This Marry Me Chicken Tortellini creates depth of flavor with sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and tomato paste along with crispy juicy chicken and tortellini in a creamy tomato sauce.
Inspired by a viral TikTok recipe (one of the taste testers at the time declared "I'd marry you for that chicken!", hence the name), this version emphasizes tomatoes and includes hearty cheese tortellini. It is a one-pan meal that’s a crowd-pleaser: creamy sauce, tangy tomatoes, and savory chicken.
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🌟 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Crowd Pleaser: Chicken and tortellini in a creamy tomato sauce is a crowd-pleasing meal.
Lots of Tomato Flavor: This version has sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and fresh cherry tomatoes for lots of tomato flavor.
Versatile: This dish can be made in so many different ways. There’s so much room to adapt it as your own.
🍴Variations
Below are a few variations on the recipe that you can use as inspiration to adapt this recipe to make it your own.
- Meat: Make this with meatballs, shrimp, or bone-in skin-on chicken thighs.
- Seasonings: Add thyme or red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
- Grains: Serve it with crusty bread, or over short-grain brown or white rice if you want to skip the tortellini. Or swap the tortellini for pasta. At home, we often replace pasta with rice for dishes that are typically served with pasta such as this Sausage Sun Dried Tomato Pasta.
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🛒 Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed to make Marry Me Chicken Tortellini.
- Chicken Breasts: These will be cut into cutlets, coated in flour, and pan-fried.
- Salt: For seasoning the chicken.
- Flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour.
- Olive Oil: I recommend using extra virgin olive oil.
- Butter: Combined with the olive oil for pan-frying the chicken.
- Garlic: Minced and adds flavor to the sauce.
- Tomato Paste: Adds a rich tomato flavor.
- Oregano, Basil & Salt: Seasoning for the sauce.
- Sun-dried Tomatoes: Look for ones that are julienne (thinly sliced) and packed in olive oil. Strain the olive oil and only use the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Chicken Stock & Heavy Cream: The base of the sauce.
- Cherry or Grape Tomatoes: Either one works. In such a rich and creamy dish these tomatoes add an element of freshness.
- Freshly Grated Parmesan: I recommend grating the parmesan yourself (it tastes better and it's cheaper). I love the parmesan at Trader Joe’s because it's savory but not overpowering and fairly inexpensive.
- Tortellini: Choose your favorite brand. I used a five-cheese tortellini from Costco. Fresh, frozen, or packaged are all fine, just cook it according to the package directions erring on the side of al dente.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
📝 How to Make Marry Me Chicken Tortellini
Below are the step-by-step instructions and photos for how to make Marry Me Chicken Tortellini.
*Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Step 1. Prep the Chicken: Slice the chicken in half horizontally to create two cutlets per chicken breast. Season the chicken with salt on both sides. Let rest for 10 minutes if possible. Otherwise, it's fine to get straight to sautéing.
Step 2. Preheat the Pan & Flour the Chicken: Bring a large saute pan to medium heat (on an electric stove this is a setting of "5" on a scale of "1-10"). Ensure it has been thoroughly preheated. Add the flour to a small flat-bottom dish. Coat the chicken in the flour, pressing the flour gently into the chicken on both sides.
Step 3. Pan Fry the Chicken: Add the olive oil and butter to the pan and allow it to warm through (just a few seconds). Working in batches, add the chicken and cook for approximately 4 minutes. Flip over and cook on the remaining side for an additional 4 minutes. The chicken should be golden brown and crispy on both sides. Remove the chicken and set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
At this point, you can cut into one of the chicken pieces (choose the fattest one) to ensure that it is cooked through.
Tip: To keep the chicken as crispy as possible for as long as possible, rest the chicken on a cookie drying rack with a paper towel underneath to catch any grease that drips off.
Step 4. Sauté the Garlic: Turn the heat down to medium-low and give the pan 1-2 minutes to cool down from medium temperature. This is to avoid burning the garlic, which can happen quickly in a hot pan. Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute.
Step 5. Add Tomato Paste, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Spices: Add the sun-dried tomatoes (drained of any olive oil), tomato paste, oregano, basil, and salt. Stir and mash the tomato paste.
Tip: Removing the olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes creates a creamier, rather than oilier sauce. I've tried it both ways, including oil and removing it, and I prefer this dish without extra olive oil from the sun dried tomato jar. If you prefer a stronger sun dried tomato taste feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil from the jar.
Step 6: Add Heavy Cream and Chicken Stock: Add the heavy cream and chicken stock and bring to a low simmer at medium heat for 3-5 minutes until slightly thickened.
Step 7. Cook the Tortellini: Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, erring on the side of al dente.
Step 8. Finish the Sauce: Add the cherry tomatoes and parmesan. Stir to warm through and melt the cheese for 1-2 minutes.
Step 9. Assemble the Dish: Add the tortellini to the sauté pan and stir to coat in the sauce. Add the chicken and turn to coat both sides in the sauce. Serve warm with fresh basil and sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese.
✏️ Marry Me Chicken Tortellini FAQs
I recommend buying a wedge of parmesan cheese and grating it on the smallest grate of a box grater. While grating the cheese adds more work, it tastes better and melts better into the sauce. I use Trader Joe's parmesan cheese. It's not overpowering in taste and it's relatively inexpensive.
You can use whatever is available to you and cook it according to the package directions. I used fresh tortellini from Costco.
Yes, you can absolutely use pasta instead of tortellini. We do it all the time. Rigatoni or penne would be great to soak up the sauce. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, erring on the side of al dente (and even cooking it 1 minute less than al dente as it will continue to cook slightly when added to the warm sauce).
🍽️ How to Serve, Store, and Reheat
- To Serve: Serve warm with fresh basil as garnish (optional) and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. We often serve a small salad before this main dish to add in some green veggies. Or you can serve it with some warm crusty bread.
- To Store: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. I would not recommend freezing this dish. I don't think the cooked tortellini and the sauce with the cream would hold up well to freezing and thawing.
- To Reheat: Warm up in the microwave in individual portions. You can microwave for 1 minute at 50% power adding 30 seconds to 1 minute as needed. Using 50% power helps to heat the chicken evenly without overcooking it.
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If you tried this Marry Me Chicken Tortellini or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. I'd love to hear from you!
Marry Me Chicken Tortellini
Ingredients
- 2-3 chicken breasts
- ½ teaspoon salt plus more for seasoning the chicken
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon basil
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienne in olive oil drained
- 1½ cups chicken stock
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan
- 1 lb tortellini
Instructions
- Slice each chicken breast in half horizontally to create two thinner cutlets. Season with a pinch of salt on both sides and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Add the flour to a small, flat bottom dish.
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Ensure that it is thoroughly preheated. Add the olive oil and butter, stirring.
- Work to quickly coat the chicken in the flour. Press the flour into the chicken on both sides. Add the chicken to the sauté pan, working in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding. Pan-fry for 4 minutes until golden brown, then flip and cook for 4 more minutes. Remove and set aside. Repeat with the remaining chicken.Cut into a piece of chicken to ensure it is cooked.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and wait for 2-3 minutes to allow for the temperature to come down. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Be sure to not let the garlic burn.
- Add the tomato paste and mash and stir. Strain the sun-dried tomatoes and discard any oil. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt (½ teaspoon) and stir for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken stock and heavy cream and bring to a simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the sliced tomatoes and stir in the parmesan. Allow the parmesan to melt and become a part of the sauce.
- Separately, cook the tortellini according to the package directions, erring on the side of al dente.
- Add the tortellini to the sauté pan and toss in the sauce. Then add the chicken and turn to cover both sides in the sauce.
- Serve with fresh basil (optional) and additional parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Freshly Grated Parmesan: I recommend grating the parmesan yourself (it tastes better and it's cheaper). I love the parmesan at Trader Joe’s because it's savory but not overpowering and fairly inexpensive.
- Tortellini: Choose your favorite brand. I used a five-cheese tortellini from Costco. Fresh, frozen, or packaged are all fine, just cook it according to the package directions erring on the side of al dente.
- Crispy Chicken: To keep the chicken as crispy as possible for as long as possible, rest the chicken on a cookie drying rack with a paper towel underneath to catch any grease that drips off.
- Sun Dried Tomatoes: Removing the olive oil from the sun dried tomatoes creates a creamier, rather than oilier sauce. I've tried it both ways, including oil and removing it, and I prefer this dish without extra olive oil from the sun dried tomato jar. If you prefer a stronger sun dried tomato taste feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil from the jar.
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