Anna Louise I was sceptical about this recipe when I first heard the name. It sounded like something made up for social media. But I tried it — properly, with good sun-dried tomatoes and decent chicken — and I understood immediately.
The sauce is extraordinary. Rich, slightly tangy from the sun-dried tomatoes, deeply savoury from the Parmesan, creamy, fragrant with fresh basil and garlic — it is the kind of sauce you want to eat with a spoon before the chicken is even on the plate.
Marry me chicken is a dish that went viral online and has since become one of those recipes that actually deserves the attention. The sauce is a sun-dried tomato cream — think of the flavour of a really good Italian restaurant pasta sauce, but richer — and the chicken cooks directly in it, absorbing every bit of that character.
Mary Berry’s version keeps things clean and focused. No unnecessary elements, nothing that muddles the three core flavours — sun-dried tomato, Parmesan, cream — that make this dish what it is.
What Makes the Sauce So Good
Sun-dried tomatoes do something in a cream sauce that fresh tomatoes cannot. They are concentrated, slightly sweet, slightly chewy, and intensely flavoured. They give the sauce a depth that takes other dishes hours to develop and this one achieves in about twenty minutes.
The oil from the sun-dried tomato jar is also excellent for frying the chicken — do not use regular olive oil when you have that intensely flavoured oil sitting right there.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Marry Me Chicken
For the Chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato oil (from the jar) or olive oil
- 1 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
For the Sauce
- 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (adjust to taste — I use a generous half teaspoon)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 100g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped
- 200ml good quality chicken stock
- 200ml double cream
- 75g Parmesan, finely grated
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- A large handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Mary Berry Marry Me Chicken
Step 1 — Sear the Chicken
Season the chicken breasts on both sides. Dust lightly with flour — just enough to give the outside a very thin coating, which helps it colour better in the pan.
Heat the sun-dried tomato oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for three to four minutes per side until golden on the outside — they do not need to be cooked through at this point. Remove and set aside.
Step 2 — Build the Sauce
In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium. Add the sliced garlic and cook for one minute until fragrant — watch it carefully, garlic burns quickly. Add the chilli flakes and dried oregano and stir for thirty seconds.
Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and cook for two minutes, stirring, until they have softened slightly and you can smell them properly in the pan.
Pour in the chicken stock. Let it bubble and reduce for two to three minutes. Add the double cream and stir to combine. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Add the Parmesan and sugar. Stir until the Parmesan has melted into the sauce. Taste and season — sun-dried tomatoes are salty so check before adding extra salt.
Step 3 — Return the Chicken and Finish
Return the chicken breasts to the pan, nestling them into the sauce. Spoon sauce over the top of each breast.
Cover partially and cook over a low heat for fifteen to eighteen minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through and the sauce has thickened to a gorgeous, glossy, coating consistency.
Add the torn fresh basil. Stir through gently and serve immediately from the pan.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Marry Me Chicken
Use the oil from the sun-dried tomato jar. This oil has been sitting with sun-dried tomatoes for who knows how long and it tastes wonderful. Use it to fry the chicken instead of regular olive oil and you get an extra layer of sun-dried tomato flavour from the very first step.
Do not skip the flour dusting. Just a light dusting of plain flour on the chicken before searing gives a much better golden colour than bare chicken. It also helps the sauce cling to the chicken when it is added back in.
Add the basil at the very end. Fresh basil goes black and loses its brightness within seconds in hot liquid. Tear the leaves and add them off the heat or right at the end. The green against the deep red sauce looks beautiful.
Keep the heat low when the chicken goes back in. The cream sauce can split if it boils too vigorously. A gentle simmer for fifteen to eighteen minutes cooks the chicken through without any drama.
Taste the sauce before seasoning. Sun-dried tomatoes, Parmesan, and sun-dried tomato oil are all salty. This sauce might need very little additional salt — always taste first.
Serving Suggestions
With pasta — tagliatelle or pappardelle work beautifully, tossed in extra sauce. With creamy mashed potato. With crusty bread to mop every trace of sauce from the pan. With rice if you want something lighter. This is a generous sauce — make sure you have something to mop it up with.
How to Store Mary Berry Marry Me Chicken
In the fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat gently on the hob — the cream sauce can split if reheated too vigorously. Add a splash of chicken stock to loosen if needed.
In the freezer: Freeze in portions for up to 2 months. Cream sauces can separate slightly when defrosted but come back together with gentle reheating and stirring.
Mary Berry Marry Me Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Season chicken. Dust lightly with flour. Sear in sun-dried tomato oil over medium-high heat 3–4 minutes per side until golden. Remove and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Cook garlic 1 minute. Add chilli flakes and oregano — 30 seconds. Add sun-dried tomatoes — 2 minutes.
- Add stock — bubble and reduce 2–3 minutes. Add cream. Simmer. Add Parmesan and sugar — stir until melted. Taste and season.
- Return chicken — nestle into sauce, spoon sauce over. Cover partially. Cook over low heat 15–18 minutes until cooked through and sauce is thick and glossy.
- Add torn basil. Serve immediately from the pan.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken thighs instead of breast?
Yes — boneless skinless thighs work beautifully and are arguably more forgiving. They need slightly longer in the sauce — twenty to twenty-two minutes rather than fifteen to eighteen.
Can I make this less rich?
Replace half the double cream with more chicken stock. The sauce will be slightly thinner but still very good. You can also stir in a tablespoon of crème fraîche instead of all double cream for a slightly lighter result.
I do not like chilli — can I leave it out?
Absolutely — the chilli flakes add warmth but the dish is completely wonderful without them. Leave them out and add a little extra garlic instead if you like.
Can I add spinach?
Yes — a handful of baby spinach wilted into the sauce in the final two minutes is genuinely lovely. It adds colour and a slight freshness that balances the richness.
Why is my sauce splitting?
The heat was too high — a cream sauce needs a gentle simmer, not a vigorous boil. If it has split, remove from the heat and stir in a tablespoon of cold double cream — it usually brings it back together.
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