Rosemary Chicken Sauce is a delicious, easy, healthy chicken recipe. Cooked low and slow, it’s paleo, Whole30 & perfect for dinner or meal prep! This tomato sauce is amazing and full of flavor – perfect over pasta, zucchini noodles or rice.
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We love tomato sauce of any kind…but this Rosemary Chicken Sauce is a staple in our house. It’s incredibly light on the stomach, will still fill you up, and tastes amazing!
Chicken breasts or thighs get pan seared and simmer until they’re golden brown. Then they cook until they are fall apart tender in tomato sauce. We serve it over both pasta and zoodles – but it’s delicious no matter how you serve it.
While we love traditional meatballs and sauce, this chicken sauce is a nice change.
The sauce is paleo, Whole30 friendly, gluten free and dairy free – however – you can totally doctor it up if you don’t follow any of those diets. I love it with parmesan cheese on top – and have included some other substitutions for you below!
What makes this chicken sauce healthy?
- Low in fat – Healthy fats are good for us, but typically sauce and meatballs can be high in fat from the meat used, making it somewhat greasy. This sauce is made with chicken breasts, which keep it low in fat and high in protein.
- SO easy– This sauce is so simple to make. I prefer to make it in the crockpot but you can also make it on the stove top in under two hours.
- High Protein – Most pasta sauces/dishes are just carbs on carbs. This sauce is loaded with over 30+ grams of protein per serving.
Let’s make it!
Ingredients for Rosemary Chicken Sauce:
To make this Rosemary Chicken Sauce you’ll need:
- olive oil
- chicken breasts
- salt, pepper
- fresh rosemary
- garlic, onion
- red pepper flakes
- red wine
- canned crushed tomatoes
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded box.
How to make Rosemary Chicken Sauce
Making this sauce has a few steps, but I promise it is worth it. Here’s how we make it.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Sear the chicken 5-6 minutes on each side, over medium high heat until the outside is browned. You’ll have to cook the chicken in 2 separate batches depending on the size of your pan.
- Saute garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, and rosemary for 5 minutes, uncovered over medium heat, until translucent.
- Once translucent, add red wine and cook for another 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Add crushed tomatoes and chicken back to the pot. Bring to simmer. Cover and cook for 1-2 hours on low, stirring every 30 minutes. The chicken will begin to fall apart.
- When ready to eat, gently break apart the chicken. Serve over zucchini noodles or pasta.
The chicken will be so tender it just falls right apart!
Substitutions for Rosemary Chicken:
Chicken: You can make this with boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenders. Either one will work!
Wine: Skip the red wine if you are paleo/Whole30. It’s not necessary but it does add flavor.
Veggies: I have also made this with 1/2 cup each of chopped carrots, celery and mushrooms added and it was delicious. If you don’t have a certain amount of veggies, you can mix and match them with others. A little less carrots or celery, etc – will not drastically affect the taste.
Fresh herbs: I prefer to use fresh rosemary in this recipe. Depending on what you use, I do a 3 to 1 ratio of fresh to dried spices. For example, you can use 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs.
Add Ins: Kalamata olives, fresh herbs or even corn make delicious add ins to this recipe. You could also try this Puttanesca Sauce!
How to serve Chicken with Tomato Sauce
You can serve this Rosemary Chicken Sauce a number of ways. Here are some ideas:
Over pasta or zucchini noodles – This goes great over any pasta or zoodles. I have tips for using zoodles below.
Wonder Noodles – We don’t love wonder noodles as a pasta substitute, we prefer zoodles – but they will work for serving.
Rice or cauliflower rice – This sauce goes great over rice or cauliflower rice.
How to prevent soggy zucchini noodles
I commonly get asked how to avoid watery zucchini noodles. I have two tips for you for how to avoid soggy zucchini noodles.
REALLY squeeze the water out of them- I use a thick, absorbent (and clean!) dish towel and squeeze the water out of the noodles, hard. The towel should be damp when done. I then lay the zucchini noodles out on a paper towel lined baking sheet or bowl until I’m ready to use them.
Don’t add in the zucchini noodles to the dish until you are ready to serve. If you’re meal prepping, you can place the chicken/veggie mixture into a container and place your raw zucchini noodles on top. When you’re ready to eat, microwave or heat over the stove to avoid mushy noodles.
We hope you love this hearty, delicious meal! It’s one of our favorites and is always a hit when served to family/friends.
How to store chicken tomato sauce:
This sauce actually gets better as the days go on and the flavors have time to meld together. This bolognese sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, or you can freeze it in an air tight container.
If you freeze this sauce, when you’re ready to reheat, simply defrost it the night before and warm it on the stovetop.
If you love your crockpot check out these 45 Healthy Best Chicken Slow Cooker Recipes Ever.
Love chicken? Check out our favorite healthy chicken breast recipes!
Rosemary Chicken Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil separated
- 2 lbs chicken breasts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons rosemary chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1/2 cup onion chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup red wine optional
- 2 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions:
- Place chicken breasts in between plastic wrap and pound until ⅓ inch thick.
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan.
- While olive oil is heating, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Sear the chicken 5-6 minutes on each side, over medium high heat until outside is browned. You’ll have to cook the chicken in 2 separate batches depending on the size of your pan.
- When chicken is cooked, set aside on a plate.
- Add remaining 1.5 tablespoons olive oil into the pan.
- Saute garlic, onion, red pepper flakes and rosemary for 5 minutes, uncovered over medium heat, until translucent.
- Once translucent, add red wine and cook for another 5 minutes, uncovered.
- Add crushed tomatoes and bring to simmer.
- Once simmering, add cooked chicken back to the pot. Cover and cook for 1-2 hours on low, stirring every 30 minutes. The chicken will begin to fall apart.
- When ready to eat, gently break apart the chicken. Serve over zucchini noodles or pasta.
Crockpot Instructions:
- Place chicken breasts in between plastic wrap and pound until ⅓ inch thick.
- Heat 1.5 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan.
- While olive oil is heating, season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Sear the chicken 5-6 minutes on each side, over medium high heat until outside is browned. You’ll have to cook the chicken in 2 separate batches depending on the size of your pan.
- When chicken is cooked, add to the crockpot.
- Add remaining 1.5 tablespoons olive oil into the pan.
- Saute garlic, onion, red pepper flakes and rosemary for 5 minutes, uncovered over medium heat, until translucent.
- Once translucent, add red wine and cook for another 5 minutes, uncovered. After 5 minutes, add to the crockpot.
- Add crushed tomatoes to the crock pot and stir.
- Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low. The chicken will begin to fall apart.
- When ready to eat, gently break apart the chicken. Serve over zucchini noodles or pasta.
trudi says
Good tip about drying the zucchini ! oO will try it soonGood tip about “drying teg Zekes
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thanks! Hope it helps you!
Alyssa says
I made this for dinner tonight and it was simple and delicious! It will definitely be a new staple dinner in my house! I had it with zoodles and my husband had it with pasta and we both loved it!
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Alyssa! Thank you so much!!
Hannah Valenzuela says
This was SO easy and deliious! We had it with cauliflower gnocchi and froze some for the future! Thanks for another great recipe.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Oooh that sounds so yummy over the cauliflower gnocchi!! Totally trying that!
Dawn Cianci says
Great flavor! Lasted for days! Very versatile too! I made in crock pot! Quick & Delicious!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Glad you liked it, Dawn! It’s one of our favorite dinners!
Jen says
Made this today and it was amazing and my picky kids loved it! I added carrots and zucchini and zipped them in the food processor before adding in. I also did this in the instant pot…I browned the chicken first like the recipe states then cooked everything on high pressure for 7 mins and natural released then left it on slow cooker (only because I don’t have a separate slow cooker any more and sometimes the instant pot slow cook setting isn’t great imo). Turned out just like I anticipated! Super easy also which is great since I have 2 kiddos plus a newborn.
The Clean Eating Couple says
So glad you liked it, Jen! This makes me so happy to hear!
Cami says
I’ve already made this once and I’m back to make it again! It’s seriously so good and a great way to change it up from regular spaghetti sauce or bolognese! So much flavor and so easy to make!
The Clean Eating Couple says
Thank you so much!!
Lisa Duke says
Hi. What is the process to use a crock pot? Thank you.
The Clean Eating Couple says
Hi Lisa – Please look at the recipe. It’s listed under ‘crockpot instructions’. Thanks!
Jenny says
So unbelievably good and flavorful!!! Made it with banza pasta. Definitely a keeper of a recipes
The Clean Eating Couple says
So happy you liked it, Jenny! Thank you!
Chelsea says
So good and so filling!
Katie McMann says
How many ounces of canned crushed tomatoes do you use? Is it two 28oz cans? When you double the serving size it says to use 60oz. Is that correct?
The Clean Eating Couple says
The recipe calls for 2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes. If you are going to double it, use 4!