Creamy and cheesy Spinach Stuffed Chicken is so juicy and tasty. Searing on the stove then finishing it off in the oven ensures it is perfectly cooked in the center. Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Spinach Stuffed Chicken Video
If you enjoyed this video for Spinach Stuffed chicken, please (P.S. Click the BELL icon so you can be the first to know when we post a new video). Thank you for subscribing and welcome to Natasha’s Kitchen family!
Why You Will Love Stuffed Chicken Breast
We love stuffed chicken breast recipes from Stuffed Chicken Parmesan to Easy Chicken Kiev, and let’s not forget Chicken Pesto Roll-Ups. If you are looking for new chicken dinner ideas, this Spinach Stuffed Chicken is a must-try!
My brother-in-law Vitalik shared this Spinach Chicken with my husband and we lost no time in recreating the dish. Tender chicken stuffed with cream cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, and fresh chopped spinach. It was love at first bite! The filling becomes super creamy and cheesy in the oven and it keeps the chicken breast really juicy.
Ingredients for Stuffed Chicken
The key to making great stuffed chicken breasts is to use even-sized pieces. This way they all finish baking at the same time.
- Chicken Breast – we use 3 large, boneless, skinless chicken breasts totaling about 1 3/4 to 2 lbs.
- Seasoning – salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and paprika to season the outside of the chicken.
- Cream Cheese – use 4 oz of cold block-style cream cheese
- Mayonnaise – makes the filling extra creamy so it melts easier without curdling. Mayo makes many things better!
- Garlic – adding fresh garlic cloves to the filling is a must. We use a garlic press for this.
- Spinach – freshly chopped spinach works great. See our notes below on substituting with frozen.
- Cheese – the combination of mozzarella and parmesan adds the perfect balance of saltiness and melty cheesiness.
How to Make Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Make Filling – use a fork to mash together cream cheese, mayo, minced garlic, and salt. Mash in chopped spinach, shredded mozzarella, and parmesan.
- Cut slits in chicken – lay chicken breast flat and use a sharp knife to cut a slit about 3/4 of the way into the chicken.
- Stuff chicken – fill each chicken breast with 1/3 of the mixture then seal edges with toothpicks.
- Sear chicken – heat a large 10″ oven-safe pan over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil and saute chicken 4 minutes per side until browned.
- Bake – transfer your hot skillet to the preheated oven at 425˚F for about 10-15 minutes (depending on chicken thickness), or until a thermometer inserted in the deepest part of your chicken registers 165˚F.
Pro Tip: Make sure you don’t cut all the way through the chicken so the filling is less likely to leak out. If you do, no problem, just seal the other side with a toothpick.
Common Questions:
Some very large chicken breasts will have a strip of chicken tender meat attached. Remove tenders and use them to make Crispy Chicken Tenders.
Chicken thighs are more difficult to seal and require a little more trimming of fat, but it would work to stuff thighs. Follow the method we used on our Stuffed Chicken Thighs Recipe.
Frozen spinach works if thawed and squeezed dry to remove the excess liquid.
If you cut three chicken breasts in half, you can easily serve 6 people with about 5 oz of chicken each. You can also use 4 small chicken breasts for 4 generous portions, just be sure to reduce the cooking time accordingly with smaller chicken breasts.
Serving Tip: Some of the fillings will escape and turn into tasty pan drippings. Spoon that yummy pan sauce over your chicken when serving.
How to Reheat Stuffed Chicken
Chicken breast is a lean protein so it can be challenging to reheat without it getting tough or having that reheated chicken taste. Stuffed chicken is best served fresh, but it does reheat well. Be sure the chicken reaches 165˚F in the center on a thermometer.
- Oven – this is the preferred method. Preheat oven to 325˚F, cover with foil to prevent drying out, and bake 10-15 minutes until hot.
- Stove-top – place in a lightly oiled skillet over low heat, cover, and saute until hot. Flip chicken at least once.
- Microwave – this is the least desirable method, but if you insist, cut chicken in half so the heat penetrates better. Sprinkle water and any pan juices over your chicken, heat on 50% power, and check at 30-45 second intervals until steaming hot throughout.
Cream cheese and spinach stuffed chicken breast is adventurous and tastes like a restaurant-quality dish, but it’s really easy to prepare. I hope you absolutely love this recipe!
More Chicken Recipes to try
If you love this Stuffed Chicken then you won’t want to miss these easy chicken dinner ideas.
- Lemon Chicken
- Spatchcock Chicken
- Instant Pot Whole Chicken
- Classic Chicken Parmesan
- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
For the Chicken Breasts:
- 3 large chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (1 3/4 to 2 lbs, even-sized pieces)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
For the Filling:
- 4 oz cream cheese, cold
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425˚F with a rack in the center. In a mixing bowl, mash together cream cheese, mayo and garlic with a fork then stir in mozzarella, parmesan and chopped spinach leaves until combined.
- Lay chicken on a flat surface and cut slit 3/4 of the way through without cutting all the way through. Stuff each chicken breast with 1/3 of the mixture and seal horizontally with a toothpick (make sure the chicken breast can lay flat on the sides for searing.
- Season the outside of the chicken breast all over with 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp paprika, or season to taste.
- Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in an oven-proof pan such as cast iron, or large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and sauté for 4 minutes per side until golden brown on each side.
- Flip a second time and immediately transfer skillet to preheated oven. Bake at 425˚F for 10-15 minutes until thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the chicken registers at 165˚F. Rest chicken 5 minutes before slicing. Spoon pan juices over chicken to serve.
Nutrition Per Serving
I have made this several times now and the whole family loves it. I do add some cayenne to the seasoning on the out side of the chicken for extra spice. I also use the Neufchatel cheese and we all agreed it taste better to us. I have also gotten around having to close up the chicken with toothpicks by using thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breast a few times too. I use a casserole dish and line the dish with the chicken then spread a layer of the filling and then top with another layer of thin breasts. I had to make a bigger batch of the filling but we like extra filling so every bit was eaten. I definitely found a winner with your recipe, thank you for sharing it.
Flavor was excellent. Followed recipe regarding cooking method. Filling which melted and should have been a sauce ended up burned on the bottom of the pan. Will make again, but will transfer to baking dish before placing in oven.
Happened to see this afternoon and made it for dinner. It was excellent and will definitely make again! Thank you for yet again another amazing recipe!
I am cooking this tonight. Was wondering if I can make extra as meal prep and frooze it?
Hi Isabel! I haven’t tried freezing this, if you experiment please let us know how it goes. Stuffed chicken is best served fresh, but it does reheat well so if you are interested in that, see recipe notes for instructions above on how to reheat this.
We like chicken thighs so I used 3 of those but could have used 4. I did need to pound them out a bit so make them stretch but that means less cooking time and more toothpicks (about 5 each) since they aren’t a symmetrical shape like breasts. I didn’t butterfly the thighs, just pounded them thinner to make space for the filling. I cut off excess fat the frying bit took about 3 minutes on each side which included the folded part which was about 2 minutes.
I have frozen pre-stuffed chicken before. The cheese will seep & make it soggy. The spinach will as well. The best method I have found is to season fresh chicken, pre slice the pocket, or flatten, whatever you will need it for, mark it clearly for a specific recipe & wrap VERY well.
The filling, no matter what kind, (but I do lots of spinach with cheese) mix ahead, mark the recipe to use it for & freeze in a disc or log shape.
Then when you thaw it, use a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, wrapped well with plastic wrap, in the fridge overnight, thus, straining the extra “juice” into a bowl. I also press gently to extract more.
Hi, I will try this recipe for a dinner with some friends, and I would like to know if I can prepare the chicken few hours in advance
Hi Lucie, I have notes on how you can make it ahead and reheat it under the How to Reheat Stuffed Chicken section of the recipe. I hope this helps.
Delicious recipe! I may try ricotta cheese next time in place of the cream cheese. I had no problem with filling running out. I used four toothpicks per chicken breast. Did almost a sewing running stitch with each toothpick and they held together very well!
My hubby and teens were not terribly crazy about having spinach in the meal. My husband grumbled over and over before I prepared this. But guess who licked their plate clean? Yep. All of them. Your recipes are seriously the best and you’ve transformed my cooking skills. Thank you so very much. 🩷
Yay that’s wonderful! Happy to hear that it was a huge hit!
Hi. Is this meant to be eaten as a meal or served with a side? If it can be served with a side, can you recommend a side dish, please. Thanks.
Hi there, it can be both it depends on your preference. It’s so versatile but if you want to eat it as a side, you can eat them with veggies, pasta or rice.
I served with a package of quinoa and brown rice and it was a hit!
Oh that’s great to hear! Thank you for sharing, Bridget.
Natasha
What do you serve with the chicken ? Pasta ?, vegetables ? Sauce ?
I want to try this recipe very soon, it looks delicious.
Hi Madeleine, everything that you said can be served with this recipe! You can even serve it with rice too!
I found it a bit plain, for taste of my family it requires a bit more of spice.
Hi Alex, feel free to add some more seasoning according to your preference
I always love all of your recipes!! Your recipes are always a go too for new ideas!
It was yummy per usual!!
Thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying them!
I tried this recipe last night for dinner and it turned out so good! The inside was so tasty and delicious. Safe to say that there were no leftovers. Love your recipes Natasha!
Yay that’s lovely to hear! I’m glad that this recipe was a huge hit.
I made this exactly as written (well I didn’t measure my spices) and it is amazing!! This made for a really delicious, restaurant quality dinner. Saving this to make again and again.
Hi Tiffany! Thank you for the feedback. I’m glad you love it!
Hi. Is the mayo essential for this recipe or can I leave it out?
One of our readers shared that they forgot to add mayo and it was still good.
can you stuff the chicken couple days ahead???and keep refrigerated until ready to use?
Hi Alla. I’m not sure how many days in advance this can be done (for food safety reasons), but some of my readers have prepped this the day before and then refrigerated and cooked it the next day.
This recipe was so easy and really delicious. I will make this again I wish I could post a picture. Thank you
Hi April! I’m so glad you liked it. Thank you for sharing. You can tag me in a picture on Instagram or Facebook if you’d like. #natashaskitchen
I havent tried it yet, but can the parmesan cheese be sustituted for white cheddar cheese?
Hi TT! I think that would be fine. Let us know how it turns out if you experiment.
I made for dinner last night following your recipe, and it did not disappoint. It was so delicious with definitely make again. I did actually use 4 large breasts since I had more filling than for just the three breasts.
5 stars all the way!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Bonnie!
Can you please remind me what your favourite cast iron frying pan is. Thank you
Hi Lynn, click on “shop” from the menu above at the top of the page and you can view my Amazon affiliate shop with all my recommended favorites by category.
I should have watched the video first to see the size of the chicken breasts, so mine didn’t look pretty like hers. (Mine were enormous and the stuff leaked out more)
BUT, the flavor is outstanding. My family was very impressed and this will go into my dinner rotation. Tastes like its’ from a restaurant but simple and, honestly, pretty quick. Thanks!
I’m so happy you loved the flavor, Lisa!