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
Made extra filling and had a lot left. So I added heavy cream to it in a sauce pan and made the best spinach cheese dip ever!¡
Hi Kevin! That’s a great way to use up extra. 🙂
Thank you for sharing.
Perfection.
The chicken breasts I had were very large, so I doubled the cheese mixture and increased the oven cook time by about 15 minutes and they were melt-in-your mouth deliciousness.
Thank you (again) Natasha!
You’re welcome! So glad you loved it.
Hi Natasha! This stuffed chicken looks yummy! What do you recommend serving it with? We just recently make your pesto chicken roll-ups and they were divine! Everyone kept raving about them. Thanks for sharing all of your delicious recipes! Your recipes are all I will make now.
Hi Brooke, This goes great with potatoes or rice!
Made this last night. Absolutely delicious. Thank you Natasha for another great recipe.
You’re welcome. So glad it was a hit.
Wow! Just finished my portion and it is delicious. I used SMOKED SALT and it makes all the difference. Five minutes before baking was done, I topped each breast with a slice of fresh mozzarella and let it melt. For sure use a meat thermometer to prevent drying out. Definitely going in the recipe rotation.
Sounds wonderful! I’m glad you had a great experience with this recipe, thank you for sharing that with us, Veronica.
If I make this the day before for company, what would be the best way to reheat?
Hi! See the “How to Reheat Stuffed Chicken” instructions in the post above. 🙂
OMG! Delicious! I doubled the spinach cheese mixture because I had 5 really large boneless chicken breasts I had bought on sale. I often tweak new recipes so I halfway fried up 5 thick slices of applewood bacon. I used the bacon to help keep the spinach cheese stuffing from escaping. I also sauteed the extra fresh spinach I had and a small onion thinly sliced in the bacon grease. Served the chicken on a bed of couscous with the sauteed spinach and onions and fresh microgreens on top! Definitely a keeper! Thank you for this recipe!
Thanks a lot for sharing that with us, great to hear that you loved the results!
Great recipe! It was easy to make. Next time I’ll read the whole recipe, I didn’t read to the end and just put it in the oven to cook. Thankfully it turned out good. We loved it. I will definitely make again.
I’m glad it all worked out, Patricia! Yes, I highly recommend reading through and watching the full recipe before starting to make it.
Great recipe. I substituted some blue cheese for the feta and than coated the stuffed breasts with shake and bake mixture.
Thank you, Bob! Glad you loved the recipe.
Made this for the first time tonight. Awesome, my husband loved it.
Thank you for trying my recipe, Ann! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Another perfect, delicious recipe!! Your recipes turn out sooo good that I am excited about cooking again!! Thank you so much!!
Aww, that’s the best! Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m all smiles!
Yet another winner Natasha! Thanks for the inspiration, we altered a bit by using 1 cup spinach and 1 cup of mushrooms, and it was a huge hit.
Thank you for sharing, Christina! I’m glad you loved it!
Hi Natasha, I’ve made this before and it was delish. I’m wondering if I could stuff the chicken, refrigerate it (raw) then cook it the next day.
Thank you
I think that will be fine. I hope you’ll love it!
I make this about every other week it is so good I could even serve to company nice presentation thank you
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Rebecca! I agree, this is the perfect meal for company!
This was fantastic! My hubby is a not fussy but he definitely likes good food. He was skeptical at first, but at the end of dinner he stated that it was a keeper! We had it with brown rice and I used the rest of spinach, cooked in pan drippings..thank you so much!
You are very welcome! Thanks for sharing that with us, we appreciate your feedback.
I have made this SEVERAL times, always perfect !!! We’re having this for Thanksgiving instead of turkey thus year !!!
So glad you love this recipe, Connie! Thank you for sharing.
Happy Thanksgiving!
This is delicious!! I made this a couple months ago and the family loved it. I’ve given this recipe to several ppl and will be making it again today. I have loved every recipe of yours that I have tried and that is a lot. lol Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome! I’m glad it’s a hit. Thank you for sharing, Linda!
Very good. Made the recipe exactly as posted and it turned out perfect. Will make again!
That’s wonderful, Mary! So glad it turned out for you.
Stuffed Chicken Breast was out standing great to make everyone loved it . Thanks
Glad to hear that, Michael! 🙂
I would like to make this tonight. What side dish can I serve with this?
Hi Isabel! This goes great with potatoes.