This spicy and creamy chipotle chicken recipe is insanely delicious and easy to make on your busy day. You need 30 minutes to bring this chicken dinner to table. Chipotle peppers adodo sauce adds wonderful smoky flavor to the dish.
We love to serve it over a bed of rice, but feel free to use it over linguine or fettuccine pasta. It’s excellent!
Chipotle Mexican grill chicken is one of the most popular Mexican chicken preparations that goes in making burritos, tacos and salads. Creating the most popular Chipotle Mexican Grill chicken at home isn’t difficult these days at all.
The fast food joint is known for it’s world famous chipotle chicken recipe and today we are taking that inspiration and creating a dish that will blow your minds off. This is not your regular chipotle chicken recipe.
This is mildly spicy, chipotle flavoured chicken in rich creamy sauce. This recipe does not need hours together to marinate the chicken. You still get the juicy chipotle chicken from this recipe.
Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce is the key ingredient. The Mexican flavors packed in this creamy chipotle chicken will make your mouth explode in every bite. If you are worried that this chipotle chicken recipe would be super spicy, let me assure you, it’s not spicy at all!
Chipotle peppers adobo sauce adds beautiful smoky heat to the dish and the heat is mellowed down by the cream cheese and yogurt added to the recipe. There will be flavors, and kick but not overpowering. So if you are someone who can’t take too much heat, this dish is for you.
A dinner that is fit for busy week days and is very simple to make with big flavors is creamy chipotle chicken recipe. If you have been a regular reader here, you would know by now my love for spicy food. I LOVE SPICY food. I don’t have sweet tooth at all, but spicy food, I crave for it all day long.
Our kids eat spicy food as well and sometime people are surprised to know how well my kids take spicy food. They like it, they eat and most times they do enjoy it. I do not add that amount of spice like I would if given a chance to cook just for myself.
I keep spice levels moderate, as I feed it to our kids. But please bare in mind every person has very different levels of spice tolerance. And I recommend you try and adjust the spice levels as per your heat preference in any dish that you make.
So for those who can’t handle too much spice, try this recipe. Though it has the kick from chipotle pepper adobo sauce, it’s balanced by cream cheese. This chicken is best served over a bed of rice. Kids would love this sauce chicken (chop chicken into smaller bites) as mildly spicy chicken chipotle pasta. That’s right, you can use this creamy saucy dish with pasta. It definitely works.
What You Need To Make Creamy Chipotle Chicken Recipe
You ingredients shopping list isn’t going to be long, we promise you that. To make creamy chipotle chicken you’ll need –
- Chicken breasts (you can use boneless chicken thighs)
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- Cream cheese or sour cream or heavy cream
- Onions
- Garlic
- Chicken stock
- Olive oil (or butter if you like it richer)
- Salt and cracked pepper to taste
- Greek yogurt or whole milk
How to Make Creamy Chipotle Chicken Recipe
Prepping and Searing Chicken –
Step 1 – Rinse chicken breasts well and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and ground pepper to taste on both sides. Rub it to spread evenly.
Step 2 -Heat a shallow pan with 2 tablespoon olive oil.
Step 3 – Place chicken breasts on the pan and sear it on one side for about 4-5 minutes.
Step 4 & 5 – Turn over and sear on other side for 4 minutes.
Step 6 – Remove seared chicken from pan onto a plate.
Step 7 Cover the aluminium foil and keep aside.
Creamy Sauce –
Step 8 – Use the same pan in which chicken was seared to make the sauce. Add remaining oil.
Step 9 – Saute finely diced onions.
Step 10 – Saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until onions turn translucent.
Step 11 – Add finely minced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
Step 12 – Using a clean dry spoon, remove 1 or 2 chipotle peppers from the jar along with 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce. Add cream cheese, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce into a blender. Carefully blend to get smooth sauce consistency. Add cream cheese hot sauce and chicken stock into the pan. Whisk and stir to make a smooth consistency sauce.
Pro – Tip : If you add cream cheese directly into the pan, you will have lumping problem. We strongly recommend you to blend cream cheese and chipotle peppers into blender for a smooth consistency sauce.
Note : In step-by-step pic you’ll notice cream cheese added directly to the pan, that was done on a hurried mistake. Soon as the cream cheese was dropped into the pan and I clicked the photo, I scooped out most of the cream cheese and chipotle pepper hot sauce mix into blender, pulsed it a couple of times and poured it back into the pan to make a smooth consistency sauce. That’s what you see in the next step.
Sorry for the confusion in the photo, it was a honest hurried mistake!
Step 13 – Simmer to low flame. Let the sauce come to gentle boil.
Chicken –
Step 14 – Add back seared chicken breasts into the pan along with all the juices from the plate in which chicken was resting.
Step 15 – Spoon the sauce over chicken breast so it fully covered in sauce.
Step 16 – Cover and simmer for 7 to 12 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts you use. Repeat the process of pouring the sauce over chicken once or twice more during cooking.
Step 17 – Turn off flame and stir in Greek yogurt.
Note : Diary products like Greek yogurt will curdle and for lumps if cooked on high heat. Remember to stir in Greek yogurt only after you switch off the flame and remove the pan from stove.
Serve It Up – Serve creamy chipotle chicken recipe over a bed of steamed rice. Sprinkle few chopped coriander leaves for garnish. Serve immediately. It tastes best when served immediately hot. You can chop chicken into pieces and serve it along with the sauce over boiled pasta like linguine or fettuccine.
MORE FAST CHICKEN DINNER RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY –
Chicken Meatballs In Creamy Sauce
Chicken Meal Prep With Brown Rice
Lebanese Style Baked Chicken And Potatoes
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Creamy Chipotle Chicken Recipe
Equipment
- Skillet
- Tongs
- Wooden Spatula
- Blender
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion diced fine
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- Salt and ground pepper to taste
- 2-3 number of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce adjust number of peppers and adobo sauce quantity as per personal spice preference
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 3 oz cream cheese you can substitute cream cheese with heavy cream
- ½ cup chicken stock can use water
- 3 tablespoon Greek yogurt you can substitute Greek yogurt with plain thick curd
Instructions
Prepping and Searing Chicken
- Rinse chicken breasts well and pat dry with paper towel.
- Season chicken breasts with salt and ground pepper to taste on both sides. Rub it to spread evenly.
- Heat a shallow pan with 2 tablespoon olive oil.
- Place chicken breasts on the pan and sear it on one side for about 4-5 minutes. Turn over and sear on other side for 4 minutes.
- Remove seared chicken from pan onto a plate. Cover the aluminium foil and keep aside.
Creamy Sauce
- Into the same pan add remaining 2 tablespoon oil.
- Add finely diced onions and saute for about 3 to 4 minutes or until onions turn translucent.
- Add finely minced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes.
- Using a clean dry spoon, remove 1 or 2 chipotle peppers from the jar along with 1 tablespoon of adobo sauce. Add cream cheese, chipotle peppers and adobo sauce into a blender. Carefully blend to get smooth sauce consistency. Add cream cheese hot sauce and chicken stock into the pan. Whisk and stir to make a smooth consistency sauce.Pro – Tip : If you add cream cheese directly into the pan, you will have lumping problem. We strongly recommend you to blend cream cheese and chipotle peppers into blender for a smooth consistency sauce.Note : In step-by-step pic you’ll notice cream cheese added directly to the pan, that was done on a hurried mistake. Soon as the cream cheese was dropped into the pan and I clicked the photo, I scooped out most of the cream cheese and chipotle pepper hot sauce mix into blender, pulsed it a couple of times and poured it back into the pan to make a smooth consistency sauce. That’s what you see in the next step.Sorry for the confusion in the photo!
- Reduce heat to low flame. Let the sauce come to gentle boil.
Adding Chicken
- Add back seared chicken breasts into the pan along with all the juices from the plate in which chicken was resting. Cover and simmer for 7 to 12 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts you use.
- Turn off flame and stir in Greek yogurt.Pro-Tip – Diary products like Greek yogurt will curdle and for lumps if cooked on high heat. Remember to stir in Greek yogurt only after you switch off the flame and remove the pan from stove.
Serve It Up
- Serve creamy chipotle chicken recipe over a bed of steamed rice. Sprinkle few chopped coriander leaves for garnish. Serve immediately. It tastes best when served immediately hot.
- You can chop chicken into pieces and serve it along with the sauce over boiled pasta like linguine or fettuccine.
Notes
- Chicken : This recipe calls for chicken breasts. You can use boneless chicken thighs in place of breasts. We have used whole chicken breasts, and served it that way. Chop chicken into pieces before serving if you prefer.
- For Richer Sauce : Cream cheese adds richness to the dish making it a rich creamy chipotle chicken dish. This was just perfect for us. If you need much richer sauce use butter in place of olive oil and add heavy cream in the last in place of Greek yogurt. But keep in mind, doing that your sauce is going to be very very rich.
- Adjust Heat : 2 chipotle peppers and sauce mentioned in the dish works perfectly for my family in terms of heat. And the heat is reduced by adding cream cheese and yogurt. So I would say spice levels are tolerable. Still if you think it’s going to be too spicy, please adjust depending on your heat tolerance levels.
- How to Add Cream Cheese : If you add cream cheese directly into the pan, you will have lumping problem. We strongly recommend you to blend cream cheese and chipotle peppers into blender for a smooth consistency sauce.
- Avoiding Lumping Problem : Any diary ingredient will curdle and form lumps if cooked on high heat. Make sure to reduce heat to low and add cream cheese. Greek yogurt to be added only at the end, after removing pan from heat.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Leslie says
I love the pro tip! Thank you for sharing bc sometimes my cream cheese gets lumpy in my recipes. This looks divine!
jyothirajesh says
Glad you liked the post. Hope you try and enjoy Leslie!
Natalie says
Such an easy but yet so delicious dinner option. I absolutely love the flavors. I must save this and add it to my menu for next week. Can’t wait to give it a try!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Natalie
April says
This is great for a busy weekday. It is quick and filling – perfect! Just need to buy a few missing ingredients, and I am good to go.
jyothirajesh says
Thank you
Claudia Lamascolo says
Everyone loves this style of sauce and I am sure it will be a big hit here. I never have enough chicken recipes
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Claudia
Mahy says
So creamy so delicious! And because of the ingredients list, I am sure it is spicy, too! Can’t wait to make some at home now.
jyothirajesh says
Mahy, it has tolerable spice. Cream cheese balances the spicy quotient! But you can definitely make it spicy if you want by adjusting the chipotle peppers numbers.
Danielle says
Such an easy dish that can be a life-savor on those days when there is so much to do. Definitely the recipe to keep nearby!
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Danielle
Ramona says
This chicken recipe looks so yummy, creamy and delicious. I cannot wait to give it a try! Thank you so much for sharing.
jyothirajesh says
Thank you Ramona