Florentine Stuffed Chicken

Creamy spinach and mushrooms packed into a chicken breast? Yes, please! I’ll break down what may be a daunting task: stuffing a chicken breast. With this easy-to-make filling, stuffed chicken breasts couldn’t be easier. Better yet, once you know the method you can use almost any combination of ingredients in your kitchen. 

Florentine Stuffed Chicken Breasts 

4 Servings 

Ingredients:

1.5 lb chicken breasts or cutlets

½ cup onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup mushrooms, chopped

1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach (thawed and liquid squeezed out)

¼ cup sour cream

2 Light Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow cheese wedges

Salt and pepper

Optional: 2 tablespoons parsley 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 375º

Bring a medium skillet to medium-low heat. Spray with cooking spray and add onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Sauté for 5 minutes, until tender.

Meanwhile, combine thawed and dried spinach, cheese wedges and sour cream. Once mushroom-onion mixture is cooked through, add to spinach mixture. Season with salt and pepper. This is your stuffing.

If you are working with chicken breasts, butterfly the breasts into two separate pieces and pound until about ¼-½ thick.  (For instruction on how to butterfly a chicken breast, click here. To make it even easier to pound, place in a large un-zipped Ziploc bag and use a skillet if you do not have a meat mallet.)  If you are working with chicken cutlets, skip this step all together.

Depending on the shape and thickness of your chicken, you can stuff it one of two ways:

For nicely shaped oblong chicken breasts that are on the thicker side, cut a slit in the side of the chicken breast, like you are slicing a pita pocket.  Place a few tablespoons of the stuffing into the pocket, leaving space around the edge to create a seal. After stuffing the chicken, roll the stuffed part over the seam (chicken will end up seam side down)

For irregular shaped chicken breasts, simply put a few tablespoons of filling at one end of the chicken breast and roll up. 

Place chicken, seam side down, in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Lightly spray the tops of the chicken with cooking spray, for a nice golden color. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 260

Total Fat: 4.1g

Saturated Fat: 1.3g

Cholesterol: 109.6mg

Sodium: 367.1mg

Carbohydrates: 7g

Fiber: 1.8g

Sugar: 3.5g

Protein: 44.7g

Once you have the method for stuffed chicken breasts down, you can use whatever filling your heart (and mouth) desires!