Savory, creamy and delicious tomato basil cream sauce with chicken, mushrooms, and kale – all in 20 minutes!
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Summer is flying by!
We are soaking in every bit of sun that we can – and counting our blessings that we don’t go back to school until September around here! I’ve got 3 little water bugs and that basically means this beach dweller is in absolute heaven!
Being at the beach most days also means dinner needs to be…fast!
20 minutes start to finish?!
Yes please! And since it is summer we are going to clear out the herb garden of that overgrown basil, use up a bowlful of those pretty cherry tomatoes, and a handful of garden kale while we’re at it!
Basil, little cherry tomatoes, and kale are some of the easiest summer garden items to grow – and can be done in pots on the patio if you don’t have the garden space. Its a good one to get little kids in on to help with and start fostering that idea of knowing where their food comes from!
Secrets to meal prep, fast summer meals, and optimizing kitchen time
I am not in the kitchen all day, dear momma. Stretch a whole chicken to last you at least 2 meals, and you will have a lot more time to spend at the beach – promise!
We happened to use some leftover chicken from our Instant Pot chicken over the weekend for this meal. I’ve been using the Instant Pot a lot this summer for my whole chickens to avoid heating the house up – and it is so fast too. If you don’t have and IP, you can use your slow cooker! After cooking your whole chicken, simply save most of the chicken breast, slicing it up, and plan it into this meal the next day.
Ideas to change it up!
You can definitely change up the meat part of the meal however. Homemade sausage or pan seared wild caught cod would taste really good with this. And if you happen to have chicken breasts, just sear them up and slice before you make the meal.
Noodle Options!
The tomato basil cream sauce in this recipe is made for soaking into dreamy noodles! Here are some noodle options for both those who can tolerate grains and those who cannot! I promise, dear grain free friends, the veggie noodles feel just as amazing as regular noodles. I serve this dish that way often – especially when zucchini is at such amazing budget friendly prices during the summer months.
Gluten Free Options ::
- Tinkyada Rice Noodles (we get these at our local grocer)
- Jovial Gluten Free Egg Pasta
- Jovial Gluten Free Organic Rice Pasta
- BioNature Organic Rice Pasta
Grain Free Options (Use a spirilizer, Y Peeler, or Julienne Peeler to make these veggie noodles!) ::
- Zucchini Noodles (see the notes in the recipe card for how to make your zoodles!)
- Sweet Potato Noodles
- Butternut Squash Noodles
- Golden Beet Noodles
- Parsnip Noodles
- Carrot Noodles
If you are not on a special diet, and can handle the gluten, I recommend using a wheat based noodle using Einkorn flour for best digestion.
One last note on the finishing oil, and a fun momma story 😉
I love finishing pasta dishes like this with really good olive oil. I promise you will find it takes the flavor and texture to a whole different level.
My husband and I were able to get away for a couple days last week to Grand Rapids, and we visited the Downtown Market while there. If you are every in the area, be sure to take a couple hours to browse and try all of the amazing food! We were able to eat these amazing wild caught salmon burgers, drink local kombucha, watch fermented pizzas be made, and enjoy every last bite of local grassfed milk ice cream – it is truly amazing!
There are also some stores within the market selling local spices, teas, wine…and olive oil! We sampled numerous bottles from Old World Olive Co. (it was so fun!) and I decided on an herb infused olive oil. The flavor is out of this world, and I am savoring it every chance I can! It was a fun trip that we rarely get to do with 3 kiddos in the house, and I really loved every minute! It was a foodie’s dream!
20 Minute Chicken, Mushrooms, and Kale With Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 3-4 tbsp friendly fat of choice to cook in butter, ghee
, avocado oil
, lard
, tallow
, or coconut oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 8 oz mushrooms of choice sliced (I used baby bellas)
- 5 cloves of garlic minced
- ½ - 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste – ½ tsp is kid friendly mild in heat
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 cups cooked chicken sliced (I used leftover chicken from my whole chicken cooked in the Instant Pot the night before)
- ¼ cup coconut milk
or raw milk/cream
- ¼ cup white wine or more coconut milk or bone broth
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 cups coarsely chopped kale
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves finely chopped
- Sea salt & pepper to taste
- Pasta of choice or veggie noodles like zucchini noodles to serve over (See the above section about noodle options!)
- Good olive oil to drizzle over your plate to finish
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Instructions
- Warm a large skillet with your friendly fat of choice over medium heat. Add the onion and mushroom with a big pinch of sea salt. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, and chicken. Cook over medium heat for 7 minutes until the tomatoes soften.
- Add the coconut milk, wine, lemon juice, and kale. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes until the kale wilts and the liquid reduces/thickens.
- Add the basil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Sea salt and pepper to your taste and serve over pasta or veggie noodles of your choice!
- (If you are serving over zucchini noodles (zoodles!), simply spirilize your zucchini, place the zoodles in a strainer in the sink with a big pinch of sea salt, and let them drain while you cook the rest of the dinner. Squeeze out the liquid before serving. You can pan cook them for a minute to warm them up, but take care not to overcook them, or they will get too soft and not feel like a noodle.)
17 Comments
This sounds delicious! I love how much you packed into this beautiful cream sauce and meal. It sounds like you had a wonderful time too 🙂
This is perfect for summer! I am also trying to keep my meals to ‘quick and easy’ at the moment so I can spend more time playing outside. Plus, it’s too hot sometimes to cook anything more complicated.
20 minutes for a healthy dinner is the way to go. Thanks Renee 🙂
Ah, I can’t believe this comes together in 20 minutes. Looks so yummy and healthy.
Oof tomato basil is one of my FAVORITE recipes ever!! This is so beautiful!
Tomato + Basil = one of my fave flavor combos ever. This sound DELICIOUS!
I love this summer in a bowl meal, and that it comes together in just 20 minutes because summer is definitely flying by way too fast!
All about those fast and fresh summer meals! The cream sauce looks divine. And great gluten-free pasta suggestions too, I’ll have to try those out!!
Yes please! This looks divine. Love quick meals for long summer days.
So simple and so yum ! Love it !
Yum, Yum, and more Yum! So good and so easy.
A great and easy tasty recipe!
[…] 20 Minute Chicken, Mushrooms, & Kale with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce […]
WOw, first this looks incredible but what I really love is that you can make it in 20 minutes!
[…] Chicken & Kale with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce […]
Delicious, but I would add the tomatoes later in the recipe. They kind of fall apart and overcook if done per the instructions.
I’m glad you enjoyed it Shawna! Yes, if you prefer to have more texture to the tomatoes, you can add them in later – I like them to become a part of the sauce!