A hearty yet simple baked stuffed chicken breast filled with cream cheese, spinach, and tons of flavor. It's a WHOLE LOTTA YUM!
Stuffed Chicken with Spinach is so dang good!
You'll love this spinach cream cheese stuffed chicken baked in the oven when you want to serve an impressive yet easy dinner! Even better, it's low carb, gluten-free, and keto friendly too.
You just mix up a simple filling, slice a chicken breast almost all the way through, add a large dollop of filling, give it a quick sear (which is optional!) and bake.
Our baked stuffed chicken recipe with spinach and cream cheese was inspired by our popular Instant Pot spinach artichoke dip filled with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Definitely a crowd-pleaser!
But instead of eating dip for dinner, we made it into a chicken breast recipe you'll want to make time and time again. Be sure to read our list of variations for even more ways to stuff chicken!
Ingredient list
While we went with a cheesy spinach filling with lots of garlic and 3 kinds of cheese, you really can simplify things even more.
Why not experiment and make it your own by using different kinds of cheese, adding in bacon, skipping the spinach, or whatever else your tastebuds and creativity can think up.
- small boneless skinless chicken breasts - if you have large chicken breasts just bake them for longer until they reach 165 F. Boneless skinless chicken thighs work too but will hold less filling per chicken piece.
- fine sea salt
- ground black
- smoked paprika
- ground garlic powder
- cream cheese - ricotta cheese would be a great substitute or cottage cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
- Fresh spinach leaves- We used fresh baby spinach, frozen spinach would also work, just make sure to squeeze out extra moisture
- mayonnaise - regular or light
- garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- butter - we love the taste of mixing olive oil and butter for searing the chicken, but you of course can just use extra olive oil!
- green onions - an optional garnish, fresh herbs would be a nice touch also.
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Kitchen tools
- Large cast iron skillet - or large baking dish
- Small bowl - for combining the spinach cheese mixture
- Sharp knife - for butterflying the chicken breast. It must be sharp to easily slice through.
How to Make Stuffed Chicken Breast
Mix the filling, slice the chicken in half, stuff it with filling, and bake. Easy yet so impressive!
Make the Filling
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400 F.
Step 2: In a small mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, mozzarella shredded cheese, parmesan cheese, chopped fresh spinach, mayo, and garlic cloves.
Prep the Chicken
Step 3: Lay chicken on a cutting board and butterfly the chicken by cutting a slit ¾ of the way through. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder.
Step 4: Stuff the chicken breasts with spinach cream cheese filling. Secure the edges of each chicken breast with 3-4 toothpicks to keep the filling inside.
Step 5: Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. Saute the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side to brown the chicken.
Step 6: Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake the chicken breasts for 10-15 more minutes until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165 F.
Garnish with sliced green onions or fresh herbs, if desired, before serving. Enjoy!
Recipe notes
- We like our chicken breasts very full, but if you have leftover filling just thin it out with a bit more sour cream and make spinach dip!
- You can make this a Mediterranean style chicken dish by adding in sun dried tomatoes in oil (drained), chopped artichoke hearts, and swapping the mozzarella cheese for feta cheese.
- Another way to hold the chicken filling in place is to wrap the stuffed chicken breasts with raw bacon slices instead of toothpicks.
- If you don't have a cast iron or oven proof skillet, sear the chicken on the stovetop and then transfer them to a casserole dish or baking pan.
- Instead of sautéing the chicken, you can just bake the entire dish for 30-40 minutes.
Storing leftovers
- Storing: Let the chicken cool completely. Store the leftover stuffed chicken breasts in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- Freeze: To freeze them for later use, individually wrap each breast in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil. Frozen chicken breasts can last up to 3 months.
- Reheating: Bake the leftover chicken breasts in a heated oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, or until heated through to 165°F .
Reader questions
The best way to prevent cheese from leaking out is to secure the edges with toothpicks. You can also wrap the chicken breasts with bacon, which does a great job of holding in the filling. If you still have issues with leaky cheese, we recommend cutting back on the filling.
Using a very sharp knife is essential and will easily slice through the chicken meat. You don't want to cut all the way through the chicken and instead you want to butterfly the chicken by cutting about ¾ of the way through so the meat can fold over your filling.
More Low Carb Chicken Dinners
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Recipe
Spinach Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ ground garlic powder
- 6 oz cream cheese softened
- ⅓ cup mozzarella cheese
- ⅓ cup parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups baby spinach leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon sliced green onions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, chopped spinach, mayo, and garlic cloves.
- Lay chicken on a cutting board and butterfly the chicken by cutting a slit ¾ of the way through. Sprinkle the outside of the chicken with the salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder.
- Stuff the chicken breasts with spinach cream cheese filling. Secure the edges of each chicken breast with 3-4 toothpicks to keep the filling inside.
- Preheat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil. Saute the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side to brown the chicken.
- Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and bake the chicken breasts for 10-15 more minutes until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165 F.
- Garnish with sliced green onions before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
- We like our chicken breasts very full, but if you have leftover filling just thin it out with a bit more sour cream and make spinach dip!
- You can make this a Mediterranean style chicken dish by adding in sun dried tomatoes in oil (drained), chopped artichoke hearts, and swapping the mozzarella cheese for feta cheese.
- Another way to hold the chicken filling in place is to wrap the stuffed chicken breasts with raw bacon slices instead of toothpicks.
- If you don't have a cast iron or oven proof skillet, sear the chicken on the stovetop and then transfer them to a casserole dish or baking pan.
- Instead of sauteeing the chicken, you can just bake the entire dish for 30-40 minutes.
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