Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet: 4 Servings

If you’re looking for a weeknight dinner that tastes like you spent hours on it, you absolutely have to try this Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet. Seriously, the sauce alone—that rich blend of rosemary and tangy Dijon—feels totally elegant, but the best part is how fast it comes together. I’m Anna, and I’m obsessed with sharing simple, flavorful chicken recipes that make everyday cooking feel joyful instead of like a chore.

I believe great food doesn’t need complicated steps. This skillet recipe is my go-to when I want something impressive on the table in under 40 minutes. We’re talking juicy chicken, a sauce that coats everything perfectly, and minimal cleanup. Trust me, this is about to become your new favorite easy chicken dinner!

Gathering What You Need for Your Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

The beauty of this recipe is that it comes together so fast because we use simple pantry staples and fresh herbs. You won’t need a long grocery list, which is why this is such a fantastic weeknight meal. Just make sure your chicken breasts are trimmed correctly; that matters a lot for even cooking!

I always like to have everything chopped and measured before I even turn the stove on—we call that *mise en place*—because once we start searing, things move quickly. Don’t skip the fresh rosemary if you can help it; the flavor it releases into that sauce is unbeatable. If you absolutely must substitute, dried rosemary works, but use only about two teaspoons instead of the fresh amount listed below.

Here’s the exact shopping list for four perfect servings of this amazing skillet chicken.

Ingredients for the Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

Item	Amount	Preparation Notes
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts	4 (about 6 ounces each)	Must be about 3/4 inch thick
Salt	1 teaspoon
Black Pepper	1/2 teaspoon
Butter	2 tablespoons
Shallot	1/4 cup	Finely chopped
Garlic	2 cloves	Minced
Low Sodium Chicken Broth	3/4 cup
Dijon Mustard	1 tablespoon
Honey	2 teaspoons
Fresh Rosemary	2 teaspoons	Finely chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Plain Whole Milk Yogurt	1/2 cup	Must be plain, not Greek style

Preparing the Chicken and Searing

Okay, let’s talk about the star of the show: the chicken. Since we are cooking this whole meal in one pan, getting a gorgeous golden crust on the chicken first is essential. That crust is where all the best flavor bits get stuck to the bottom of the skillet, and we need those later for our amazing rosemary sauce!

Don’t rush this step, but don’t let it sit too long either. We want golden brown, not dry and tough. Make sure your chicken breasts are all roughly the same thickness—about 3/4 of an inch is perfect. If they are thicker, you might want to pound them out a little bit so they cook evenly when we bring them back to the pan later.

Seasoning and Searing the Chicken

First things first, season those beauties generously. Use the full teaspoon of salt and the half teaspoon of pepper, making sure you get it all over both sides. Don’t be shy with the seasoning here; it’s the only chance we have to season the chicken itself before it goes into the sauce.

Next, get your large skillet nice and hot over medium-high heat. Melt the two tablespoons of butter until it’s sizzling—that means it’s ready. Lay the chicken breasts gently into the hot pan. You should hear a good, satisfying sizzle right away! Cook them for about four to five minutes on the first side until they get that beautiful golden crust we talked about. Flip them carefully and sear the second side for another four to five minutes. Once they look perfectly browned, transfer them immediately to a clean plate and set them aside. They won’t be fully cooked yet, but they are perfectly seared!

Building the Flavor Base for the Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

Now that our chicken is resting, we get to the really fun part: making that incredible sauce right in the same pan! All those little browned bits left over from searing the chicken—we call that *fond*—are pure flavor gold. We need to scrape every last bit of that up to build the foundation for our Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet sauce. Don’t even think about wiping the pan clean!

This step is quick, so make sure everything else is ready to go. We are going to lower the heat slightly because we don’t want to burn our aromatics, just coax out their flavor. This is where the shallots and garlic come in to make the whole kitchen smell amazing.

Sautéing Shallots, Garlic, and Deglazing

Reduce your heat down to medium now. Add your finely chopped shallot and the minced garlic right into the skillet where the chicken drippings are still lingering. Cook them for just a minute or two until they soften up and you can really smell that garlic—but stop before they turn dark, okay? Burnt garlic tastes bitter, and we want sweet and savory!

Once they are fragrant, pour in the 3/4 cup of low-sodium chicken broth. This is the magic moment! Take a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula and scrape the bottom of the pan firmly. You’ll see all those wonderful browned bits lift right off and dissolve into the broth. That’s the backbone of our sauce flavor right there.

Mixing the Rosemary Dijon Sauce Components

With the broth swirling and bubbling gently, it’s time to bring in the tang and the sweet notes. Stir in the tablespoon of Dijon mustard and the two teaspoons of honey. I love the little bit of sweetness the honey adds; it really balances the sharpness of the mustard perfectly.

Next, toss in half of your finely chopped fresh rosemary. Remember, we save the other half for garnish at the end. Stir this mixture until everything is fully incorporated and the sauce is looking cohesive. It should be thin right now, but don’t worry; it thickens up beautifully once we simmer the chicken.

Simmering for Perfect Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet Results

We’ve built a gorgeous base, and now we need to cook that chicken through gently. We don’t want to shock it back into toughness after all that careful searing we did earlier! This simmering step allows the chicken to absorb all those lovely rosemary and Dijon flavors while finishing its cooking process safely.

Keep that heat low! This is crucial for tender chicken. Place the seared chicken breasts right back into the skillet, making sure they nestle down into the sauce we just made. It’s important that the sauce doesn’t aggressively boil during this time, or we risk breaking the texture before we even get to the creamy stage.

Cooking Chicken to Temperature

Once the chicken is back in the pan, reduce the heat down to medium-low. Put a lid on your skillet—this traps the steam and helps cook the chicken evenly from the top down. You should let this simmer gently for about eight to ten minutes. Your timing might vary slightly depending on how thick your chicken breasts were when you started.

Here’s the non-negotiable part for any home cook: you must check the internal temperature. Chicken is safe and perfectly cooked when it hits 165 degrees Fahrenheit, or 74 degrees Celsius, measured with a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Once you hit that temp, pull the skillet right off the heat immediately. If you wait even a minute too long, that yogurt step later won’t save it from being dry!

Achieving the Signature Creamy Texture in Your Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

We are so close to serving this fantastic meal! This next step is what turns our flavorful broth into the luxurious, velvety sauce that makes this Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet feel so restaurant-worthy. But listen up, because this is the most sensitive part of the whole recipe. We are using plain whole milk yogurt, and yogurt hates boiling heat!

If you boil yogurt, it separates, and you end up with a grainy texture instead of that smooth coating we want. We worked hard to get that perfect sear and that beautiful deglazed flavor base, so don’t ruin the texture now with high heat. It’s not hard, but you have to follow this one rule precisely.

Gently Stirring in the Yogurt

The very first thing you must do is take the skillet completely off the burner. Seriously, slide it onto a cool burner or a trivet. We want the residual heat to warm the yogurt, not cook it. Now, gently measure out your 1/2 cup of plain whole milk yogurt.

Add it into the sauce mixture in the pan. Now, using a whisk or a rubber spatula, gently stir it in until everything is completely smooth and the sauce has turned a beautiful pale, creamy color. Don’t stir frantically; just incorporate it slowly until you see no streaks of white yogurt left. Once it’s smooth, you can set the pan back over the lowest heat setting just to make sure it’s warm when you serve, but do not let it bubble! If you keep it below simmering, your sauce will be flawless.

Serving Your Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

The moment of truth! Your chicken is perfectly tender, and that rosemary Dijon sauce is unbelievably smooth and rich. Take the skillet off the heat for good now. Remember that last bit of fresh rosemary we saved? Sprinkle that remaining chopped herb right over the top of the chicken and sauce.

I love serving this right out of the skillet, honestly, because it keeps everything hot and rustic. Just spoon that gorgeous sauce generously over each piece of chicken breast. This easy chicken dinner is best served immediately, perhaps over some fluffy mashed potatoes or alongside some steamed green beans to soak up every last drop of that creamy sauce. Enjoy the applause—no one needs to know how fast this came together!

If you want to see more of my favorite quick meals, you can always check out my Pinterest profile for inspiration!

Storage and Reheating Instructions for Your Skillet Meal

Even though this Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet disappears fast at my house, sometimes we end up with a little bit left over. Since it’s such a fantastic meal, you definitely want to save it! The good news is that leftovers keep that wonderful rosemary flavor strong the next day. Just make sure you cool any leftovers down relatively quickly before storing them.

When you store this, it’s best to put the chicken and sauce together in an airtight container. The yogurt-based sauce is a little delicate, so we have to be gentle when reheating it. Never try to microwave this dish on high power; it just doesn’t agree with the creamy texture!

Here’s my quick guide for keeping leftovers safe and tasting great:

Action	Details
Storage	Airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Reheating (Stovetop)	Use low heat. Add a splash of extra broth or water to loosen the sauce. Stir constantly until just warmed through. Do not boil.
Reheating (Microwave)	Use 50% power in short 30-second bursts, stirring well between each burst until warm.

Common Questions About This Creamy Rosemary Dijon Chicken Skillet

I always get questions when I share this recipe because people are worried about the yogurt or the rosemary timing. It’s a simple chicken skillet, but mastering that sauce makes all the difference! Here are a few things I hear most often from folks trying to make this easy chicken dinner for the first time.

Q1. Can I use dried rosemary instead of fresh?
Oh, I really prefer fresh here because the oils release so much better when you simmer it, but I know fresh isn’t always around! If you have to use dried rosemary, reduce that two teaspoons down to just one teaspoon, or maybe even a scant teaspoon and a half. Dried herbs are much more potent, so start slow. You can always add more later, but you can’t take it out!

Q2. My sauce broke when I added the yogurt! What did I do wrong?
Don’t stress! This happens to everyone once. The number one reason the sauce separates is that you added the yogurt while the pan was still too hot. Remember, you must take the skillet completely off the heat before stirring in the yogurt. It’s the heat shock that makes the proteins curdle. Next time, let it cool for a full minute after removing it from the burner before incorporating that yogurt!

Q3. Can I substitute the yogurt with heavy cream for a richer sauce?
You absolutely can! If you want an even richer texture, swap the 1/2 cup of yogurt for 1/2 cup of heavy cream. If you use cream, you don’t have to worry about taking the pan off the heat entirely, but I still recommend turning the heat down to low before stirring it in, just to be safe. It makes for a truly decadent rosemary sauce! If you enjoy creamy sauces, you might also like this creamy lemon chicken recipe.

Q4. What should I serve with this skillet chicken?
Since this is such a fantastic weeknight meal, I usually keep the sides simple so clean-up is easy. It’s wonderful poured over egg noodles, or you can serve it alongside steamed green beans to soak up every last drop of that creamy sauce. For another simple one-pan option, check out this one-skillet fiesta chicken and rice.

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