate. Set aside.
Step 3: Make The Sauce: To the skillet with the chicken breast drippings, add the garlic and shallots and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Step 4: Add in the chicken broth and deglaze the pan.
Step 5: Add the coconut milk, sundried tomatoes, nutritional yeast, and seasonings.
Step 6: Combine the sauce ingredients.
Step 7: Transfer the fully cooked chicken back to the skillet with the cream sauce. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook until the internal temperature of the chicken breast reaches 165°F.
Step 8: Garnish chicken with fresh basil. If you are not dairy-free top it with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Recipe FAQs
Typically, it is made with white wine. But for my recipe, I left it out to make it friendly for multiple diets and lifestyles like Whole30 and Paleo. I promise you won’t even notice it’s gone!
Because your guests will literally want to marry you for this chicken recipe! It’s that good, and according to tradition, that’s where the name comes from.
Absolutely! You can use heavy cream in place of the coconut milk and regular butter instead of dairy-free butter. If you replace the dairy-free, it will no longer be Paleo or W30.
More Recipes You’ll Love
Quick Meals
Steak Burrito Bowl (Chipotle Copycat)
Breakfast & Brunch
High Protein Sausage & Egg Breakfast Pizza Recipe
Follow on Instagram
If you love this recipe, please give it a star rating and leave a comment below! Follow me on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram for more!
Healthy Marry Me Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 shallot diced
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp vegan butter
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- Garnish with basil leaves
Instructions
- Prepare the Chicken: If your chicken breasts are thick, slice them in half horizontally for quicker, even cooking. Pat dry and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Sear the Chicken: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add chicken and sear for 5–6 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cooked through (internal temp should reach 165°F). Transfer to a plate and cover loosely to keep warm. (For the photos, I want to make sure they are golden, no burned but have a pretty color to them.
- Make the Sauce: In the same skillet, melt vegan butter. Add garlic, shallots, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Sauté for 30–60 seconds until fragrant and lightly golden.
- Build the Creamy Base: Pour in chicken broth and stir in coconut milk, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and nutritional yeast. Simmer for 2–3 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce slightly and the flavors to blend.
- Thicken: Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer 1–2 more minutes until the sauce thickens and becomes glossy.
- Serve: Add over gluten-free noodles, spaghetti squash, mashed potatoes, or cauliflower mash. If you are not paleo, you can serve over jasmine or brown rice.
Notes
Expert Tips
- If you’re not dairy-free or paleo/w30, feel free to substitute heavy cream for coconut cream. You can also substitute parmesan cheese for nutritional yeast.
- If preferred, you can butterfly the chicken breasts to make them thinner. Be aware that this will affect the cooking time
Storage Tips
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Reheat, serve over your favorite side, and garnish with fresh basil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
We had this last night and it was absolutely delicious just like all your other recipes we have tried. We will keep this one in our meal rotation.
This is so awesome to hear. Thank you so much!
This recipe was so flavorful. Both my husband and I really enjoyed it. He said I could make it again. 😍
It doesn’t say to but we used an immersion blender to blend it all together. My sister, my 7 year old and I enjoyed this so much.
I’m so happy it worked out well for you all!
Just made this, super super good 🙂 I had to throw out my chicken breasts but was able to use pre-made grilled chicken strips and adjusted a bit, and it worked just fine. Made with tortellini as well, def gonna make again! I used vegetable stock, 1/3rd coconut milk, grated parmesan instead of nutritional yeast. Thanks for this!
So happy it worked out. I love that you used grated parmesan. I bet that was so good! Thanks for the review.
Yum! This was a delicious, quick and easy weeknight meal! Highly recommend!
Accidentally dumped the whole can of coconut milk in, but just let it simmer a little more and it came out perfectly. Picky husband said I need to make it again!
That’s wonderful to hear—thank you for sharing your experience!
I’m out of nutritional yeast. Any tips?
If you’re not dairy-free, you can easily swap nutritional yeast for parmesan cheese.