Chicken is a kind of meat that goes so well with sauces. Different sauces can transform a simple chicken dish into something super interesting and flavorful. However, sauces can also add lots of extra calories to your meals, as well as extra sugar or unhealthy fats, depending on the sauce.
So in this post, I’m sharing a roundup of healthy sauces that can elevate your favorite chicken recipes without compromising your health and fitness goals.
I’ll include sauces for pasta dishes with chicken, dipping sauces for chicken, salad dressings, and sauces that go perfectly with chicken no matter what the side dish is.
10 Healthy Sauces for Chicken
Chicken with Hidden Veggie Sauce
If you don’t like the taste of veggies, but you want to incorporate more of them into your diet because of all of their healthy properties, this is the recipe for you. This delicious sauce will hide the veggies, but it’ll still give you all the vitamins. This is also great for little kids who might not want to eat their veggies.
Peruvian Green Sauce
This delicious green sauce works great as a dipping sauce for chicken, as salad dressing, or as a spread for a chicken pita or chicken tortilla.
Mushroom Sauce
We all know mushrooms and chicken pair perfectly! That’s why this sauce is something you have to try!
Poppy Seed Dressing
This is a salad dressing that goes so well with a chicken salad!
Avocado Sauce
This sauce is great as a dipping sauce for grilled chicken!
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Skillet
Ingredients
- 6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw – 190 calories
- 2 cups Broccoli – 62 calories
- ⅓ cup Alfredo sauce – 133 calories (store bought)
- 1 Tbsp Cheese, Parmesan, grated (Tbsp) – 21 calories
- 1 tsp Avocado oil (tsp) – 41 calories
- ½ tsp Garlic powder – 0 calories
- ½ tsp Red pepper flakes (tsp) – 0 calories
- ¼ tsp Salt – 0 calories
- 1 Tbsp Parsley, fresh – 0 calories
Instructions
Step 1: Slice chicken and broccoli into small pieces
Step 2: Mix in a large bowl chicken, broccoli, oil, and seasonings
Step 3: Add contents to an oven-safe pan (like a cast-iron pan) and stir fry on low heat ~10 minutes or until chicken has cooked through
Step 4: Stir in Alfredo sauce
Step 5: Top with Parmesan cheese
Step 6: Set oven to Broil, and bake for 3-5 minutes (check on it so that your food gets a brown tint, but doesn’t get burnt!)
Step 7: Top with fresh chopped parsley (or other fresh herbs of your choice if you don’t like parsley)
No dairy? Use dairy-free pesto, available at most stores (instead of the Alfredo sauce and the Parmesan cheese). No chicken? Use white beans or tofu.
One Pot Pasta
This veggie sauce is one of my favorite healthy pasta sauce recipes, and it pairs perfectly with chicken!
Ingredients
- ½ cup Pasta, penne, uncooked (dry) – 200 calories
- ¾ cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed – 38 calories
- ¼ cup Broth, chicken or beef (cups) – 9 calories
- ⅔ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella – 224 calories
- 2 cups Broccoli, frozen – 62 calories
- ⅛ tsp Garlic salt – 0 calories
- ⅛ tsp Red pepper flakes – 0 calories
- ¼ tsp Oregano – 0 calories
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Step 2: Add all of your ingredients besides the cheese to a casserole dish
Step 3: Mix your contents around, make sure your pasta is completely covered by liquid
Step 4: Top with cheese
Step 5: Cover your casserole dish with a lid or tin foil and bake for 20 minutes
Step 6: Remove the tin foil or lid, set your oven to broil, and broil for another 2-3 minutes
No cheese? Use dairy-free cheese or swap this meal out for another. No gluten? Use gluten-free pasta.
Spinach & Artichoke Bake
This spinach & artichoke bake uses spinach & artichoke dip as the “sauce” for chicken, and it’s super tasty and delicious! It’s also great for meal prep.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Spinach & artichoke dip – 180 calories
- 6 slice Artichokes, canned (pieces) – 60 calories
- 6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw – 190 calories
- ⅛ tsp Pepper, ground – 0 calories
- 1 tsp Garlic powder – 0 calories
Instructions
Step 1: Dice chicken and mix together with garlic powder and pepper
Step 2: Spray a pan with an oil spray and cook chicken on medium heat for 8 minutes, until chicken has cooked through
Step 3: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Step 4: Spray an oven-safe pan or casserole dish with an oil spray
Step 5: Add in spinach & artichoke dip (if using a frozen one, cook in the microwave first), chicken, and chopped artichoke pieces
Step 6: Mix contents to combine
Step 7: Bake for 15 minutes
Step 8: Enjoy!
No dairy? Swap this meal out for another. No chicken? Use white beans (no need to cook first).
Pumpkin Carrot Noodles With Chicken
This carrot noodle recipe uses this delicious pumpkin sauce for the chicken. If you don’t feel like eating it with carrot noodles, you can just use the sauce for the chicken, and pair it with rice, or another side.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Pumpkin, puree, unsweetened – 80 calories
- 1½ Tbsp Cream cheese, whipped – 50 calories
- 2 cups Carrot “zoodles”, raw or frozen – 180 calories
- 4 oz Chicken breast, grilled – 150 calories
Instructions
Step 1: In 1 pot (Pot 1) heated canned pumpkin and cream cheese
Step 2: In a separate pan (Pot 2) heated frozen carrot noodles with a cooking spray, stirring occasionally to break them up
Step 3: Added carrots to pumpkin sauce in Pot 1
Step 4: In Pot 2, heated pre-cooked chicken breast
Step 5: Add all ingredients to one bowl.
No dairy? Use a dairy-free brand of cream cheese. No chicken? Use salmon or tofu
Zoodles di Carciofi
Ingredients
- 2 cups Zoodles (zucchini noodles), raw or frozen – 42 calories
- ½ cup Artichokes, canned in water (cups) – 30 calories
- ½ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim – 216 calories
- ¼ cup Tomatoes, canned, crushed – 13 calories
- 6 oz Chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw – 190 calories
- ¼ tsp Salt – 0 calories
- ¼ tsp Pepper, ground – 0 calories
Instructions
Step 1: Spray pan with an oil spray and stir-fry on medium heat (breaking up noodles with tongs if cooking zoodles from frozen). Once cooked through, drain any excess liquid with a sieve.
Step 2: Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Spray a separate pan with an oil spray. Cook chicken pieces for 8-9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through.
Step 3: Add zoodles, artichokes, ricotta, and crushed tomatoes to the pan with chicken and heat through, ~5 minutes. Season.
No chicken? Use tofu or fish.
