Sour Cream Chicken is an easy delicious dinner that your family will love. A simple creamy marinade makes for moist chicken – everyone will want seconds!
This very simple chicken recipes comes to you courtesy of my grandmother’s church lady friends. It has all the makings of an old school recipe, and I think you are going to love it.
Is there anything better than easy comfort food?
The chicken in this recipe is first marinated in a sour cream based marinade and then it is lightly breaded and baked with butter on top. While the pictures make it seem so, it doesn’t crisp up. Rather, it is delicious and moist and full of perfect simple flavors.
This is my favorite recipe for chicken that’s just right for a family meal, company and equally as luscious cold! Trust me a rating lower than 5 is just wrong in my opinion. This recipe rocks.
How to Make Sour Cream Chicken
- Cut Chicken Cutlets: The original recipe didn’t call for this, but as chicken breasts come so large now, you will want to cut the chicken into cutlets. You can see how to do that in my post about Chicken Piccata.
- Marinate the Chicken: As mentioned, the chicken is marinated in a creamy marinade overnight. With just a few minutes of prep, dinner is almost done when you walk in the door the next day.
- Bread the Chicken: The sour cream covered chicken gets a light toss in bread crumbs.
- Bake: Finally the chicken gets a drizzle of butter and then is baked.
Sour Cream Marinade
The marinade for this recipe is very simple, and I bet you have most of it in your refrigerator and pantry already.
- Sour Cream: Since this recipe is baked, do not use low fat.
- Lemon Juice
- Garlic
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Salt
- Paprika
- Cayenne Pepper
- Celery Salt
Marinating Chicken
I love marinating chicken. Chicken is like a blank canvas that can easily take on flavors, and marinating is the perfect way to do that.
I recommend marinating for at least 2 hours, but no more than 24 hours. The bottom of that time range gives the chicken great flavor. Past the end of that range and your chicken will start to break down too much.
FAQ
Yes! If you can find gluten free bread crumbs, then the rest of the recipe will be good to go.
I find that sour cream, when put to heat, can separate or curdle if it isn’t full fat. Since it is the foundation of the marinade, it’s best to stick to full fat.
How to Serve Sour Cream Chicken
If you are looking for some side dishes to go with this great and easy recipe, here are a few of our favorites:
Sour Cream Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut to be 1/2 inch thick
- 1 cup sour cream (I do not recommend using low fat)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup butter melted
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts in half. Use a very sharp knife to cut them in half, butterfly them compltely open, and make two chicken cutlets – like very thin chicken breasts.
- In a reusable and sealable container, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, salt, paprika, cayenne pepper, and celery salt.
- Pat chicken dry. Add to the sour cream mixture, turning it several times to make sure it is fully coated. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours.
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees, and coat a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Gently remove the chicken from the sour cream mixture. Roll in the bread crumbs and place in the prepared baking dish. Repeat with each piece of chicken.
- Pour the butter over the chicken and bake, covered, for 30 minutes or until the chicken registers 165 degrees with an instant read thermometer.
Meg says
Can I fry the chicken, instead of bake?
I would really need to test that. This isn’t like a breading that you would put on chicken before deep frying it.
marla ann newkirk says
great recipe i did half sour cream and mayonnaise. Its very good, Thank You MN
Kathleen Clarke says
Another winner Lisa! So moist and flavorful! I think it would also make a great chicken sandwich. I’m losing count of all your recipes I’ve tried. They’ve all been so good!
I’m so glad you are enjoying them, Kathleen!
Polly says
Can I use chicken thighs?
Hi Polly! I haven’t tested this one with chicken thighs, but I’m sure it would be fine. I would use boneless, skinless thighs.
Melanie R says
Just made this tonight. The chicken was so tender and juicy from having marinated in the sour cream. I added Italian seasoning to the bread crumbs because it seemed too plain and I also sprinkled a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top of the breaded chicken before drizzling the butter.
I’m so glad you liked it!