Marry Me Chicken Tortellini
Creamy, flavorful Marry Me Chicken Tortellini is an easy yet show-stopping recipe to cook up for those you love! Chicken, tortellini, sun dried tomatoes and cream come together for a dish everyone will adore. This viral TikTok dish is famous for a reason, and you’ll be whipping it up in no time!
Nothing is more fitting for a Valentine’s Day romantic dinner or a date night than a meal that is literally called “Marry Me.”
Marry Me Chicken went viral several years ago as people claimed it was so good, one bite would surely garner a marriage proposal. While Marry Me chicken is very delicious, this Marry Me Chicken and Tortellini takes the viral recipe to a whole new level.
This chicken pasta recipe makes the dish a meal, adding in chewy tortellini and even more of the creamy sauce that makes this dish so undeniable.
While this dish is flavorful and impressive enough to serve to guests, it’s also easy enough to put together for any busy weeknights and doesn’t have to be reserved for a special occasion. It takes just thirty minutes to create a dish that will leave the whole family full and satisfied.
Why Make This Recipe
- Quick and Easy: It’s always a win when a quick recipe feels and tastes like restaurant quality. You just need thirty minutes to whip up this great dish and impress even the pickiest eaters.
- Customizable: This Marry Me Chicken and Tortellini recipe is kept simple, but you can dress it up in so many ways. Add spinach, asparagus or green beans for some extra nutrients, serve it with crusty bread and a salad, or enjoy it just as it is!
- Just One Pan: You only need to dirty one skillet for this recipe and less dishes is always a good reason to give a recipe a try!
What Do You Need to Make This Recipe
Ingredients
- Large Chicken Breasts: You could use chicken thighs if you prefer.
- All-Purpose Flour: Coating the chicken in flour before cooking allows a crust to form on the outside of the chicken when cooked. If you need a gluten-free option, feel free to substitute gluten-free 1:1 Flour.
- Garlic: You can use fresh (I always recommend this for the best flavor!) or save yourself some time and use jarred.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: You want sun-dried tomatoes that come in oil. Make sure to drain the oil before using.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: You could substitute with half and half but the cream is what makes the sauce so luscious. I don’t recommend substituting, but it’s there as a healthier option if you’d like.
- Red Chili Flakes: Red chili flakes add a bit of spice to the recipe as well as more depth of flavor. Feel free to leave them out if you don’t like them.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese: Fresh parmesan cheese that you grate yourself will taste the best, but just about any grated parmesan works for this recipe.
- Frozen Tortellini: You can also use fresh. If you want to use dried tortellini make sure you cook them before adding to the sauce. If you’ve ever wondered How Long Do You Boil Tortellini, this article should help.
Tools
- Large Pan or Skillet
How to Make This Recipe
Step One: Prepare the Chicken
Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag, combine the all purpose flour with the Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika. Place the cubed chicken in the flour and seasoning mixture and shake the bag to dredge chicken breasts evenly. Remove the chicken from the flour and shake off any excess. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture.
In a large skillet, melt the olive oil and the butter over medium heat. Add the chicken into the skillet and allow it to cook until it becomes golden brown on one side (about 3-4 minutes). Then turn the juicy chicken and cook chicken until it browns on the other side and the tender chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once cooked, remove the chicken to a separate plate and set aside.
Step Two: Prepare the Sauce
In your skillet add the olive oil and minced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
Add the sundried tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, and a cup of heavy cream. Stir to combine.
Add the Italian seasoning, parsley, salt and red chili flakes. Stir to combine again.
In a small, separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the reserved flour mixture with 3 tablespoons of the sauce mixture from the pan. Stir until a paste is formed, then add that paste back into the saucepan along with ½ cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the sauce thickens up.
Step Three: Add the Tortellini
Add the frozen tortellini into the pan and cover with a lid for 5 minutes or until the tortellini is warm.
Once the tortellini is cooked, add the chicken back into the skillet and top with the remaining ½ cup of parmesan. Mix to combine and allow it to cook, uncovered, for another few minutes until fully thickened into a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce.
Serve and enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Keep an eye on your sauce as it thickens. If you feel like it is too thick, add more chicken stock or heavy cream to thin it out. If it is too thin try adding a bit more cheese and less chicken stock next time. Be patient. Your sauce may just need more time to reach the thickness you prefer.
- This is one of those dishes you can taste as you go. Taste your sauce and adjust with salt, pepper, cream or cheese to balance out the flavors.
Recipe Variations
Add More Vegetables: This is a great recipe to customize to your taste. You can easily add more veggies like spinach, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, broccoli or green beans. You can also change up the spices, like smoked paprika or an extra tsp of red pepper flakes to add a bit more heat. Fresh parsley or fresh basil make an excellent garnish and contribute amazing flavor to the tomato cream sauce.
More Protein!: This recipe also tastes great with some bacon or sausage bits in the sauce, giving it an extra salty and savory flavor.
Vegan Option: If you want to make this recipe vegan you can substitute tofu for the chicken (or leave it out completely) and use plant-based cream instead of heavy cream and vegan parmesan.
Experiment with Your Pasta: You can also create new variations on this recipe by using different kinds of tortellini. You may prefer a spinach tortellini over a cheese version or discover a sausage tortellini that gives great flavor.
If you want to avoid tortellini altogether, try adding Homemade Pasta or Italian Ravioli.
FAQs
This Marry Me Chicken Tortellini Recipe can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days or frozen for up to two months.
Be aware that the cream in this recipe may separate when the dish is reheated. You can help prevent this by adding a bit of milk while you preheat.
Absolutely! Vegetables in this dish would be delicious, and make for a full meal in just one pan! Feel free to add vegetables such as mushrooms, broccoli, tomatoes, or spinach to your Marry Me Chicken Cheesy Tortellini. Make sure to saute them before adding them into your pan so that they are cooked to the right doneness before eating.
Easy! Use a meat thermometer. Your cooked chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
The name for this dish is based off of the famous Marry Me Chicken, made with cream and sundried tomatoes. It was said that the dish was so delicious that anyone trying it would want to marry you so that they could eat is forever! This Marry Me Cheesy Chicken Tortellini recipe took the famous Marry Me Chicken and added tortellini for an extra special twist on this dish.
Did you enjoy this Marry Me Chicken and Tortellini Recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes that I picked out just for you:
Marry Me Chicken Tortellini
Equipment
- Large Pan or Skillet
Ingredients
Chicken Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken breast, cubed into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Pepper
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- ½ tsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 2 tbsp Butter
Pasta Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup sun dried tomatoes, drained
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp dried parsley
- ½ tsp Salt, more or less to taste
- Red Chili Flakes, to taste
- 1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated, divided
- 19 oz Frozen Tortellini
Instructions
Chicken Instructions
- Season the chicken with 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
- In a gallon-sized resealable plastic bag, combine the 1/2 cup all purpose flour with the 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic powder, and 1/2 tsp paprika. Place the cubed chicken in the flour and shake the bag to coat evenly. Remove the chicken from the flour and shake off any excess. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture.
- In a large skillet, melt the 2 tbsp olive oil and the 2 tbsp butter. Add the chicken into the skillet and allow it to cook until it browns on one side (about 3-4 minutes). Then turn it and cook until it browns on the other side and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Once cooked, remove the chicken to a separate plate and set aside.
Pasta Instructions
- In your skillet add the 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 minced garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.
- Add the 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1 cup heavy whipping cream. Stir to combine.
- Add the 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp parsley, 1/2 tsp salt and red chili flakes to taste. Stir to combine again.
- In a small, separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the reserved flour mixture with 3 tablespoons of the sauce mixture from the pan. Stir until a paste is formed, then add that paste back into the saucepan along with ½ cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the sauce thickens up.
- Add the frozen tortellini into the pan and cover with a lid for 5 minutes or until the tortellini is warm.
- Once the tortellini is cooked, add the chicken back into the skillet and top with the remaining ½ cup of parmesan. Mix to combine and allow it to cook, uncovered, for another few minutes until fully thickened into a sauce.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Large Chicken Breasts: You could use chicken thighs if you prefer.
- All-Purpose Flour: Coating the chicken in flour before cooking allows a crust to form on the outside of the chicken when cooked. If you need a gluten free option, feel free to substitute Gluten Free 1:1 Flour.
- Garlic: You can use fresh (I always recommend this for the best flavor!) or save yourself some time and use jarred.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: You want the sun-dried tomatoes that come in oil. Make sure to drain the oil before using.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: You could substitute with half and half but the cream is what makes the sauce so luscious. I don’t recommend substituting, but it’s there as a healthier option if you’d like.
- Red Chili Flakes: Red chili flakes add a bit of spice to the recipe as well as more depth of flavor. Feel free to leave them out if you don’t like them.
- Grated Parmesan Cheese: Fresh parmesan cheese that you grate yourself will taste the best, but just about any grated parmesan works for this recipe.
- Frozen Tortellini: You can also use fresh. If you want to use dried tortellini make sure you cook them before adding to the sauce.
- If you’ve ever wondered How Long You Boil Tortellini, this article should help.
- Keep an eye on your sauce as it thickens. If you feel like it is too thick, add more chicken stock or heavy cream to thin it out. If it is too thin try adding a bit more cheese and less chicken stock next time. Be patient. Your sauce may just need more time to reach the thickness you prefer.
- This is one of those dishes you can taste as you go. Taste your sauce and adjust with salt, pepper, cream or cheese to balance out the flavors.
This has quickly become one of my favorite meals of all time. Every flavor blends together perfectly, it’s quick, it’s easy, it’s the best dish anyone can make! 10/10, would recommend!
I’m so glad you love it, Matt! It’s definitely a crowd pleaser, so I’m happy you enjoyed it 🙂