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One Pan Chicken Scarpariello gets a healthy twist with cauliflower in place of potatoes for a high-protein, gluten-free, low-carb dinner you’ll love.
Healthy Chicken Scarpariello
Like Chicken Saltimbocca, Chicken Scarpariello is one of my favorite Italian dishes. It’s spicy, rich and truly a comfort food. This lighter version is absolutely delicious too! I kept the chicken breast on the bone and just pulled off the skin in order to reduce the fat while keeping the meat nice and tender. Traditional potatoes are replaced with cauliflower florets, which stand up well to the braising process. The end result is a flavorful rustic dish, which also just happens to be healthy, gluten-free and low-carb.
Why This Recipe Is a Favorite
I’m always looking for ways to cook chicken breast. If you’ve never tried chicken scarpariello before, you’re in for a treat! Here’s what makes this recipe so delicious!
- Full of Flavor: Hot peppers, wine sauce, and rosemary add layers of flavor to this dish.
- As Spicy As You Want: I like things spicy and this version packs a lot of heat. However, the spice level can easily be modified by reducing the number of cherry peppers, leaving out the extra liquid or swapping in red bell peppers instead.
- Easy to Make: Just 10 minutes of prep time and one pan!
- High Protein: One serving has 32 grams protein to fill you up!
Chicken Scarpariello
Swapping chicken thighs for skinless chicken breasts and potatoes for cauliflower makes this chicken scarpariello a lighter version of the classic.
Yield: servings
Serving Size: 1 piece chicken, 1 cup vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large chicken breasts, bone in, skin removed
- kosher salt, and black pepper to taste
- 1 link cooked sweet Italian chicken sausage, sliced thinly on a bias (I used Aidells)
- 1/2 medium head cauliflower, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
- 1 medium onion, sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 4 jarred hot cherry peppers, sliced plus 1 tbsp liquid (optional for extra heat)
- 1/3 cup dry white wine, omit for whole30, paleo and replace with chicken stock
- 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken stock
- 1 sprig rosemary, needles removed and roughly chopped, plus additional for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Cut chicken in half to make 4 pieces, leaving the bone on.
- Heat oil in a large, oven safe sauté pan or cast iron skillet with straight sides over medium-high heat.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper and brown 2-3 minutes per side.
- Remove chicken and set aside.
- Lower heat to medium and add onion, chicken sausage, cauliflower florets, garlic and cherry peppers.
- Sauté, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until vegetables and sausage start to brown.
- Add the white wine, cherry peppers and additional optional liquid.
- Raise heat and allow to boil for about 2 minutes before adding chicken stock.
- Add chicken breasts back into pan, bone side down, sprinkle rosemary on top, bring to a boil and then place the pan in the oven, uncovered.
- Cook for 20-25 minutes or until chicken reaches 165°F.
- Remove from oven carefully, with towel or kitchen gloves, serve and enjoy!
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.Nutrition
Serving: 1 piece chicken, 1 cup vegetables, Calories: 283 kcal, Carbohydrates: 9 g, Protein: 32 g, Fat: 12 g, Saturated Fat: 0.7 g, Cholesterol: 83 mg, Sodium: 465 mg, Fiber: 3 g, Sugar: 1 g
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this chicken scarpariello recipe. See the recipe card above for exact measurements.
- Olive Oil for browning the chicken.
- Chicken Breast halves, with the bone in but the skin removed.
- Kosher Salt and Pepper, to taste.
- Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage, like Aidells.
- Cauliflower, cut into florets as a substitute for the usual potatoes.
- Onion and Garlic add lots of flavor to this recipe.
- Hot Cherry Peppers, plus some of the liquid for extra heat.
- Dry White Wine, or additional chicken stock for an alcohol-free version.
- Reduced-Sodium Chicken Stock to keep the chicken super moist.
- Rosemary: Use fresh rosemary and mince the leaves.
How to Make Chicken Scarpariello
Here’s a quick overview of the process of making this chicken scarpariello. See the recipe card at the bottom for printable directions.
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to 375ºF and cut the chicken in half to make 4 pieces. Season with salt and pepper.
- Brown the Chicken: Heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium-high. Add the chicken and brown both sides, then transfer to a plate.
- Sauté the Sausage and Veggies: Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, chicken sausage, cauliflower, garlic, and cherry peppers. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until everything is starting to brown.
- Add the Liquid: Pour in the wine and the cherry pepper liquid, if you’re using it. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes, then pour in the stock.
- Bake: Add the chicken to the pan bone side down. Sprinkle rosemary on top and bring to a boil, then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes uncovered, or until the chicken reaches 165°F.
Recipe Tips & Variations
- Make Sure Your Pan Is Oven-Safe: It should have no plastic on the handle.
- Use Chicken Thighs: For a more traditional take on this recipe, you can swap the chicken breasts for chicken thighs. They take a bit longer to cook and the nutritional information will change.
- Swap the Cauliflower for Potatoes: Another more traditional swap is to use potatoes instead of cauliflower. Swap in an equivalent amount of halved fingerling potatoes. Although this recipe won’t be low carb when made with potatoes, it’ll still be lighter than the classic version.
What to Serve With Chicken Scarpariello
Between the chicken and vegetables, this chicken scarpariello recipe is a meal on its own. But if you’d like to stretch it a little further or make a more filling meal, here are some sides to consider:
Sides for Chicken Scarpariello
Storage
- Refrigerate chicken scarpariello in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
- Reheat in the microwave until the chicken and vegetables are warmed through or place them in a baking pan, cover with foil, and warm in a 350ºF oven.
- Freeze the chicken and vegetables in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating.
Not my favorite
This recipe was delicious! Good feedback around the table, even from the picky eater 🙂 I accidentally added a little extra liquid in ours, but it still turned into a nice little soup. Love that you include possible sides to go with the main dishes, because I had some brown rice ready to add as well. All around, great recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This was so good! I think I may have added too much broth or not enough veggies because it had a bit of liquid left over after it came out of the oven. I love that your website includes possible sides to go with the main dish – because of that, I already had some brown rice ready to go! So it turned into a chicken scarpariello soup, but kept all of the delicious flavors. I also wasn’t able to find the peppers, but added some broccolini for some more color and the chicken sausage I got had a little kick to it. Good feedback from around the dinner table, even the picky eater!
Served for guest tonight. Big hit!! Husband requests we have again. Only problem is we can’t seem to find the hot cherry peppers anywhere local. Substituted and it was still great.
Thoughts on using Trader Joe’s cauliflower gnocchi vs florets.
Wow this is delicious! So easy and it looked fancy! My husband said put that on the rotation. We really loved it. I used peppadew peppers and they just made it… sweet and spicy.
This recipe is absolutely amazing! We made it for the first time on Tuesday and what a hit!!!!! This will definitely be on repeat. I didn’t have cherry peppers but I have tomatoes and red sweet pepper so we used that instead.
Skinnytaste for the win! (As usual!!)
I seriously doubted this dish would be good. It’s so simple, I thought there was no way it could be flavorful. Boy, was I wrong!!!!!! It’s amazing! Spicy, hearty, the chicken is so tender, the cauliflower is firm and packed with flavor. Four thumbs up from this household!! (Ps: the sausage can totally be omitted if you don’t want to buy a whole package just to use one).
If using boneless chicken breasts and potatoes, how much potatoes and how long would you cook it for?
If using boneless chicken breast that I have on hand-need to put in oven at all? Afraid of over cooking.
I would cook it less time
Any suggestions for something instead of cauliflower? Still keeping it healthy.
I made this tonoght, but altered the recipe to use my pressure cooker instead of braising in the oven. The only thing I changed was I didn’t sautee the cauliflower for fear of it overcooking. It was perfect at 7 minutes under high pressure. Will make again.
This was delicious! Yet another ST recipe we'll be adding to our "cookbook." The flavor was great. I lowered the spice a bit for our pallates. The cauliflower was very good prepped this way. Thanks!
I made this for dinner tonight! I loved it! My husband did too, although it was a tad too spicy for him, so next time I make it, I will plan on cutting down the peppers and/or liquid a hair. I only had boneless skinless breasts and was in a hurry so I just did everything in my big cast iron pan and it turned out wonderfully! Love a great tasting/easy recipe.
Made for dinner tonight and really liked the dish. I used Italian turkey sausage and a red bell pepper with red pepper flakes as I could not find hot cherry peppers. I really wish I could have found the peppers to spice this dish because I like spicy food. It also smells super yummy while in the oven. I am curious why Skinny Taste's nutritional information does not include a saturated fat fact?
What could I substitute for hot cherry peppers? I'm out west, and we only have sweet cherry peppers…sweet with red pepper flakes?
You can use red bell pepper and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for the spice.
Congratulations on graduating from culinary school, Jackie! What a fantastic looking dish this is.
Thank you! 🙂
This looks so hearty, healthy and delicious! What a wonderful weeknight meal.
Thank you, Georgia!
Wonderful flavors! I used half potatoes and half cauliflower – starting the potatoes a bit earlier. I'm going to take these ingredients and modify them into a soup, too.
Sounds tasty! I'm really happy you liked the flavors and let me know how the soup turns out.
Healthy eating, exercise and good sleep promotes healthy living. I am really thankful Jackie that I am a follower of your blog because I get to eat my favorite dishes in a healthy way and just maintain my weight. Also, I drink Swami Mami Teas because detoxifies my body and better my lifestyle.
Jackie I just checked out your website. I love it. Now I have two favorite websites I run to for heathy yummy recipes!!
Vanessa
Vanessa, thank you so much! I'm really happy you enjoyed it and were able to modify the dish to work for everyone in your family!
I made this last night! I made some separate for my son since we love spicy food! I replaced the sausage with artichoke hearts and olives since I didn't have sausage in the house. It was spectacular! Thanks for sharing! So glad you found your love for food again! Stay well!
Vanessa
I couldn't find jarred hot cherry peppers. Would pepperoncini's be an acceptable substitution?
Yes. Definitely!
Hi Jackie… sounds delish… any suggestions for a side? or is one really needed with all the goodness already in the recipe? Congrats on your chef status… that's awesome..
Thanks, Glen! Not necessary but if you'd like to add a carb and are not worried about the extra calories, you can serve it with some rice or angel hair pasta. Enjoy!
So much cauliflower! I love it!!!! 🙂
www.appetitesanonymous.com
Making this right now…will it still taste the same if I don't put it in the oven?
I should think so. I would probably cover and simmer it on low to cook through if finishing it on the stove. Hope it turned out great!
I'm interested in the recipe for that unforgettable coconut cake 😉
Here you go http://jackieourman.com/?p=2500 🙂
Looks and sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing. Hope to see you back soon!
Thank you!
When you place the dish in the oven what temperature is the oven at?
The oven should be at 375 degrees F.
I think this might also be great with shrimp! Maybe just throwing them in raw before putting it in the oven might work.
Sounds really good. You may want to blanch the cauliflower in boiling salted water for about 5 minutes first since the shrimp will likely cook much more quickly.
This looks so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks! Enjoy!
Thank you, Jackie! This looks SO good and I can't wait to try it! Such a great tip, cooking the chicken with the bone on. It really does add a lot of flavor. I also love the idea of using cauliflower instead of potatoes. I'm sure Gina would be happy to have you back to share with us any time!
Thanks so much, Mary Beth!
Quick question–do the cherry peppers go in with the other vegetables or with the liquids later? The recipe says both.
So sorry for the confusion! The cherry peppers go in with the white wine.
Do you think this would work with boneless, skinless thighs?
Yes, definitely! May need a little less cooking time but should be tasty.
Can't wait to try this over here in the UK – bringing some Italian to the county of Wiltshire. Thank you for recipe.
Great! You are very welcome!
Yum, this looks so tasty! Can't wait to try it!
Thanks! Enjoy!
What can I sub instead of wine? Don't drink alcohol.
Sarah, you can deglaze the pan with some fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon) before adding the chicken stock.
Could you do this in the crockpot?
Hi Kristen,
I haven't tried it in the crockpot but it should hold up pretty well in there since the chicken is on the bone. I would still recommend browning everything and deglazing with the wine before pouring into the slow cooker. It really adds a good deal of flavor.
Yum – this looks amazing! I can't wait to try it!
Thanks, Calista! I hope you love it!
What wud u change if u wanted to use skinless boneless chicken?
I would blanch the cauliflower for about 5 minutes in boiling salted water before adding it to the pan since boneless chicken would take a little less time to cook.
So happy to be on your blog today, Gina! Thanks for having me! xo
Jackie