Juicy, tender, and full of flavour, this garlic butter chicken recipe is sure to become a real family favourite, and best of all it's ready in just 20 minutes! Delicious with creamy mash, rice, or pasta!
This tasty one-pan garlic butter chicken combines all of my favourite flavours in one dish! It's become a real hit with the kids who request it at least once a week, and it's just perfect for busy weeknights.
It's also great at keeping the vampires away!
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- Quick and easy
- Garlicky
- Made in one pan
- Freezes well
- Leftovers can be reheated
🥘 Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts - 3 lean chicken breasts cut into strips.
- Flour - plain flour is used to dredge the chicken before cooking.
- Garlic Powder
- Smoked Paprika
- Salt and Pepper
- Olive Oil - to fry the chicken strips.
- Italian Herbs - flavours the butter.
- Butter - unsalted is best and it should be softened.
- Parsley - fresh parsley adds a burst of vibrant colour.
- Garlic - 3 fresh garlic cloves to make it extra GARLICKY!
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Place the chicken strips on a plate or in a bowl and add the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix together and make sure every piece of chicken is coated in the seasoning.
Two: Make the seasoned butter by placing the softened butter, Italian seasoning and fresh parsley into a small bowl and using a fork, mash it all together.
Three: Heat the oil in a shallow casserole or frying pan and brown the chicken strips in two batches. Remove with tongs to a plate.
Four: Turn down the heat to medium, and add a little more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the finely chopped garlic to the pan and cook for a minute.
Five: Add the butter mix to the pan and let it melt in, creating a wonderful buttery sauce.
Six: Put the browned chicken back in the pan and cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
💭 Top tips
- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature before beginning the recipe. I take the chicken out of the fridge about 30 minutes before.
- Dredging the chicken strips in seasoned flour helps ensure the chicken goes nice and crispy when browned but has the additional benefit of helping the buttery sauce cling to the chicken pieces.
- Don't burn the garlic, it only needs a minute of cooking before adding the butter mix.
- If you have an open bottle of white wine, splash a little into the pan once you have browned the chicken. This will help deglaze the pan and gives the dish a boost of flavour.
- A wedge of lemon on each plate helps to cut through the rich buttery sauce.
🍴 Serving suggestions
The garlic butter chicken goes so well with so many side dishes. We often enjoy it with rice, creamy boursin pasta, cheesy mashed potato, air fryer roast potatoes or even sweet potatoes.
I usually serve it with green vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus, or a crispy green side salad.
📖 Variations
- Try it with king prawns or pork strips instead of chicken.
- Make it veggie by using Quorn pieces in place of chicken.
- Vary the herbs and use basil instead of parsley.
- Make it spicy by adding a chopped red chili at the same time as the garlic cloves.
🥡 Storage
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 48 hours. Reheat until piping hot in the microwave. The recipe is also freezer friendly.
❓ FAQS
Yes, chicken thighs could be used in place of breasts. You could also use leftover roast chicken.
The most foolproof way of checking to see if chicken is cooked it to use a meat thermometer. The temperature should have reached between 165- 175°c. You can also take a piece of the chicken and cut it in half to check the middle is cooked through. Chicken shouldn't be pink!
😋Related recipes
Like chicken? Here are some other chicken recipes you might enjoy!
- Chicken and Mushroom Stroganoff
- Pan Fried Pheasant Breasts
- Crème Fraiche Chicken
- Creamy BBQ Chicken Pasta
- Mango Chutney Chicken Curry
- Air Fryer Chicken Breasts
- Mild Chicken Curry
- Baked Cornflake Chicken Nuggets
- Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken
- Peri Peri Chicken Traybake
More delicious easy dinners from the Effortless Foodie kitchen!
Recipe
Garlic Butter Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 Chicken Breasts boneless and skinless, cut into strips
- 2 tablespoon Plain Flour
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 50 g Butter softened
- 1 teaspoon Italian Herb Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon Parsley chopped
- 3 Garlic Cloves peeled and finely chopped
Instructions
- Place the chicken strips on a plate or in a bowl and add the flour, smoked paprika, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Mix and make sure every piece of chicken is coated in the seasoning.
- Make the seasoned butter by placing the softened butter, Italian seasoning and fresh parsley into a small bowl and using a fork, mash it all together.
- Heat the oil in a shallow casserole or frying pan and brown the chicken strips in two batches. Remove with tongs to a plate.
- Turn down the heat to medium, and add a little more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the finely chopped garlic to the pan and cook for a minute.
- Add the butter mix to the pan and let it melt in, creating a wonderful buttery sauce.
- Put the browned chicken back in the pan and cook on a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
Video
Notes
- Make sure the chicken is at room temperature before beginning the recipe. I tend to take the chicken out of the fridge about 30 minutes before.
- Dredging the chicken strips in seasoned flour helps ensure the chicken goes nice and crispy when browned but has the additional benefit of helping the buttery sauce cling to the chicken pieces.
- Don't burn the garlic, it only needs a minute of cooking before adding the butter mix.
- If you have an open bottle of white wine, splash a little into the pan once you have browned the chicken. This will help deglaze the pan and gives the dish a boost of flavour.
- A wedge of lemon on each plate helps to cut through the rich buttery sauce.
- Try it with king prawns or pork strips instead of chicken.
- Make it veggie by using Quorn pieces in place of chicken.
- Vary the herbs and use basil instead of parsley.
- Make it spicy by adding a chopped red chili at the same time as the garlic cloves.
Erica
This sounds delightful and like it would be the perfect easy dinner that my kids would eat!
Beth
Oh my goodness! This looks so yummy and full of flavor! I'm so excited to give this a try! My family is going to love this!
Ana F.
Love how easy it comes together! The combination of flavors make this Garlic Butter Chicken a family favorite. Thanks for the recipe!
Dannii
Anything with garlic is good with me. The more garlic the better I say!
Catherine
This is such an easy and delicious meal! So versatile too..perfect with salads or in wraps. Love this recipe...the family will love it too!
Raymond
Super easy recipe and definitely a keeper, but as with many recipes the time given ie 20 minutes is rather optimistic for nonprofessionals,
Beth Sachs
I'm glad you enjoyed it Raymond. 20 minutes is what it takes me but I can appreciate that for some people it could take longer. The thing that takes the longest is chopping the garlic and parsley so I usually use a mini chopper to speed up the process.