This 20 minute one pan garlic herb chicken and asparagus is full of rich, buttery herb flavors with both chicken and asparagus all cooked in one skillet for easy prep and cleanup.
One pan meals are LIFE. A protein and a veggie side dish all made in a single skillet is my kind of dinner. This chicken and asparagus thing is buttery herbed goodness you need this week. All you need is about 20 minutes and you’re set my friends.
The process is really simple, but let me walk you through it real quick. In your favorite skillet, melt some butter, stir in garlic and herbs, then add the chicken. Brown on the first side, then flip and a keep cooking a little longer. Scoooooot all the chicken to the side and let it keep cooking while you cook your asparagus in the empty part of the pan with a tad more butter (don’t worry, this dish is still lightened up, there’s only 3 tablespoons butter in the whole thing). Cook that green asparagus til tender and your chicken is cooked through. And that’s IT. Your whole dinner, ready to go, with a whole lot of flavor and hardly any work involved. Enjoy!
- 3-6 chicken thighs or boneless skinless chicken breasts (breasts pounded to even 1/2 inch thickness)
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 pound asparagus, ends trimmed
- 3 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (see note)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- fresh herbs for garnish (optional)
- Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pan/skillet over meidum-high heat. Stir in garlic and herbs and cook another minute or so until the garlic is fragrant.
- Reduce heat to medium, add chicken to pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes, then flip and cook another 5-7 minutes. (Chicken should be nearly, but not completely cooked through by this point)
- Scoot the chicken over the sides and add remaining 1 tablespoon butter to the empty portion of the pan. Once the butter is melted, add asparagus. Season asparagus with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook, rotating throughout, for 4-6 minutes until tender and chicken is completely cooked through.
- Serve immediately garnished with freshly cracked black pepper and fresh herbs if desired.
Yum, but should the asparagus be (quickly) blanched before adding it into the skillet w/ the chicken? What size skillet did you use, which accommodated 1 lb. of asparagus and 5 chicken thighs?
This is an easy and quick main dish to make on a busy day. Since we love asparagus (and also chicken)…. I’m sure that I’ll be serving it pretty often with an easy side dish…. such as a tossed salad and Hawaiian dinner rolls. BTW, I like to sprinkle a few drops of lemon juice over my asparagus when it’s already on the serving platter. It seems to add a little ‘brightness’ to it.
I made this for last night, and it was very good! I used green beans in place of the asparagus because it was what I had on hand, but that’s the only change I made, I will definitely be making this again!