30-Minute Sundried Tomato Chicken Skillet

Anyone else feel like “easy” and “chicken” are two of the most sought-after words ever to appear in a sentence together? This 30-Minute Sundried Tomato Chicken Skillet is every busy person’s dream: incredibly flavorful, takes 30 minutes to make from start to finish, and uses pantry staple ingredients that don’t require a special trip to the store. Yes, yes, yes please!

One-pan 30 minute dinners have become my new best friend since Charlie was born. As a new mom who usually cooks dinner *not* at dinnertime (who knew bath and bed routines were a choreographed event?) I have been all about simple, healthy recipes. And if you’re also looking for less fuss and less cleanup, I got you covered!

10 Simple Ingredients, 30-Minute Chicken

This recipe is so simple but boy is it good. We have juicy chicken tenders simmered with sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, garlic, stewed tomatoes, chicken broth, spinach, and seasonings. That’s it! High flavor, low fuss.

Sundried tomatoes are what make this recipe special. They’re full of wonderfully condensed, savory tomato flavor- a must-have for any tomato sauce or dish. Not to mention they’re reasonably priced and last forever in the fridge or pantry. You can buy any kind of sundried tomatoes, but the type that are packed in oil and already julienned (cut in thin strips) are my favorite. They’re no prep and have delicious infused olive oil for you to cook with, a win win!

This 30-Minute Sundried Tomato Chicken Skillet recipe is:

Saucy
Full of tomato-garlic-onion-herby Italian flavors
Light
Quick
Easy to make ahead, multiply, and freeze
Kid-friendly

The Recipe Explained

In a nutshell, we’re going to caramelize the onions and garlic, brown the chicken, stir in the tomatoes and seasonings, and simmer. We’ll throw in the spinach, let it steam for a few minutes, and voile! Dinner is served. The step that takes the longest is actually caramelizing the onions, but those extra five minutes are SO worth it!

This one-stop-shop dinner would be perfect on its own or served over a bed of pasta, rice, cauliflower rice, sweet potato, quinoa, or whatever you favorite sauce-soaker-upper happens to be. We often eat it alongside mashed sweet potato and roasted broccoli, a winning combo if you ask me. A little Parmesan or mozzarella would be right at home sprinkled on top if you felt so inspired.

Customizing for Dietary Restrictions

You can easily adjust this recipe to meet most nutrition needs. Omit the chicken and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, add your favorite quick-cooking vegetables, or even throw in some pre-cooked canellini or kidney beans if you’d like. See the recipe notes for the specifics for vegan/vegetarian and low-FODMAP ideas.

3.67 from 3 votes

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30-Minute Sundried Tomato Chicken Skillet

This quick one-pan, 10-ingredient skillet dinner is a weeknight no-brainer! Juicy chicken simmered in a chunky sundried tomato sauce make the perfect topping for pasta, rice, or your favorite veggies. This recipe is dairy-free and can be easily customized for vegetarian/vegan and low-FODMAP needs (see below for notes).

Cuisine Italian

Keyword 30-minute recipe, dairy-free, low-fodmap,, Paleo

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1.25-1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders
• 1 medium yellow onion, cut into quarters and thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup (4oz) julienne-cut sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained, with 2 tablespoons oil reserved
• 2 tablespoons reserved sundried tomato oil
• 1 14.5-oz can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves
• salt & pepper to taste

Special Equipment

• 1 large skillet with a fitted lid

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the reserved sundried tomato oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Cook the onions: Add the sliced onions to the pan. Cook over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes (do not stir!), until they turn a dark brown color. Turn the heat down to medium-low, add the garlic to the pan, and cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown and softened. Remove onions and garlic from pan.

3. Brown the chicken: season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and turn up the heat to medium-high. Add the chicken tenders to the pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until the chicken is golden brown all over (do not stir in between turning, otherwise you won't get a nice sear!). 

4. Make the sauce: Add the onion mixture, drained sundried tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, chicken broth, oregano, basil, and salt to the pan with the chicken. Stir everything together and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer for 5 minutes.

5. Add the spinach: Add the spinach leaves to the pan, cover with the lid, and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the spinach is barely wilted.

6. Serve over pasta, brown rice, quinoa, or sweet potato.

7. Leftovers keep well, covered, in the fridge for 3-4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

• You can use any type of sundried tomatoes. If you buy them whole, thinly slice or dice them. If your tomatoes are not packed in oil use regular olive oil in place of the oil drained from the jar.
• If you do not have Italian-style stewed tomatoes, use regular stewed tomatoes and increase the dried basil quantity to 2 teaspoons.
• Feel free to buy chicken breasts instead of tenders. Slice the breasts into 3-4 long strips (length-wise), and try make the pieces as equal in size as you can so the chicken cooks quickly and evenly.
• Low-FODMAP modification: omit the onions and garlic, use plain stewed tomatoes, and use FODMAP-friendly chicken broth. Limit your serving size of the sauce to 1/4-1/3 cup since sundried tomatoes can become higher-FODMAP in large quantities.
• Vegan or vegetarian modification: omit chicken, use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth. Add cannellini or kidney beans for protein and increase the quantity of spinach to 3-4 cups. This chunky sundried tomato sauce would make a great meat-free pasta sauce!
• The Nutrition Facts for 1 serving (2 chicken tenders + about 1/2 cup of sauce) are: 310 calories, 13 grams fat, 14 grams carbohydrate, 4 grams fiber, and 36 grams protein.