What you'll need
- 600g boneless chicken thighs
- 320g tagliatelle
- 200ml double cream
- 150ml chicken stock
- 80g sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 60g parmesan, finely grated
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- Chilli flakes, dried herbs, smoked paprika
- Olive oil, butter, salt and pepper
- Fresh basil, to serve
How to make it
1. Sear the chicken. Pat the thighs dry and season with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika. Heat olive oil in a wide, heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat and sear for 4 to 5 minutes each side until deep golden and cooked through. Set aside to rest, then slice into thick pieces.
2. Build the sauce. In the same pan (don't clean it, those golden bits are flavour), lower the heat to medium and add the butter. Soften the shallot for 2 minutes, then add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes more.
3. Add the cream. Pour in the chicken stock and reduce by half, then add the double cream, thyme, oregano, and chilli flakes. Simmer gently for 5 minutes until thickened. Stir through the parmesan and taste for seasoning.
4. Cook the pasta. Boil the tagliatelle in well-salted water until just al dente. Reserve a mugful of pasta water before draining.
5. Bring it together. Return the sliced chicken to the sauce and toss through the drained pasta, adding a splash of pasta water to loosen if needed. Serve in wide bowls with extra parmesan, fresh basil, and a crack of black pepper.
Here are recipes you make once and forget, and then there are recipes that quietly become part of the rotation without anyone really deciding it. This is the latter. Marry Me Chicken Tagliatelle has been passed around the Moment team so many times that it's basically company property at this point.
The original "Marry Me Chicken" has been floating around the internet for years. The name comes from the idea that the dish is so good, whoever you cook it for might just propose. We've added tagliatelle because a sauce this good deserves something generous and silky to cling to.
It's built around pan-seared chicken thighs, sun-dried tomatoes, and a cream sauce enriched with parmesan and just enough garlic to make you feel like you're doing something right. The herbs bring depth, the chilli flakes bring warmth, and the whole thing comes together in about 35 minutes.
