Easy, stuffed chicken breast for dinner, yes! We eat a lot of protein in our house and I personally LOVE chicken. Unfortunately, I tend to get stuck in a rut and eat the same things over and over. Every now and then it gets to be too boring and I start looking around for inspiration. Stuffed chicken is one of my favorite ways to change up chicken. I’ve made lots of different stuffed chicken recipes but this one is my favorite (so far). Two reasons: 1) so delicious, 2) pretty easy to make. Oh, and if I added a third reason, that would be cheese!
I found the original recipe on one of my favorite recipe sites: IbreatheImhungry.com.
Below is my version of the recipe. A couple of things, the stuffing is screaming for chopped artichoke hearts. This would make the stuffing more like spinach-artichoke dip, yum. The chicken holds together really well considering you don’t use string or toothpicks to hold the rolled chicken closed. Some of the cheesy stuffing does seep out during baking but not enough to make me want to hassle with string or toothpicks. Just scoop up the cheesy extras when scooping the chicken off the baking sheet.
I served this on top of mixed greens & arugula dressed with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It was a really good combination of flavors and the chicken was very rich and filling.
One last thing, my daughter LOVED this (as did the rest of us). The servings were big and she thought she’d only eat 1/2 a serving (she’s 8 months pregnant and can’t stuff too much in her smooshed stomach) but she ended up eating the whole thing. Too good, she said. The next day she told me it was probably the best chicken she’s ever had. She had a leftover piece cold for lunch and said it’s great cold too. Whoa! Right? Hope you guys like it.
Easy, Cheesy Stuffed Chicken Breast
Notes
I tend to be an aggressive meat pounder. For this chicken I really took my time and was careful. You don't want create tears or holes in the chicken since you'll be wrapping it around a soft stuffing. I pounded the chicken carefully until it was just about as thin as I thought I could get it and then I flipped it over and pound it a little more. The thinner you can get the chicken the easier it is to wrap around the stuffing.
Chopping the Spinach: if you chop the spinach in the food processor your stuffing will probably turn out green. See image. If you'd rather have chunkier, more defined pieces of spinach you can chop by hand and then stir the spinach into the cheese mixture.
Nutritional data is based on a 'large' chicken breast (6oz.) and includes all ingredients. Make sure you use canned artichoke hearts, not marinated artichoke hearts. I love marinated artichoke hearts but I haven't been able to find any that are marinated in a healthy fat like olive oil. They are all in canola oil. Canned artichoke hearts are in water.
Ingredients
- For The Chicken:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 6 oz. of Cream Cheese
- 2-3 cups Raw Spinach
- 1 tsp. Garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- 1/4 tsp. Black Pepper, ground
- 1/4 tsp. Salt
- 1/8 tsp. Nutmeg, ground (optional)
- 1/4 cup Artichoke Hearts, chopped
- For the 'Breading'
- 1/3 cup Almond Flour
- 1/3 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
- 1/2 tsp. Parsley, dried
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
- 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Tbsp. Water
- 2 Tbsp. Coconut Oil or fat of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Pound each chicken breast to a thin, even thickness. 1/4 inch if you can manage it. (see notes)
- Add the raw spinach leaves to a food processor and process to your desired, chopped consistency. Can do this by hand. (see notes)
- Add the cream cheese, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, pepper, salt, nutmeg and artichoke hearts (if using) to the food processor. Pump the processor a few times until ingredients are combined.
- Add a 1/4 of the cheesy stuffing to the center of each flattened chicken breast. Roll the chicken around the stuffing and then tuck the edges in the best you can. Squish it all together without squeezing the stuffing out. Place the rolled chicken breast, seem side down on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Put the baking sheet with the stuff chicken breasts into the refrigerator for about 15 min. This will allow the stuffing to chill and harden up a bit.
- The 'Breading':
- While the chicken is resting in the refrigerator, combine the ingredients for the outside of the chicken
- Scramble the eggs with the water in a bowl large enough to allow you to coat the chicken
- In a separate bowl or plate, combine the dry ingredients
- Remove the chicken from the refrigerator
- Take each rolled chicken breast and coat each with the egg mixture then the cheesy-almond flour mixture. Return each piece to the baking sheet after coating.
- Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan
- Once oil is hot, place each of the rolled chicken breasts into the hot frying pan and brown on all sides. This should only take a minute or two. Return to baking sheet. Be careful when rotating the chicken, you don't want to knock the coating off.
- Place the baking sheet with the browned chicken into the pre-heated oven and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes. 22 minutes worked perfectly for me. Use an kitchen thermometer to make sure the chicken is at 165 degrees. Be sure to place thermometer in chicken, not the stuffing.
Nutrition Facts
Easy, Cheesy Stuffed Chicken Breast
Serves: 4
|
Amount Per Serving: 1 stuffed breast
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 604 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 39 | 60% | |
| Saturated Fat | 0 | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol | 0 | |
| Sodium | 0 | |
| Total Carbohydrate 13 | 4.3% | |
| Dietary Fiber 3 | 12% | |
| Sugars | ||
| Protein 57 | ||
| Vitamin A | Vitamin C | |
| Calcium | Iron | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
The Simplicity of Wellness
I’m Amy a board certified holistic nutritionist, certified functional nutritionist and lifestyle practitioner and certified Life Coach. I help women in midlife understand the changing needs of their body so that they can stop dieting and lose weight permanently. At 56 I live what I teach. Don’t believe the story that your best years are behind you. They are not. Your best years are just starting!