This cream cheese chicken is your answer to boring weeknight meals! Seasoned with 5 flavor-packed spices, it’s creamy, indulgent & full of savory goodness.
Lately, I’ve taken on a bunch of extra recipe development work which has left me with ingredients I never typically buy in my fridge, like cream cheese and heavy cream.
There could be way more unfortunate foods to be stuck with, right?
Five Spice Cream Cheese Chicken
After a week of a tablespoon of heavy cream in my coffee (omg, delicious) and a container that was still 3/4 full, I decided something needed to be done because at that rate the cream was going to expire before I came anywhere near to finishing it.
So, this creamy cheese chicken dinner that’s maybe a bit more indulgent than my normal chicken dinners was created.
If you like spice, decadent cream sauce and a fast weeknight meal (um, who doesn’t?), this recipe is for you.
The perfectly pan-seared chicken thighs covered in a cream cheese pan sauce are drool-worthy and you won’t want to miss out on this one!
Perfect for weeknight family meals, dinner parties, or any other occasion.
Oh.. and we don’t want to forget to mention how easy it is to make! Like under 30 minutes easy.
Marry me chicken might be another recipe you’d like if creamy smothered chicken is what you’re after.
What Spices Are In Five Spice Chicken?
You’ll be happy to know that the five spices found in this five-spice cream cheese chicken are all relatively easy spices to find.
While you might not already have adobo seasoning or ground mustard in your kitchen cabinet already, they are both readily available at most grocery stores in the spice section.
- Garlic powder
- Adobo seasoning
- Cayenne pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Ground mustard
How Do You Make Cream Cheese Chicken?
This is one of those recipes to pull out when you need some dinner on the table quick, and you don’t want to jump through a million hoops to get there.
You can seriously put this whole recipe together in just twenty minutes from start to finish.
Here’s how easy the steps are:
Rinse and pat the chicken dry then combine the salt and spices in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the seasoning onto both sides of all the chicken pieces, rubbing it into the meat.
Place the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chicken.
Cook until golden brown on each side. Once browned on both sides, reduce the heat and add the heavy cream, milk, and cream cheese.
Stir to combine and coat the chicken in the cream mixture.
Let the sauce thicken then plate the chicken and pour the sauce over top.
Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
What Do I Need To Make Cream Cheese Sauce For Chicken?
While it may look indulgent and you’re probably thinking this chicken dinner is a calorie bomb, I’ve got good news for you, it’s not really!
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 cup milk (you can even use a non-dairy milk alternative here if you’d like)
- 1/4 cup low-fat cream cheese (sometimes called neufchatel cheese)
That’s it.
That’s really not so bad when divided into 4 servings yet you’re left with a super indulgent tasting creamy cheese sauce that will definitely put this dinner on the regular rotation.
That said, if you’re looking for a non-dairy, creamy and indulgent recipe like these cream cheese chicken thighs, try this dairy-free creamy mustard chicken, it’s super delicious as well!
These bacon wrapped chicken thighs are also another great option. No creamy sauce but just like this cream cheese chicken, they’re keto friendly if you follow that diet.
Do I Have To Use Chicken Thighs For A Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe?
Nope! You don’t have to limit yourself to just using chicken thighs. I like to use them because they are incredibly juicy.
You can also use chicken breasts as well. Just make sure the breasts are all generally the same size to allow for even cooking.
To keep the same cooking times, you will want to make sure whatever meat you use is boneless, if you use bone-in chicken thighs you will want to double the time cooking at least 7-10 minutes per side.
What Do I Serve with Cream Cheese Chicken?
The side dish options are endless!
If you want to keep things healthier, I’d suggest a simple green vegetable like grilled broccoli or basil mint squash noodles and a nutrient-packed starch like goat cheese and spinach mashed sweet potatoes.
Roasted potatoes are always an easy option too and these peri peri potatoes have a nice spice level that would go great with the cream cheese chicken.
If you want to play up the indulgent theme, try this cauliflower bacon gratin or this broccoli cauliflower parmesan gratin.
If you need to use up more cream cheese, this creamed cabbage recipe is outrageously delicious and decadent (it’s got bacon in there too!).
How Do I Store This Cream Cheese Chicken?
You will want to store any cream cheese chicken leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
To avoid letting the chicken get soggy, I suggest storing the sauce separately from the chicken and waiting until right before serving to combine. Reheat the sauce in a skillet on medium heat.
I don’t suggest freezing any chicken and cream cheese recipes because when cream cheese-based sauces are frozen they begin to curdle.
Like This 20 Minute Cream Cheese Chicken Recipe? Try These:
Tomato butter mozzarella stuffed chicken marsala
Sticky Thai chicken
Sriracha lime chicken skillet
Champagne chicken
Five Spice Cream Cheese Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken thighs, breasts or tenders would work too
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 ounces low-fat cream cheese, or neufchatel cheese
Instructions
- Rinse and pat the chicken dry.
- Combine the salt and spices in a small bowl.
- Sprinkle the seasoning onto both sides of all the chicken pieces, rubbing it into the meat.
- Place the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
- Once hot, add the chicken.
- Cook for about 3-5 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Once cooked on both sides, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the heavy cream, milk and cream cheese. Stir to combine and coat the chicken in the cream mixture.
- Let the sauce thicken for about 3 minutes.
- Plate the chicken and pour the sauce over top.
- Garnish with fresh parsley if desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I do love “spice, decadent cream sauce and a fast weeknight meals” so this recipe is right up my alley! I can’t wait to give this a try, it sounds like this will be a big hit in my home!
I just made this and it is amazing! Chicken is perfect and the sauce is FANTASTIC! Thank you for this recipe, will definitely be making it frequently.
So glad you like it!
Was missing a few ingredients so substituted my own, came out absolutely delicious & my boyfriend raved about it. Used chicken breasts, left out adobo seasoning, cayenne pepper, and ground mustard, instead substituted approx. 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp chili powder. For the sauce, used sour cream instead of heavy cream, and also added 2-3 tbsp of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used canned chipotle peppers & chopped them up before adding). Followed the rest of the recipe instructions and it came out super tasty, although a tad on the spicy side, so those of you who have sensitive taste buds like I do could adjust the amount red pepper flakes to taste. This was so good with the substitutions, I’m really looking forward to trying the actual recipe once I have all the ingredients!
I made this recipe in my slow cooker for dinner tonight. It was really good! Got two thumbs up from my 10 year old, husband, and even my 2 year old devoured it. I put the thighs in the slow cooker, made the rub with the spices and sprinkled on top. I used chicken broth in place of milk and poured that over top and cooked on high for 3.5 hours, then added the cream cheese and heavy cream at the end. I added a little more garlic and salt at the end but overall it was great!
While I thought that might not have been in the repeat column from my kids, it was a hit! I used coconut milk and did add a little bit of honey to tame down the spice a bit. Little strong for my 4 yr old! Served it with steamed broccoli and over mashed butternut squash. My boys devoured this meal! (14, 10, 8, 4) They asked for it to be on the once a month list. Glad I found your recipe because chicken was getting boring around here!
This recipe is perfect for keto people! I was looking for something to come together quickly for dinner on a tired Friday evening. This got my vote, as I was thinking of a block of cream cheese in my fridge. So, time to get the cheese out, remembered I used it in another dish recently. Ended up just using extra cream, and it worked splendidly. I had a package of six very small thighs, and your cooking times seem awfully short. I had to give mine some extra time in the pan. Also, I had a carrot that needed to be used so I threw it in the pan. It took to the creamy sauce deliciously. This just goes to show how flexible this recipe can be, considering the other comments here. And I agree that I prefer reading comments from people who actually made the dish. “Yummo” just doesn’t swing it when I’m trying to make a dinner decision. Thank you for sharing this, I’m sure it will make plenty of repeat performances in my kitchen!
I agree with almost everything that the last reader said. But I wanted to let you know know that this has become a staple in our house. My kids love it, and my husband and I do too. Sometimes he and I toss a little chipotle on ours to take it up another notch. Love it!
First, let start off by saying how pleased I am with reader response to this recipe. It drives me crazy when I read through recipe comments and all it says is “can’t wait to try it!”, “looks delish”, etc. I want to know how it actually cooked and tasted! So thank you everyone for good posts!
Now, the recipe was great. I love dark meat, so any recipe with thighs is solid in my book. Loved the flavor, it was easy to make, and my biggest thumbs up to the fact that it’s made in one pan. Those recipes are life savers! Per previous posters, I did double the sauce (I also had double the chicken, because let’s face it, no grocery store sells “a pound of chicken”). Everyone’s kitchen is different, so it took me a little longer to cook the chicken thighs per side (and partly out of fear of undercooked chicken).
All in all, great job. Will make it again.
Glad you liked it, Mary! :)
I made this delicious recipe tonight and my “I HATE CHICKEN’ hubby said he really liked it!! I had to look up adobo seasoning, and just ended up adding a few spices to the mix to replicate it. Hubby noticed the hint of spice in it and liked that too. I cut thick chicken breasts in half to make them thinner and to make them cook quickly. I used almond milk and half and half, because that’s what I had. The sauce was awesome! I wanted to lick my plate!
I was planning to roast sweet potatoes and broccoli anyway, so our dinner looked a lot like your photos. I mistakenly reached for cilantro instead of parsley in my fridge, but it turned out to be good on the chicken.
This recipe was so fast and easy and company worthy. Thank you!
I cook a lot, love savory recipes. Your recipe was delish and easy. I did not have adobo spice but, looked it up on pintrest and made it myself as I have a drawerful of spices. Chopped cilantro works as well as the parsley. Will definitely make again, thanks for a great meal idea! Luv the food photography, remember we eat with our eyes first!