Creamy Spinach and Garlic Stuffed Chicken
Category
Main Dish
Cuisine
American
Servings
4
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
40 minutes
This recipe has become a staple in my home. The kids love it. I love it, company loves it! There's just no way you can go wrong with Creamy Spinach and Garlic Stuffed Chicken!
Once again, we take the humble little chicken breast and take it from meh to "WOW that's delicious!" in just a matter of minutes.
The recipe I have below is not difficult at all. While it is a little bit more time consuming on the prep end, the actual cooking part is done in the oven so it really doesn't take that long in the big picture.
You start out with some simple, fresh ingredients.
Then you prep the chicken "pocket", make the stuffing, sprinkle it with Stacey Hawkins magic and bake away! The results are as mouthwatering as your results.
It's hard to believe a recipe this delicious is on program, but I promise it is!
One important thing to pay attention to: If you're on Optavia 5&1, this recipe "seems" to have a lot of greens in it, however, it only has 1/2 of 1 Green, so you must supplement with other veggies. 8 oz of raw spinach cooks down to only 1 Cup and this recipe serves 4 people. So... you only get 1/2 a green in this recipe.
Give these impressively easy Creamy Spinach and Garlic Stuffed Chicken Breasts a try and & show off your photos on Instagram. Don't forget to tag me @wowstaceyhawkins, we can't wait to see what you come up with!
Happy Cooking-
Stacey
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Place chicken breast on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, cut a pocket into the chicken breast. Repeat on all pieces of chicken.
- Place the cream cheese into a large microwave safe bowl and heat on high for 10 seconds until soft and spreadable. Repeat in 5 second intervals if necessary. Sprinkle the garlic seasoning over the cream cheese. Stir to combine & smooth out all the lumps.
- Pour the spinach into the bowl. Using a pair of kitchen shears, chop up the spinach into smaller pieces.
- Using a rubber spatula, combine the spinach and the cream cheese together into a consistent mixture. Do this gently as to not crush and bruise the spinach.
- Divide the mixture into as many equal portions as you have pieces of chicken. Stuff mixture into the pocket of the chicken breast. Repeat on all pieces of chicken.
- Place chicken in an oven safe dish side by side. Use a dish that is large enough to leave space around each piece so they are not touching. (This allows for faster, more even cooking.)
- Using a rubber spatula, get the remaining cream cheese out of the bowl and place a little smear on top of each of the chicken rolls to protect them while baking. Sprinkle each with a pinch of Dash of Desperation seasoning. You can also spray with a little nonstick cooking spray if there doesn't seem to be "enough" cream cheese left.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in the center of your preheated oven.
Bake for 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until chicken has reached an internal temperature of 165° F as verified with a meat thermometer.
- Let chicken rest for 5 minutes and then slice and serve
Chef's Notes & More
Serving Size is 8.7 ounces of cooked Creamy Spinach and Garlic Stuffed Chicken.
1 - Leaner
1/2 - Green
3 - Condiments
STACEY SAYS
As a side note, the preparation on this does take a little longer than our usual recipes, however, the active baking time gives you ample opportunity to catch up on other things :). In addition- you CAN make a double batch of these, put the rolls in the freezer and bake at a later date too!
PS- Because of the "mixed" nature of this recipe (there's no way to separate everything out to weigh and measure for accurate counts.) I've calculated the ingredients, and the final portion size all based on weight. Follow instructions carefully and you won't have to worry. ~ S
