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This creamy sherry chicken recipe has tender pan-fried chicken in a savory sherry cream sauce with mushrooms. It’s easy, elegant, and ready in about 30 minutes!
Love sherry? Try my Chicken Gloria recipe for a cheesy take on this dish.
Why you’ll love it
This skillet chicken recipe is ideal for date night or when you want to make something special for company but don’t really feel like spending hours in the kitchen. It’s perfect when you’re short on time since it takes just half an hour to make and has no obscure ingredients, but it tastes like it’s on the menu at a fancy restaurant.
The sauce is truly the star here. The mushrooms, cream, and sherry combine to make some magic and completely envelop the tender and juicy chicken. It’s silky, rich, and satisfying, and the signature sherry flavor is so memorable and one you’ll want to try if you haven’t before!
What you’ll need
- Chicken breasts – we’re using two of them cut into four thinner cutlets
- Garlic powder, salt & pepper, flour – for seasoning and dredging the chicken
- Olive oil and butter – for sautéing and to make the base of the sauce
- Mushrooms – I like cremini for this recipe for their flavor and meaty texture. White button mushrooms would also work in a pinch.
- Onion – sweet (Vidalia) is our go-to variety
- Italian seasoning – it’s a fragrant blend of dried herbs like rosemary and thyme that comes in one single jar. I use it in so many of my sauces!
- Garlic – you can use even more than suggested if you really like garlic. I use this press to mince it since you don’t even need to peel the cloves.
- Sherry – use a dry sherry for this savory recipe. Sherry is a fortified wine. I don’t recommend using “cooking” wines if you can avoid it. They’re never as good and can also be quite salty.
- Heavy cream – to make that luscious cream sauce
Can I substitute the sherry?
- Sherry gives this recipe its signature taste, so I wouldn’t recommend it. You could try marsala or madeira wine, but then it’d be different than intended (and you can make separate recipes with those wines specifically that I’ve linked below). White wine would work, but then you may as well make my Creamy White Wine Mushroom Chicken!
How to make creamy sherry chicken
This is an overview, and full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so they cook through faster and remain tender, then sprinkle them with salt & pepper, garlic powder, and coat them in flour.
- Pan-fry them until they’re just about cooked through, then take them out of the skillet.
- Sauté the mushrooms and onions along with the Italian seasoning. Once the water has cooked off, pour in the sherry. Let it reduce, then stir in the cream. Finish cooking the chicken in the sauce (it’ll thicken up a bit), and that’s it!
Substitutions and variations
- You could make this without the flour if need be, but I’d be sure to get your pan hot enough that the chicken doesn’t stick, and you may want to let the sauce reduce for a bit prior to adding the chicken back to the pan for the last step.
- As always, sub ingredients at your own discretion. If substituting the cream for something lower fat, it may yield a thinner and less rich sauce that’s likely to curdle, so I wouldn’t suggest doing so.
What to serve with this recipe
- Rice or potatoes are a great pairing with that creamy sauce. My Roasted Red Potatoes or Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes would go great.
- Pasta is another option. Try these Quick & Easy Garlic Butter Noodles.
- For vegetables, my Roasted Green Beans would go well. Or make a side salad with this Olive Garden Salad Dressing!
Leftovers and storage
- Leftovers of this chicken will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days.
- It won’t freeze well because of the cream sauce.
- To heat it up again, put leftovers in a small saucepan over a low heat so that the sauce doesn’t separate.
More restaurant-quality dishes
Will you make this sherry chicken? Questions? Let me know in the comments below!
Creamy Sherry Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large chicken breasts cut in half lengthwise
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Flour for dredging
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter divided
- 7 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/2 cup dry sherry
- 3/4 cup heavy/whipping cream
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so you have four thinner cutlets. Sprinkle them with the garlic powder, season them generously with salt & pepper on both sides, and then coat each piece in flour.
- Add the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter to a skillet over medium-high heat. Let the pan heat up for a few minutes.
- Sear the chicken for about 4-5 minutes/side or until golden. Transfer it to a plate.
- To the skillet, add in the remaining butter, mushrooms, onions, and Italian seasoning. Cook for about 5-6 minutes or until the water has been released and then cooked off.
- Stir in the garlic and cook for about a minute.
- Add in the sherry and scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce bubble for until the liquid is reduced by half (about 2-3 min).
- Stir in the cream, then add the chicken back to the pan. Let it cook for about 5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced/thickened up a bit. Season with extra salt & pepper if needed.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Made this for my wife and a guest. Easy to follow recipe and everyone loved it. Thank you from Qld,Australia.
That’s wonderful to hear, Dave!! You’re very welcome from Vancouver Canada. 😀
This was so delicious!! Used sundried tomatoes instead of mushrooms. Taylor dry sherry gave a really good flavor to the dish.
Thank you so much.
You are very welcome!
Made this tonight. Very tasty I used Bristol Cream Sherry. Would another sherry bring a stronger sherry taste. It was so good but I wanted a little bit more sherry taste. I do each new recipe exactly as it is. Could I add more sherry next time? Because this is going into my meal plans..Thanks so much.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Bernice! Thanks for your review. If you use a darker sherry next time it’ll have a more robust flavor. You could add a little more of the sherry you have, but then you may need to cook the sauce down a bit longer.
Girl. This recipe is a family fave. Have made it several times already and it is ALWAYS a hit! My husband requests it for his home cooked birthday dinner and his dad had it with us on my husband’s birthday, and now his dad requests it for HIS home cooked birthday dinner now too! HA! Just shared this recipe to a friend of mine now. I can’t wait to hear how much she loves it! Thanks for sharing awesome and easy recipes!
Aww I love that!! 😀 Thanks so much for your glowing review!
Oh my goodness this was amazing. I made it as written (with the exception of using canned mushrooms because I didn’t have fresh). I will definitely be making this again.
Wonderful!! Thank you!! 😀
This came out so good. I had some egg whites left so I dipped in flower then the egg whites.
Excellent!!