This dutch oven chicken breast recipe is juicy, simple, and creamy, too! Grab some boneless chicken breast and make this one-pot dinner!
Lately, I’ve been just loving cooking with my cast iron dutch oven. It cooks really evenly and seals in a lot of moisture, too.
So I decided to try and create a well-balanced, one-pot dinner recipe using my dutch oven. And this dutch oven chicken breast is just that!
It’s easy, creamy, and all made in one pot. Carrots and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, with juicy chicken breasts nestled in as well. This is a 30-minute dinner I know you’ll love!
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What is a dutch oven?
A dutch oven is a cast iron pot with a lid. Because it’s cast iron, it cooks evenly from all sides, especially when your food is covered with the lid. You can use it in the oven, on the stove, and even over a campfire, too!
It’s also really versatile and can be used to make one-pot meals, for braising, for baking, and everything in between!
What does dutch oven chicken breast taste like?
This dutch oven chicken recipe is juicy and creamy, with a lot of fresh thyme flavor. It’s also very hearty, and the vegetables in this dinner recipe help to make it filling and healthy, too!
Ingredients
Chicken breasts – This is the star of this recipe, and is such a lean and healthy protein source!
Avocado oil – Avocado oil is such a heart-healthy oil and can be used for just about any type of cooking!
Garlic powder – You’ll love that the chicken is covered in garlic, and this helps add a lot of flavor to the chicken breasts.
Salt – Just a little bit of salt goes a long way in this recipe, you’ll only need about 1/2 teaspoon.
Carrots – This dutch oven chicken breast recipe is more of a fall and winter meal, so carrots make the perfect addition!
Mushrooms – Who doesn’t love mushrooms and cream sauce? These mushrooms work perfectly with this dutch oven dinner recipe and will not disappoint!
Onion – A flavor component you won’t want to skip. You don’t need to dice the onion, just slice them into strips and throw them in the pot!
Chicken broth – I always use organic, low-sodium chicken broth when I cook. It’s healthier and it’s so much easier to start with low-sodium and add a little salt in if you need to.
Flour – Whole wheat flour worked great for me in this recipe, and added a tiny bit more nutrition and fiber to this recipe.
Half n half – A cross between milk and cream, half n half is just thick enough to make a good sauce without being too heavy on the fat and calories.
Fresh thyme – If you love fresh thyme, then you’ll definitely want to use the full tablespoon in this dutch oven dinner recipe!
Substitutions
Chicken breasts – Chicken thighs would also work for this recipe, and are actually less likely to dry out than chicken breasts. They’re a bit more expensive though!
Avocado oil – In reality, any oil will work for this recipe. Try to choose a heart-healthy oil that won’t change the flavor profile, like olive oil.
Vegetables – If you don’t have carrots and mushrooms on hand, you can add in potatoes, squash, celery, or even bell peppers. You can even add in baby carrots if you have a bag of those laying around.
Chicken broth – Regular chicken broth, low-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth all work amazing in this recipe. If you’re trying to watch your salt intake, make sure to use a lower sodium broth.
Flour – I used whole wheat flour, but you can also use regular white flour. If you need this to be gluten-free, try 1-2 tablespoons of potato starch, tapioca starch, or corn starch. Add a little more in gradually if you want your sauce a little thicker.
Half n Half – Full fat coconut milk, heavy cream, or even whole milk would work fine in this recipe. However, if you use full fat coconut milk or whole milk in place of the half n half, your sauce made not be quite as thick, so you may need to add a little bit more flour to make up for that.
Fresh thyme – Fresh basil or fresh rosemary would both work great in place of fresh thyme. If you’re not a thyme fan, definitely try one of these instead so you don’t miss out on that herby flavor!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Cut your chicken breasts in half lengthwise and set aside.
- Mix together garlic powder and salt, then season all sides of your 4 pieces of chicken breast evenly.
- Heat 1 T of oil in your dutch oven on medium, then add your chicken breasts to the pot. Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 T of oil to the dutch oven and heat on medium. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and onion, and ¼ cup chicken broth to the pot. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the dutch oven, and cook the vegetables for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk together the chicken broth and flour until no clumps remain and pour over the vegetables. Add the half n half as well, stir, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn off the heat and nestle the chicken into the liquid and vegetables so the chicken breasts are mostly submerged in the liquid.
- Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, then cover and bake for 10 minutes. If chicken isn’t quite cooked through at 10 minutes, cover and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
Tips & FAQ
Yes, you can! If you don’t have an oven-safe pot, start this recipe on your stovetop in a regular pot, then at step 6, transfer the veggies and sauce over to an oven-safe baking dish. Nestle your chicken in the liquid, then cover and bake!
My dutch oven is a 5-quart size and it worked perfectly! You could go bigger, but any smaller and you may have trouble arranging the chicken breasts in one single layer.
Nutritional Info
This dutch oven chicken breast recipe is fairly low in calories, high in protein, and low in carbohydrates, too!
It’s nutritious and can easily be modified to be gluten-free, too! This truly is a healthy, one-pot dinner recipe!
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 311 calories
- Protein: 29 grams
- Sodium: 442 mg
- Carbohydrates: 18 grams
- Fiber: 4 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Pricing Info
This is what I personally paid to make this recipe:
- 2 chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs chicken): $2.60
- 2 tbsp avocado oil: $0.18
- 2 tsp garlic powder: $0.18
- ½ tsp salt: $0.01
- 4 carrots: $0.32
- 8 oz mushrooms: $1.98
- 1 yellow onion: $0.11
- 1 ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth: $1.17
- ¼ cup flour: $0.05
- ½ cup half n half: $0.34
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves: $0.25
The total amount for this recipe comes out to be around $7.19 or roughly $1.80 per serving! This recipe is perfect on a budget!
Sides
Some amazing sides to serve with this chicken in the dutch oven:
- Air fryer delicata squash
- Air fryer asparagus
- Acorn Squash Salad
- Roasted frozen vegetables
- Mashed potatoes
- Side salads
- Homemade bread
Other One Pot Recipes
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Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments below! I would really appreciate your feedback!
Recipe
Dutch Oven Chicken Breast and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs chicken)
- 2 tbsp avocado oil divided
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 4 carrots chopped
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 1 ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ cup half n half
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Cut your chicken breasts in half lengthwise and set aside.
- Mix together garlic powder and salt, then season all sides of your 4 pieces of chicken breast evenly.
- Heat 1 T of oil in your dutch oven on medium, then add your chicken breasts to the pot. Cook about 3-4 minutes on each side until browned. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add the remaining 1 T of oil to the dutch oven and heat on medium. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and onion, and ¼ cup chicken broth to the pot. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the dutch oven, and cook the vegetables for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk together the chicken broth and flour until no clumps remain and pour over the vegetables. Add the half n half as well, stir, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn off the heat and nestle the chicken into the liquid and vegetables so the chicken breasts are mostly submerged in the liquid. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves, then cover and bake for 10 minutes. If chicken isn't quite cooked through at 10 minutes, cover and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
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Nutrition
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Dutch oven chicken breast and vegetables makes for a perfect winter meal that will be done in 30 minutes! It’s creamy, healthy, and the best weeknight dinner idea!
xoxo Megan
It was horribly bland. I mean, I knew that going in because there was so few ingredients and so little spice. I don’t know what could save this recipe. Maybe garlic powder and Dijon mustard as one person suggested. Maybe more herbs. But I would never make it again without major modifications.
I’m so sorry it turn out the way you expected or would have liked! I have been thinking myself that adding dijon mustard would be a great addition to this recipe!
I have made your recipe twice. The first time I followed the recipe. The second time I decided to eliminate the carrots. I also wilted in spinach at the end of the baking (this really turned out well with the cream sauce). I served roasted carrots, zucchini, and onion as a side dish along with mashed potatoes. It was a nice combination.
I’m so glad you loved it! What a great idea using spinach! 🙂
I made this last night and the flavor was good but it was missing something. We can not put our finger on it, but maybe pasta or roasted potatoes. I am not sure. but is it a good start for main course. I will defiantly make again when I can figure out what to make with it.
I’m glad you liked it! It goes really well with potatoes or rice! 🙂
Sounds SO yummy. SILLY QUESTION – how to you prepare the mushrooms? Just rinse & wipe with towel? Do you need to cut any part of the mushroom off? We just started incorporating mushrooms in recipes and use to cut off the stem, then try to clean around the inside..I don’t think this is right lol. THANKS SO MUCH!
I just rinse the mushrooms, wipe them clean, then cut them. You can leave the stem on or cut it off, it’s your choice!
I made this recipe to the T and my boyfriend and I were not impressed. I’m happy the chicken isn’t dry but I found this dish to have very little flavor. We added more garlic powder, salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, and a little more half and half and baked it for another few minutes and that helped a little. I will probably look for a different recipe in the future.
This was very easy to make, with very straight forward instructions, and it worked great with a Dutch oven. It just came out more bland than I was anticipating.
I’m sorry to hear that it turned out so bland for you, but I’m glad you were able to revive it. The dijon mustard sounds great! 🙂
I looked through a lot of dutch oven recipes to find this one. In comparison to the others I looked through, this recipe has very straightforward instructions and very reusable ingredients. I made something delicious on the first try with new equipment and having only really made a dutch oven-esque recipe once in the past. I’m sure experienced cooks would enjoy this, but as someone new I really appreciated the role this recipe has filled for me. I’m sure I’ll make it again too and fool around with the ingredients as you suggest.
Thanks!
such an easy and fuss free recipe! I love how there’s minima washing up to do as well! great flavours.
I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
What an absolutely beautiful dish! Perfect one pan meal, and this looks so simple to prepare. Thanks for the recipe!
This is classic comfort food perfect for autumn days! I love a good one-pot meal!
Oh me too! Thank you Cynthia 🙂
I have been wanting to get a dutch oven and now I will have to. This looks and sound amazing!
This is my sort of dinner and looks so easy and delicious for a weeknight too!
Some of us with bad backs have trouble using heavy cast iron. Could this recipe be abdapted for a slow cooker or insta-pot? Sounds delicious! 😊
I totally understand that! For the slow cooker, I, think this recipe would work AMAZING, the chicken would probably turn out perfect after 4-6 hours on high. The Instant Pot would be a great option, too, but I haven’t experimented with this recipe using the Instant Pot so I’m unsure on the cook time. Maybe start with 10 minutes and see if your veggies are tender and the chicken is cooked through? Hope that helps!