Baked Chicken and Asparagus
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Enjoy this quick and tasty chicken and asparagus recipe that you can have ready to eat in about 30 minutes! This easy one-pan meal pairs baked boneless chicken breasts and fresh asparagus spears with a lemony, creamy pan sauce. Serve with pasta, rice or potatoes.
Chicken and asparagus are an ideal combination for a wholesome meal. This is one of my favorite quick chicken recipes to cook when tasty green asparagus is in season in the spring and summer. And I love that’s it requires so little effort to prep and bake!
Featured review
Excellent recipe, my family loved the dinner! I used fresh lemon juice and heavy cream and omitted the herbs and served the meal over pasta. A quick prep for a very tasty meal!!
Maureen M.
This recipe makes a simply elegant main dish or weeknight dinner all by itself, especially if you’re watching carb intake. Otherwise, make it a more substantial dinner and serve the chicken with rice, angel hair pasta or orzo. Or double up on your veggies and serve it with a fresh asparagus salad!
Ingredient overview:
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts: Look for medium-size breasts, totaling about 1 3/4 pounds. The chicken is seared on the stovetop, then it finishes cooking in the oven along with the asparagus.
- Fresh asparagus: Choose thin or thick-stemmed asparagus with tightly closed buds at the tips. Snap off the lower 2-3 inches from the stalks before slicing into 2-3-inch pieces.
- Shallot: There’s nothing like a shallot when you want to easily elevate the flavor of a dish. Yellow onion will work just as well.
- Fresh thyme or tarragon: These herbs go perfectly with chicken. Either one adds a delicate flavor and a really appetizing aroma to the dish. If you don’t have fresh herbs, substitute with 1 teaspoon dried herbs.
- Dry white wine or fresh lemon juice: You can choose whatever you prefer or have on hand — white wine or lemon juice adds a pleasant acidic edge to the creamy pan sauce.
- Creme fraiche: I love cooking sauces with this cultured cream. It has a slightly tangy taste that I think is more delicate and nuttier-tasting than sour cream. You can use a good high-fat heavy cream instead.
- Flour: A small amount of all-purpose flour creates a light crust on the chicken and also helps to thicken up the pan juices. Rice flour or a gluten-free flour blend will also work.
- Butter and olive oil: Heating butter with olive oil helps prevent the butter from browning because the oil has a higher smoking point. They also taste delicious!
Recipe step photos:
Overview: All you need is one skillet or saute pan to sear the chicken breasts, and then the rest of the ingredients are combined in the same pan to finish cooking in the oven. You’ll need an ovenproof large skillet to cook this dish. I use my 12-inch cast iron braiser or a large saute pan.
How to prep asparagus:
- Trim 2-3 inches from the woody ends of the asparagus — the lower part of the stalk is tougher and stringier. An easy way to do this is to hold each spear and and snap where it naturally breaks.
- Rinse the asparagus in cold water to remove any sand or grit.
- Slice on a slight diagonal into 2-3-inch long pieces.
Storing and heating leftovers:
- The cooked chicken, asparagus and sauce will keep refrigerated up to 5 days. The bright green color of the asparagus will fade, but it will still taste delicious.
- To warm it up for serving, cover and place in a preheated 350 oven until hot, about 10-15 minutes.
Creamy Baked Chicken and Asparagus
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (about 1¾ pounds)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) flour (all-purpose or gluten-free)
- 1 tablespoon (15 g) butter
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1 shallot finely chopped, or ¼ cup chopped yellow onion
- ¼ cup (60 ml) dry white wine or fresh lemon juice
- ½ cup (120 ml) chicken broth
- ½ pound (225 g) fresh asparagus, trimmed and sliced into 2-inch pieces
- ½ cup (115 g) creme fraiche or heavy cream
- 2-3 sprigs fresh thyme or tarragon, plus a teaspoon chopped herbs for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 (220 C) degrees.
- Season the chicken on both sides with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the flour and flip to coat both sides.
- Place a large ovenproof skillet or saute pan on the stovetop and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the oil and butter. When the butter is melted and starts to bubble, add the chicken breasts to the pan. Cook until one side is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken breasts and cook 1-2 minutes on the other side.
- Add the shallots to the pan, stirring them into the fat. Cook until softened, 1-2 minutes. Pour in the wine or lemon juice and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Add the broth and bring to a simmer. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Scatter the asparagus pieces around the chicken breasts. Spoon blobs of creme fraiche evenly around the chicken. If you're using cream instead, pour it over the chicken. Put the herb sprigs on top.
- Bake the chicken 15 minutes, or until the pan juices are bubbling and the chicken is firm and cooked through. Remove the herb sprigs.
- Sprinkle the chicken with chopped thyme or tarragon and serve.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
- The cooked chicken, asparagus and sauce will keep refrigerated up to 5 days. The bright green color of the asparagus will fade, but it will still taste delicious.
- To warm it up for serving, cover and place in a preheated 350 oven until hot, about 10-15 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
the food was pretty sigma!
Dish was very good, but the creme fraiche curdled when I stirred it into the finished dish. It did not melt like I thought it would
Hi Doreen – Did the wine or lemon juice bubble and reduce before you added the creme fraiche? Creme fraiche is usually more stable than heavy cream when combined with acid, but it can curdle sometimes.
I made this tonight
Used lemon and cream not sure if that was why it didn’t taste good at all. Surprised because it had 5 starts it seemed!
Hi Julie – Lemon and cream are a pretty classic combination. I’m really sorry you didn’t enjoy the flavors of this dish. 🙁
Delicious and pretty easy to make! The chicken was tender and juicy and the sauce was divine. I used cream as listed. The sauce is so wonderful – I’ll triple it next time. This one goes in our regular rotation. Thanks for an outstanding recipe!
This was very good and simple
Delicious. Everyone agreed.
Absolutely amazing! I added halved cherry tomatoes and then I thickened the sauce with cornstarch and added cooked Orzo. The flavor of the sauce was wonderful. Everyone in the house loved it! This recipe is a keeper!
Very delicious, easy and super fast!
Quite enjoyed this. Thanks for posting.
Excellent recipe, my family loved the dinner! I used fresh lemon juice and heavy
cream and omitted the herbs and served the meal over pasta. A quick prep
for a very tasty meal!!
Light, healthy, quick and easy to make – so delicious. I served brown rice with quinoa to the pan the last 5 minutes before done.
It was absolutely delicious!
WOW..I make a lot of chicken dishes with spinach..tomatoes ,etc!! But this is the BEST!!! Mt husband had 2 servings and practically moan with every bite ( and he is not one for vocalizing)…I used dried thyme and it blew me away! The asparagus was so tender and tasty…may need to add crusty bread to sop up the broth!!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed it!
Didnt have the cream on hand , but modified without it. Was still delicious wish fresh light flavors.
what can you use in the place of the cream?
Will half n half work?
Half and half will make a more liquidy sauce. If you want to use it, try dissolving 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in the half and half, then pour into the pan. Sour cream or mascarpone would be better.
Loved this recipe! And my kids loved it too!!!
That’s great to hear!