“Marry Me Chicken” was one of Google’s top-three most-searched recipes — a sun-dried tomato cream sauce so rich, so deeply flavoured, so effortlessly impressive that it earned a name based on the response it apparently provoked. The vegan internet noticed this trend with interest and one logical question: what if we made the sauce the star?
The sauce — sun-dried tomatoes, coconut cream, garlic, Italian herbs, and nutritional yeast — is identical in spirit to the original and superior in versatility. Chickpeas soak up every element of the sauce as they simmer, carrying those concentrated flavours into each bite. Result is a dish that is rich, deeply savoury, and genuinely romantic in the culinary sense: it is the kind of food you make when you want to impress someone, and it consistently succeeds.
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 2 cans (800g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 100g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped (reserve 2 tbsp of the oil)
- 1 can (400ml) full-fat coconut cream
- 200ml vegetable stock
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon sugar or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, torn
- Salt and black pepper
- Pasta, crusty bread, or rice to serve
Method
Step 1: Heat the reserved sun-dried tomato oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cook 2 more minutes. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, caramelising it.
Step 2: Dried herbs, smoked paprika, and chilli flakes. Stir 1 minute. Add the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and stir well.
Step 3: Pour in the coconut cream and vegetable stock. Stir to combine. Add the nutritional yeast and maple syrup. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Step 4: Chickpeas. Stir to coat. Simmer on low heat for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the chickpeas have absorbed the surrounding flavours. Season generously with salt and pepper.
Step 5: Stir in the fresh basil. Serve over pasta, with crusty bread, or over rice. Finish with extra fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and chilli flakes.
- The coconut cream question: Full-fat coconut cream produces the richest result. For a lighter version, use oat cream — it produces a slightly thinner sauce but is equally delicious. Do not use light coconut milk: it lacks the body to create the rich, clinging sauce that defines this dish.
- Storage: Refrigerate for up to four days. The sauce deepens and improves significantly overnight. Reheat gently with a splash of water or stock. Freezes beautifully for up to three months.
- Nutrition: Chickpeas provide 15g protein and 12g fibre per cup. Sun-dried tomatoes are a concentrated source of lycopene and potassium. Coconut cream provides medium-chain triglycerides. Nutritional yeast adds B vitamins including B12. This is a genuinely complete, balanced meal.