If you’re looking for a weeknight recipe but also want something to serve for special occasions, you need to make this spinach stuffed chicken breast recipe! Not only is it super simple to make, but it is so flavorful. You’ll want to make it again and again!
With tender and juicy chicken breasts filled with creamy spinach stuffing, this recipe is an instant upgrade for plain chicken breasts. Even better, it is so cheesy, thanks to the cream cheese and parmesan, so even the pickiest of eaters will want to finish their plate.
And did I mention how easy this recipe is? You only need one skillet, so cleaning up is a breeze. You use an oven-safe skillet to go from stovetop to oven, ensuring the chicken is not just perfectly browned but stays moist as well. If you want another easy chicken dinner recipe, then try my chicken fajitas recipe, chicken parmesan recipe, or chicken florentine recipe.
What You Need to Make This Recipe
Spinach — I recommend using baby spinach as they are more tender, especially the stem. Baby spinach is also sweeter than regular, mature spinach.
Cream cheese — I highly recommend using full-fat cream cheese for the best flavor. Make sure to use cream cheese in a block form and not cream cheese from a tub.
Mayonnaise — using full-fat mayonnaise adds a ton of flavor and richness to the filling.
Parmesan — when possible, grate your own parmesan cheese as pre-grated parmesan will not melt as smoothly.
Seasoning — I season the chicken breasts with salt, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper, but feel free to use your favorite seasoning blend.
Chicken — try to buy chicken breasts that are almost the same thickness so they all cook evenly.
How to Make Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
1. In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the spinach and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant and the spinach is wilted and vibrant green. Transfer to a medium bowl.
2. To the spinach mixture, add the cream cheese, mayonnaise, parmesan, and red pepper flakes. Mix until fully combined. Set aside.
3. Create pockets in the chicken breasts by cutting a slit on one long end of the breast and cutting into the center of each piece, being careful not to cut through the back or sides of the breast. Season them with salt, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper.
4. Stuff each piece with spinach mixture (about ¼ cup each).
5. Seal the open end of the chicken breasts with a toothpick to secure them if needed.
6. In the same skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the chicken registers 165°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Make sure you don’t accidentally cut all the way through the chicken breast. If you cut through to the back, the filling will leak out. If you do cut too far, you can seal the breast back together with some toothpicks. Just make sure you remember to remove them before serving.
- When measuring the internal temperature of the stuffed chicken breast, make sure you are measuring the actual chicken and not the spinach stuffing.
- If you have leftover spinach artichoke dip, you can use that instead of making the spinach filling from scratch for this stuffed chicken breast with spinach recipe.
- Don’t skip browning the chicken breasts in the skillet. Browning the chicken adds a ton of extra flavor and gives it a nice texture.
- Room temperature cream cheese will mix much more easily than cream cheese straight out of the oven. If you had forgotten to take it out ahead of time, heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds at 50% power to soften it.
- Letting the chicken rest will allow the moisture to redistribute in the chicken to ensure moist, juicy bites of chicken. If you serve it too early, all the juices will run out after your first cut!
Frequently Asked Questions
If you only have frozen spinach, make sure you thaw it ahead of time. Then, squeeze out all the water from the thawed spinach before adding it to your skillet.
Chicken thighs are more difficult to stuff and seal in comparison to chicken breasts. While you could swap them, I suggest sticking to chicken breasts for this recipe.
If you don’t have an oven-safe skillet to go from stovetop to oven, you can transfer the browned chicken to a greased baking dish to bake.
Once cooled to room temperature, transfer the stuffed chicken breasts to an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. You can reheat them in the microwave.
You can freeze these chicken breasts stuffed with spinach! After they’ve cooled to room temperature, transfer them to an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze them for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
Video
Equipment
- Large oven-proof skillet
- mixing bowl
- Toothpicks
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided (60ml)
- 4 cups chopped fresh spinach (2 ounces/56g)
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened (113g)
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ cup grated parmesan (40g)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- In a large, oven-safe skillet over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the spinach and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until the garlic is fragrant and spinach is wilted and vibrant green, about 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl.
- To the spinach mixture, add the cream cheese, mayonnaise, parmesan, and red pepper flakes. Mix until fully combined. Set aside.
- Create pockets in the chicken breasts by cutting a slit on one long end of the breast and cutting into the center of each piece, being careful not to cut through the back or sides of the breast.
- In a small bowl, whisk together salt, garlic powder, paprika, and pepper. Sprinkle the spice mixture all over the outside of the chicken breasts. Stuff each piece with spinach mixture (about ¼ cup each), sealing the open end with a toothpick to secure if needed.
- In the same skillet over medium-high heat, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.
- Place the skillet in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the chicken registers 165°F. Remove the chicken from the skillet and let rest for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
- Make sure you don’t accidentally cut all the way through the chicken breast. If you cut through to the back, the filling will leak out. If you do cut too far, you can seal the breast back together with some toothpicks. Just make sure you remember to remove them before serving.
- When measuring the internal temperature of the stuffed chicken breast, make sure you are measuring the actual chicken and not the spinach stuffing.
- If you have leftover spinach artichoke dip, you can use that instead of making the spinach filling from scratch for this stuffed chicken breast with spinach recipe.
- Don’t skip browning the chicken breasts in the skillet. Browning the chicken adds a ton of extra flavor and gives it a nice texture.
- Room temperature cream cheese will mix much more easily than cream cheese straight out of the oven. If you had forgotten to take it out ahead of time, heat it in the microwave for 20 seconds at 50% power to soften it.
- Letting the chicken rest will allow the moisture to redistribute in the chicken to ensure moist, juicy bites of chicken. If you serve it too early, all the juices will run out after your first cut!
Michele says
Help! I did something wrong. The sauce was clumpy, Uber salty and not quite balanced. Ant insight would be appreciated because the ingredients sound so delicious- just not the way I cooked them. All your other recipes are dazzling so any thoughts are gratefully appreciated!
Victoria Parrish says
Oh my God! This recipe so so good, I think it is qualified as a public service. I made a double batch for my husband and parents Last night. There where 2 breasts left over and this moring in a race for the left overs I noticed both my husband and dad were eating chicken at 9 am.
jkanell says
LOL, AMAZING! Thanks so much for the comment. I always wished this recipe had caught on a bit more. Very happy you enjoyed it.
Anna says
So yummy, really good recipe! Although I had some confusion when making the recipe because of missed details on the instructions – ingredient list says vegetable stock, but directions says chicken stock. When it says to add cheese in two places, it doesn’t say which cheeses so I accidentally added all the cheese (Gouda and Parmesan) to the roux so then I ended up adding more Gouda to the spinach mixture which was just lovely actually! We ended up watching the video and it made a lot more sense, but the recipe instructions could just use a little editing. Love your stuff!
John K. says
Hi Anna,
You can use vegetable stock or chicken stock. Thanks for your input, I will look over this recipe and clarify the details. I’m happy you still enjoyed this dish!!
Best,
John
Marina says
Made this tonight. And since I was rushing to take a kid to practice, I couldn’t pound the chicken thin, stuff and roll up chicken, etc.
So, I split 3 breasts, laid them in a 9 by 13 pan, then topped with veggie mix, and poured sauce over that. I left the 16 yr old in charge. She baked it for 45 min at 350.
IT WAS SO GOOOOOD! So much flavor.
You go preppy kitchen and Mom!!
John K. says
Hi Marina,
That’s awesome to hear! This dish does have such a good flavor! Way to go mom indeed!!
Best,
John
Natalie T says
My family loved it, normally my husband doesn’t like chicken, but he loved this dish. For me 1 1/4 tsp of salt in the sauce was way too much, I had to add extra chicken stock ( low sodium) to dilute the salt. Next time I will just salt to taste. The sauce once cooked in the oven with the chicken came out delicious.
Also, you should specify to put the parmesan cheese in the cheese sauce and the gouda cheese and 1/4 cup of the cheese sauce in the filling. I had to watch the video to figure that out. In the video you show 3 chicken breasts not 6, I really only had enough filling for 3 which was perfect for us, but I would suggest doubling the filling if you are planning on stuffing 6.
Thanks for a great recipe, I will definitely make this again!
Joanna Deborah Manero says
I made this for my family tonight for dinner. I served it over a bed of cauliflower “rice”. They all loved it! Thanks so much. I love your youtube channel. 🙂
John K. says
Joanna,
So happy you liked it!
John
Avery says
This was perfect for dinner last night! So many flavors