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This Pan Fried Chicken with Cream Sauce is weeknight-easy but company-worthy—crispy, golden chicken cutlets tucked under a silky Parmesan-basil cream sauce. It’s the kind of dinner that looks fancy, tastes incredible, and comes together fast in one skillet.
5 Star Reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Ten out of ten, I’ll make it again!” – Shannon
“This recipe is amazing! It is one of my family’s favorites and it’s not hard to make. A note to others: DON’T try to substitute anything. Just do yourself a favor and make this exactly how the recipe says” – Christy
“Made this chicken dish for dinner tonight, it was delicious! The chicken was so tender, my husband LOVED IT! Many thanks!” – Kathy
Why I Love This Chicken Dinner
I fell hard for this Pan Fried Chicken recipe as a newlywed, when a good friend shared it with me—and it’s been a menu staple ever since. The chicken gets a quick pan crust with Italian breadcrumbs and Parmesan, then I whisk a luscious cream sauce right in the same pan with all those tasty browned bits. I even made it for my dad once and he said it was the best chicken he’d ever tasted. When we’re hosting friends for the first time, this is always on my short list.
I like to serve this dish with a steamed veggie like broccoli, Roasted Green Beans, cauliflower, or Roasted Asparagus. Or with a salad or potatoes like our copycat Olive Garden Salad or Perfect Mashed Potatoes. You can also serve up some garlic bread like our Quick Garlic Bread and Hot and Cheesy Garlic Bread.
🩷 Emily
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken – I usually go for chicken breasts with this recipe but chicken thighs also work great. Pound the chicken nice and flat for fast, even cooking.
- Crispy coating – for the crispy breading for the chicken I use a mixture of Italian breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Butter – Instead of deep frying the chicken in oil, I like to pan fry the chicken in butter. It makes the chicken buttery and crispy, plus it adds extra flavor to the pan when making the sauce.
- Cream sauce – The cream sauce is made from chicken broth, heavy cream, the flavorful buttery bits from the cooked chicken, and seasoned with dried (or fresh) basil, salt, and pepper.
How to Make Pan Fried Chicken (with Cream Sauce)
- Halve the chicken breasts horizontally and pat very dry; season both sides with salt and pepper. Place milk in one shallow bowl; mix breadcrumbs with ¼ cup Parmesan in another.
- Dip chicken in milk, then press into the crumb mixture to coat.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot and foamy, add chicken (don’t crowd).
- Cook 3–5 minutes per side until deep golden and the thickest part hits 165°F. Transfer to a warm oven.
- In the same pan, pour in chicken broth and scrape up all those flavorful browned bits. Simmer to reduce by about half. Stir in cream, basil, and a pinch of salt and pepper; bring to a gentle simmer. Reduce heat to low and whisk in the remaining Parmesan until smooth and slightly thickened.
- Spoon the basil-Parmesan cream sauce over the chicken (or nestle chicken back into the sauce). Garnish with fresh basil and serve with pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.
Recipe Tips
- Dry = crisp. Pat chicken really dry before breading so the crust adheres.
- Hot pan, minimal moving. Add cutlets to a hot, buttered skillet and let them sit until it’s time to flip. This sets the crust.
- Work in batches. Crowding cools the pan and softens the crust; wipe out any overly dark crumbs between batches if needed.
- Sauce thickness. For a thicker sauce, simmer a minute longer; for thinner, add a splash more broth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes—use boneless, skinless thighs and cook 5–6 minutes per side, to 165°F.
Chicken was too wet, the pan wasn’t hot, or the cutlets were moved around too much. Pat dry, preheat the pan, and avoid nudging until flipping.
Half-and-half works; simmer a little longer to thicken. For extra body, whisk in 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp cold broth before simmering.
Absolutely. Sauté sliced mushrooms in a bit of butter after cooking the chicken, then deglaze. Stir baby spinach into the hot sauce to wilt.
Place cooked cutlets on a rack set over a sheet pan in a 200°F oven.
Air fryer at 350°F for 4–6 minutes or oven at 350°F for 10–12 minutes. Rewarm sauce gently on the stove; combine just before serving.
Yes, you just have to swap out the breadcrumbs for a gluten-free version.
Make Ahead & Storage
If you’re planning ahead, you can bread the cutlets up to 8 hours in advance and refrigerate them uncovered on a rack. This actually helps the crust get drier and crispier. Once everything is cooked, store the chicken and sauce separately in airtight containers in the fridge for 3–4 days. When you’re ready to reheat, the chicken crisps back up nicely in the air fryer or oven, while the sauce warms best on the stovetop over low heat (just add a splash of broth if it’s too thick). I don’t recommend freezing the cream sauce since it can separate, but the cooked chicken itself freezes great for up to 2 months.
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
- 35+ Best Chicken Breast Recipes
- Crock Pot Garlic Parmesan Chicken
- Chicken Paprikash
- Chicken Divan
- Poppy Seed Chicken
- 35+ Quick and Easy To Follow Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Surely Love
This Pan Fried Chicken with creamy basil-Parmesan sauce delivers steakhouse vibes with simple, family-friendly steps. If you make it, I’d love to hear how it went, rate the recipe and drop your tweaks or serving ideas in the comments so others can try them too! 💛🍗
Pan Fried Chicken (with Cream Sauce)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs, or Panko bread crumbs mixed with Italian seasoning
- 1 1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese, divided
- 4 chicken breasts , cut into halves (8 pieces total) and pounded to ½ inch thick
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- salt and pepper
- fresh chopped basil, (for garnish)
Instructions
- Place milk in one bowl and bread crumbs and ¼ cup parmesan cheese in a separate shallow bowl.
- Dip chicken in milk, then coat with crumbs.
- In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter. When butter is completely melted and hot, add the chicken. Cook chicken in butter until browned on both sides and the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees. Remove chicken from skillet and keep in a 9×13 pan in the oven on warm.
- Add chicken broth to skillet and stir to loosen up browned bits from pan. Simmer until broth has reduced by half. Stir in cream, basil, and salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low and whisk in remaining parmesan cheese.
- When the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency, add chicken back to the sauce to serve, or plate chicken and pour sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh basil.
Notes
- Pound to ½-inch and pat very dry so the breading sticks.
- Season chicken before dipping; let coated cutlets rest 5 minutes.
- Preheat skillet until butter foams; don’t crowd the pan.
- Cook in batches; keep finished cutlets on a rack in a 200°F oven.
- Cook to 165°F internal temp; rest 2–3 minutes before saucing.
- Extra crunch: mix 1–2 Tbsp cornstarch into the crumbs.
- Crispier fry: use half butter, half neutral oil.
- Flavor boosts: 1–2 minced garlic cloves and a squeeze of lemon.
- Add-ins: sautéed mushrooms or baby spinach fold into the sauce.
- Gluten-free: use GF crumbs and confirm the broth is GF.
- Storage: keep chicken and sauce separate; reheat chicken in air fryer/oven, warm sauce gently on the stove.
- Make-ahead: bread cutlets up to 8 hours early; refrigerate uncovered on a rack.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I’m sorry to be a pain but what is the delicious chicken sitting on?
Some good old Rice-a-Roni!
What is rice-a-roni? I’m not an American. I’m a Brit.
Made this for my family tonight. They loved it! I added about 4 tsps of basil and 2 heaping tsps of minced garlic. Served it over linguine. It was a hit. Thanks for posting. It’s a keeper. Definitely 5 🌟 stars.
Ten out of ten, I’ll make it again!
This recipe is amazing! It is one of my family’s favorites and it’s not hard to make. A note to others: DON’T try to substitute anything. I’ve tried substituting some of the ingredients to make it healthier or cheaper and it is no where near as good. Just do yourself a favor and make this exactly how the recipe says.
Thanks for sharing your tips, I completely agree!
Love this! Might sound crazy but I will substitute halibut for the chicken tonight. I’ll let you know how it turns out.
It doesn’t sound crazy, it sounds delicious!
Just made this tonight and it was fabulous!!!! I will definitely be making it again and again and again!! Served it with brown rice and it was great! The sauce on the rice kicked it up a couple of notches. I was wishing the sauce was a little thicker but it doesn’t matter – it’s awesome!!! Thanks so much! Love it!!
We are so glad you love this recipe! It is one of our all-time favorites!! Thank you so much for the 5-star rating! If you want the sauce to be thicker, you could simmer it for a bit longer or add more cheese to thicken!
This was REALLY good. The sauce was delicious, although a little on the thin side. It went a long way. We also used it as a dip for jo-jos and the day after, tossed the rest with some pasta. Thanks!
Oh man, I LOVE the idea of using the sauce for JoJos! YUUUMMM! Thanks for the comment! 😀
Thanks for the recipe! Do you use regular a pie and bread crumbs or panko Italian bread crumbs? Thanks!
You can use either. Typically I use regular panko breadcrumbs but Italian would be delcious!
I just LOVE all of your recipes! I haven’t ever tried this one over the 7 years I’ve been stocking your site!! 😛 The sauce in the picture looks a little thin, is that true? If so, have you ever made it thicker? Would adding flour in the beginning be best? How much do you think I would need to make it a thick gravy? Thanks Erica!! Love you girls!
Hi Sarah– Wow– 7 years! You have been following us almost since the beginning! Thank you for being a true, loyal follower! THANK YOU!!! 😀 You rock! We will keep doing our best to bring you yummy recipes for at least another 7 years 😉 Anyway, to answer your question– Yes, you can add a little flour to thicken or if it is too thin for your liking you can mix a little milk with some cornstarch and keep adding to the gravy until it thickens up more. Sometimes it comes out thinner for me, sometimes thicker– you just kind of have to mess with it to get it where you want it. Hope this helps! -Erica
Love this. I have made it a few times for friends and everyone has enjoyed it. Being a basil lover, I added some finely crushed dried basil to the bread crumbs. I also tried it over angel hair pasta that I added fresh chiffonade basil leaves to in the last minute of cooking…yum!
This is one of my very favorite recipes too– great idea adding basil to the breadcrumbs!
This recipe is amazing! The chicken was so delicious. In fact, I made this for my family and they all loved it too. I will definitely make this again. Thank you so much for a great recipe.
I’m so glad you like it! Thank you for sharing your success!
I’m going to make this tonight! I was wanting to make rice with the dish…would the sauce compliment it? It looks absolutely devine, but I’m sick of mashed potatoes right now haha!
Yes, rice would definitely be a great substitute! Let us know how you like it 😀
How many servings does this make? It’s just me and my husband and we’re pretty bad at eating leftovers.
It feeds about 4 to 6 people, if you weren’t wanting leftovers I would definitely half the recipe.
I added a teaspoon of flour to thicken it up. I also added chopped mushrooms to the sauce and boiled it for a few minutes to cook them. I served it with French green beans and some ‘sauce-dippin’ bread.’ Both the chicken and sauce were outstanding! My new boyfriend loved it! The best way to a man’s heart…LOL.
Absolutely! Thank you for the tips and serving suggestions. I’m so glad this recipe was a success.
Do you use the canned grated Parmesan, or do you grate fresh Parmesan?
I use the grated parmesan from the deli section of the grocery store!
I made last night and topped fried chicken with sauce. It was great. Gravy (sauce) over fried chicken is an old Southern tradition and this is a nice alternative to chicken gravy. Next time I will try over boneless-skinless chicken thighs.
I made this for my family and they all loved it! Thanks for the great recipe!
Can’t wait to try the recipe, but can you please clarify if you cook the chicken all the way through in the skillet? The instructions say to just “brown it on both sides”. Thanks!
Yes, the chicken cooks in the skillet and is just kept warm in the oven while you make the sauce. I like to place each chicken breast between two pieces of wax paper and pound with a mallet so the chicken breasts are all about the same thickness before I cook it in the skillet or fry pan. As you brown it on both sides on medium, the chicken will cook thoroughly. Thank you for your question and for visiting our site!
Can I make this with thighs instead? My family doesn’t care for chicken breasts. Obviously I couldn’t pound them though.
We have never tried it with thighs, let us know if you try it and how it turns out!
Made this chicken dish for dinner tonight, it was delicious! The chicken was so tender, my husband LOVED IT! Many thanks!
Oh, my stars. This is as wonderful and delicious as I thought it would be when I read the recipe. Such an elegant, yet easy dish. This is going into the regular dinner rotation.
Yay! So glad you liked it! It is definitely one of my very favorites too!
I made this last night. In lieu of the whipping cream, I used greek yogurt (its pretty much my go-to substitution for any cream of any type) and i thought it was DELICIOUS that way. It probably doesnt have the same flavor as was intended with the original recipe but YUM! Rave reviews! Definitely making this again.
I will have to try that, this is one of my favorites so a lightened up version would be good!
What can I add to regular Panko bread crums to make them “Italian bread crumbs”?
Italian seasoning. 🙂 you can actually find it already mixed. Or sometimes I just add dried basil, oregano, and parsley to taste.
I have a lot of Panko left over & wanted to use it up! Thanks Emily!
This is fantastic. I’ve made it probably three or four times now. I have to admit that adding garlic takes this to an entirely new place! So delicious.
This is my absolute FAVORITE dish! But I need to run 10 miles afterwards or I’ll gain so much weight! Lol I can’t get enough of it!
Could the chicken be baked in stead of fried, making i easier for a company dish.
I’m sure that would be really good!
Made this for a family gathering. It was a hit! Thanks
I need to try this – looks very yummy!! I make meatballs in cream sauce that I LOVE!!!
Nice blog with great recipes!!
Have made this a few times with roaring success! Fantastic recipe. The only thing we do different is serve it over Fettuccine noodles. The sauce is phenomenal for it!
Another fabulous recipe! Thank you so much. We really enjoyed this one 🙂
I subsstituted bread crumbs with ground pecans. I also used butter instead of the margarine. This was delicious. Everyone loved it. Will certainly make it again.
I made this over the weekend. It was a hit with everyone, Said I could make it anytime. Easy to follow directions 🙂
Can’t wait to try this..all thr recipes I have read sounds so good..glad I found you new to this
This is a favorite dish in our home now. Even my pickey eaters devour it. Its pretty easy and taste like a million dollars. Thank you so much.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I didn't have whipping cream so I just used 1 cup of milk in the sauce. It tasted really good! I can just imagine how amazing it tastes made with whipping cream. I can't wait to make this again!
I just made this for my husband and two boys. We all loved it! Thanks for the great recipe. Btw, found you on Pinterest.
I made this tonight for dinner with angel hair pasta. It was so good the family loved it. Great simple dish that looks so fancy. I will link it to you on my blog when I post it. Thanks for the recipe.
http://www.thedailysmash101.blogspot.com
This was so good! I served it over spinach al dente noodles and it was delish!
This looks delish! The cream sauce looks very elegant on top of the breaded chicken breast. This is a great dish to serve to company – I bet it would be impressive.
@ Moonlightstarcafe–Thanks! We are happy that you are a new follower too!
Looks yummy! I will definitely have to make this. Great blog and I am happy to be a new follower 🙂
Looks yummy! I will definitely have to make this. Great blog and I am happy to be a new follower 🙂
YUM! Made this last night and can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!! We LOVED it!!
@ Kristen – I have.. and it is wonderful 🙂
Have you tried using butter instead of margarine?
What can I substitute for the cheese or can I just leave it out?
It would alter the recipe significantly to leave it out. That is a main part of the sauce. You could try substituting cream cheese or skinny cows if you are wanting a lower calorie version.
In the directions is says butter….I’d use butter!! 🙂
My family devoured this and complained that I hadn't made more. Thanks! Glad I found you!