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Smothered Chicken and Gravy

Published April 16th 2012 Updated February 14th 2024

This baked Smothered Chicken and Gravy recipe is an easy oven meal that comes together in a snap. In it, chicken is smothered with a creamy sauce that magically turns into gravy in the oven. It’s perfect for ladling over rice, mashed potatoes or cornbread dressing.

Smothered Chicken And Gravy

Easy Smothered Chicken and Gravy Recipe

Baked Southern smothered chicken is a down home comforting dish that takes on many forms depending on the cook and their interpretation of the dish. This  is a “no fuss” version that’s smothered with gravy and a healthy dose of home cooked love. It’s baked in one of my most beloved kitchen tools, my cast iron dutch oven. Cast iron cooking has a magical effect on foods from baking easy skillet apple pie biscuits, to fully loaded cornbread and sweet skillet berry cobblers. Not only does the food cook more evenly, but, it actually tastes better when cooked in my dutch oven. How to make Smothered Chicken and Gravy: (Scroll down for full printable recipe.)

  • Butter – Melt butter over medium-high heat in a 6 quart dutch oven or similar oven safe pot.
  • Seasoned Flour – Whisk together flour with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
  • Chicken Breasts – Dust chicken breasts on all sides with seasoned flour.
  • Cook – Brown chicken in butter for 1 minute on both sides. Arrange in dutch oven or buttered baking dish. Top with onion and a light dusting of paprika.
  • Sauce – Whisk together, soup, dissolved soup base, half and half, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, tarragon and black pepper. Pour the over the chicken and onions.
  • Cover – Bake covered for 50-60 minutes. Remove lid and test the chicken for doneness. Time may vary adjust cooking time depending on the thickness of chicken breasts used.
  • Remove chicken to a platter to rest for 5 minutes. Mix gravy well.
  • Serve smothered chicken and gravy garnished with parsley.
Smothered Chicken And Gravy

How to Make the Best Smothered Chicken and Gravy Recipe

This recipe is made in the oven but could be adapted to a crockpot, too. Assemble per the recipe in a slow cooker cooking on low for 5-6 hours, or just until the chicken is fork tender. Adapt the time based on how your appliance performs. Then you can enjoy crockpot chicken and gravy on a busy day.

  • Ingredients you’ll need to make easy Smothered Chicken and Gravy: Boneless skinless chicken breasts, butter, all purpose flour, diced onion, chicken soup base, cream of chicken and mushroom soup OR regular cream of chicken soup, half and half, poultry seasoning, granulated garlic and black pepper. You’ll also need chopped fresh parsley for garnishing the top before serving.
  • If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can brown the chicken on the stovetop in a large skillet and transfer it to a 13×9 inch baking dish for baking.
  • When making the sauce for this baked chicken, you may add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a bit of kick. Consider the taste of your family when choosing to do so.
  • The poultry seasoning I use in this recipe is called Poultry Magic. You may adapt this recipe using your favorite chicken or poultry seasoning blend.
  • Paprika adds a subtle smokiness, and a rich color to the gravy.
  • When prepping the onion for the sauce, you may dice the onion, if you prefer a smaller dice.
  • There is no salt in the gravy ingredient list as the soup base provides an ample amount to season the dish. As always, you have the option to taste the gravy mixture and adjust to your liking.
  • Please note that the cooking time may need to be adjusted based on the thickness of the chicken pieces being used. A good rule of thumb is, when a knife is easily inserted into the thickest portion of the chicken breasts and  juices run clear.
  • How do you make chicken gravy with cornstarch? At the end of cooking smothered chicken and gravy, you can thicken the gravy further using cornstarch. Remove the chicken breasts to a platter and keep warm. Place the dutch oven back on to the stovetop over medium high heat, Mix up a slurry using equal parts of cold half and half, cold chicken broth or cold water and cornstarch. So, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of liquid, you can of course use a little more as needed. Whisk into the liquid and let it come to a gentle boil. Repeat until it thickens to your taste.
  • Likewise, you my thin the gravy by adding more chicken stock, half and half or even water. liquid of choice.
  • In a hurry? You may like these Easy Chicken Tenders with Pan Gravy made on the stove top.
Smothered Chicken And Gravy

Side Dishes to Serve with Smothered Chicken and Gravy

While you can’t really go wrong, there are just some Southern side dishes that fit so well with this kind of main dish. Some recipes you may like to try:

Smothered Chicken and Gravy

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Helpful Kitchen Items:

Smothered Chicken And Gravy

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Stand time5 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Course: Main Course, Poultry
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: chicken-and-gravy, chicken-breast-recipes, smothered-chicken-and-gravy, smothered-chicken-recipe
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 308kcal
Author: Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 4 8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour plus 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1 medium onion thinly sliced or chopped
  • 1 10 3/4 oz can cream of chicken with mushrooms soup
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 2 tsp chicken soup base, dissolved in 2 Tbsp hot water i.e. Better Than Bouillon
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning i.e. Poultry Magic
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper adjust to taste
  • 2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325°F. On the stovetop melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat in a 6 quart dutch oven or similar oven safe pot.
  • In a small bowl whisk together flour with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp paprika and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Dust chicken breasts on all sides with seasoned flour.
  • Brown chicken in butter for 1 minute on both sides. Arrange in dutch oven or buttered baking dish. Top with onion and a light dusting of paprika.
  • In a small mixing bowl whisk together, soup, dissolved soup base, half and half, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, tarragon and black pepper. Pour over the chicken and onions.
  • Bake covered for 50-60 minutes. Remove lid and test the chicken for doneness. Time may vary adjust cooking time depending on the thickness of chicken breasts used. Remove chicken to a platter to rest for 5 minutes. Mix gravy well. (See Cook's note for how to thicken gravy with cornstarch, if desired.)
  • Serve smothered chicken and gravy garnished with parsley. Serve with cornbread dressing, cooked rice, cooked pasta, mashed potatoes or any of your favorite Southern side dishes.

Notes

  • If you don’t have a dutch oven, you can brown the chicken in a skillet then place into a covered 13 x 9 inch dish to bake.
  • How do you make chicken gravy with cornstarch? At the end of cooking smothered chicken and gravy you can thicken the gravy further using cornstarch. Remove the chicken breasts to a platter and keep warm. Place the dutch oven back on to the stovetop over medium high heat, Mix up a slurry using equal parts of cold half and half, cold chicken broth or cold water and cornstarch. So, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch to 1 tablespoon of liquid, you can of course use a little more as needed. Whisk into the liquid and let it come to a gentle boil. Repeat until it thickens to your taste. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 308kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 46mg | Sodium: 998mg | Potassium: 172mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 671IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!

 

38 Comments

  1. Thank you Melissa!! Definitely a keeper. Didn’t change a thing. Well, I did add kitchen bouquet to gravy for color only because hubby likes “brown gravy” if that counts lol. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!

  2. Yummo, this sounds just like what I’m going to make today for a big Sunday supper for my family!!! Will let everybody know how it comes out! Can’t wait, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

  3. Hi,

    I’m a little bit confused! Where does the tarragon and cayenne come into play? They are both mentioned in the ingredient list but not in the instructions, and the paprika is mentioned in the instructions but not the ingredient list. I would like to make this, but I want to make sure that I get it right! Thank you!

    1. Hi Jennifer, regarding the paprika, I do put it into the flour and dust the top with a bit before baking. That is completely optional, as long as it’s in the flour don’t sweat it. In this recipe, I separated the seasonings into their own column. So the tarragon listed in the ingredients along with the other seasonings in the column are whisked into the soup mixture at the same time.

  4. I tried this 2 day with boneless skinless chicken thighs (preferred). 1 large onion ( I actually thought that that much onion would overpower the dish……wrong, the onions turned out to be sweet and a treat !!). No butter or cream (cholesterol) oil and powdered milk substituted. I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, oil garlic salt, pepper and bread crumbs, quickly stir fried the chicken, put in baking dish poured the “gravy….including the onions” over the chicken……baked at 350 for 20 minutes (convection…….toaster oven). Came out GR8!!!! Tender, juicy, flavorful. Will make some pasta as a base.

    Will surely do this again !!

  5. This recipe was superb! I made it last week for the first time. My husband even asked where I got the recipe from because he really, really, liked it. So did I. Yum!!! He said that this one is a real keeper. I am making it again today for our supper tonight. I also cook daily meals for my mother. She has trouble chewing, but the chicken was so tender that it wasn’t an issue at all.

    I did make one small change though. Instead of 3 tablespoons of butter, I used 1 t. olive oil and 2.5 tablespoons butter.

    This recipe will definitely be a regular guest on my dinner plate. lol Thank you for sharing it.

    1. Hi Kathy, I’m delighted you and your husband enjoyed this dish. Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know!

  6. What the heck is cream of chicken mushroom soup? I have never heard of it. I can not find it anywhere. Thank you.

    1. That’s very surprising it’s readily available at most grocery stores including Walmart. You can substitute one or the other in it’s place. Cream of chicken or cream of mushroom.

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