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.
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Spinach Stuffed Chicken Video
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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
This is the bomb! Using the toothpicks to hold it together is a great solution. The filling hardly leaked out at all! I used the Parmesan from a bottle and used cheddar in place of mozzarella. It was easy and delicious, what’s not to love? My husband is currently bragging it up.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Mindy!
I made this tonight. It was a hit. I altered it for 4 chicken breasts, they were large, but it was fantastic & everyone’s plates were cleaned.
The dog even got in on some left overs
🙂
Glad to hear that, Tari! Thank you for sharing.
wondering if i could use miracle whip instead of mayo…any thoughts?
Hi Frank, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you do an experiment, please update us on how it goes.
Hi Natasha! Thanks so much for this recipe! I’m not sure if my pan is oven-safe. After frying each side, could I transfer the chicken to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put it in the oven that way?
Hi Michelle! All oven-proof frying pans should have a symbol of an oven on the bottom of them that tells you that it is oven-proof. If you cannot find a symbol, it should be fine to use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Can I use spring salad mix instead of “just” spinach? I wondered if it would be too bitter – but maybe that would be a good thing! 🙂
Hi Sonia! I have never tested that to advise. Let us know how it turns out if you try.
This was AMAZING!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this!!!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Lynn!
Made this tonight, whole family of very picky eaters loved it. Very easy, and fairly quick. I used kebab sticks instead of toothpicks as I had large chicken breasts. Would highly recommend this recipe and will definitely make again. Thank you.
Hi Nickie! I”m so glad your family loved this recipe. Thank you for the review.
Hi, can I air fry this? This recipe looks so delicious, I bought all the ingredients this morning.
Hi Kelly, I haven’t tried this in an air fryer, but here’s what one of my readers wrote, I hope it’s helpful: “Prepared half recipe and it was delicious. Wrapped bacon around chicken and secured with toothpicks. Used Air Fryer. Preheated 3 minutes at 400 F and cooked for 15 minutes, flipping once. Perfect.”
Instead of using toothpicks to seal the chicken, use spaghetti noodles instead. The noodles will soften while baking.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Steve!
Thanks sooo much for this ! It’s definitely made a couple times a month- I’m so sloppy I left out the toothpicks altogether- iron skillet so who needs them typically make 4 with the same ingredients-although the first time I did broccoli because it’s what I had also we have done spring mix and spinach and jalapeños once- just can’t go wrong my son always wants them wrapped in bacon and he gets his way tonight but thank you so much!!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Missy!
I made it! Quick and easy recipe! Next time I will need to keep count of the number of toothpicks I used, and all the chicken breast didn’t make it, lol
This is a great Keto recipe! It’s delicious and very satisfying plus it’s easy to prepare and doesn’t take long to cook.
Thank you for the wonderful feedback, Barbara! 🙂
Great Recipe. Love all of your recipes, they are so easy to make. Keep the videos coming.
Thank you!
I made this when I was tired and had to double recipe for family. I forgot the mayo but still came out great. I added extra parm and stuffing on top
Hello Sarah, that’s good that you still liked it even without the mayo. Thanks for sharing that with us!
i just ran out of mayo. what can i use to sub with?
Can i also flat out and roll the the chicken?
Hi Kimberly, the mayo really helps make this recipe creamy and I have not tried any substitution to advise. I think that will work!
I made this dish and my wife loved it. Very easy and a great brunch food. Thank you
Happy to hear that, Damon! Thank you for your awesome comments and feedback.
Outstanding recipe! We did use chicken thighs that were flattened with a mallet. So good. Next time, I will double the recipe for leftovers.
Sounds delicious! So glad it was enjoyed, thank you for the review.
I made these chicken breasts for my family and they were delicious!! They want this every week now!! Thanks Natasha for another winner.
That’s wonderful! So glad to hear that, Rob. Thank you for the review.
This is a Great Recipe. 5 Stars. I am a Single Man and I don’t cook very often because most Recipes make more than I can eat. This recipe makes 3 dinners and I have 2 Stuffed chicken Breast left. Can I freeze the other 2 and if so,what is the best way to rewarm them?
That’s great! I’m glad you enjoy this recipe. 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 on how to reheat this.
I don’t want to use regular chicken breasts I’d rather use thin sliced chicken breasts… any thoughts on that?
Hi, Elizabeth we prefer it this way, but if you happen to try it that way, I’d like to know how you like it!