Oven-Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts are amazingly easy but totally impressive with a filling of spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan.
Stuffing chicken breasts doesn’t have to be difficult. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are amazing when filled with an easy and cheesy spinach filling. There’s so much flavor and once the chicken is stuffed, it just bakes in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What’s In The Filling?
For this stuffed chicken recipe, I decided to do a cheesy spinach filling. It starts with a relatively classic combination of spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese, then adds garlic powder, onion powder, and lemon juice. The result is a delicious mixture that’s good all kinds of places—as a stuffing for steaks and pork chops as well as chicken.
To make the dish even creamier and cheesier, the filling also includes a slice of cheese. I like Swiss cheese, but other kinds would be good as well – Cheddar, provolone, gruyere, and mozzarella cheese, to name a few.
Want to play with the filling some more? Other ingredients that work well are sauteed mushrooms or diced sun-dried tomatoes. You can also check out my Air Fryer Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe which has ham, fresh tomato, and Cheddar cheese. You can let me know in the comments what you decided to use for yours.
What Kind Of Spinach?
I find it’s easiest to use frozen spinach that has been thawed. Why? Because frozen spinach has already been cooked and mixes into the filling mixture easily.
Yes, you do need to remember to thaw it out and squeeze out the extra liquid, but I think that’s still better than dirtying a pan to cook fresh spinach.
However, if you do want to use fresh spinach, you’ll substitute in about half a pound of spinach leaves and sauté them in a pan on the stove. If you’re going this route, you also have the option of sautéing fresh onion and garlic along with the spinach instead of using the powered versions.
How To Stuff Chicken Breast
To cut the chicken, you simply butterfly it. Butterflying is cutting the chicken in half thickness-wise (but not cutting all the way through) so it’ll open like a book. I find it’s easiest to do that using a sharp knife while gently pressing the chicken with the palm of my other hand, to keep it flat as I go.
Some recipes like to make a smaller, pocket like opening, but I find those usually end up with only half the chicken breast getting the delicious stuffing. Plus, it’s more difficult to cut it that way. We want to make it easy and also to make sure that every bite is full of flavor.
Once the breasts are open, you just arrange the cheese on top, add the spinach mixture, then fold the “books” closed. I don’t think toothpicks are needed to secure the filling in the chicken, I’m fine with a little cheese melting out. But if you’re worried about the filling sliding out, you can absolutely use them.
Topping And Baking Stuffed Chicken Breasts
If all you did was bake it at this point, you’d have a great dinner on your hands. But to make it a little nicer with hardly any extra effort, I top my Stuffed Chicken Breasts with some panko breadcrumbs. Then they’re ready for the oven.
Why the oven? I prefer it over a skillet because it can be tricky to flip the chicken without disturbing the filling.
And not only is baking easier, it’s less hands-on. So I can throw together a simple side dish like one of these Air Fryer Veggie recipes without having to multitask.
All in all, this recipe is a delightfully easy new way to make something special out of simple chicken breasts. Try it and I think you’ll agree.
More Chicken Breast Recipes
Browse our full collection of 70+ chicken recipes, or try one of these favorites next time.
Oven-Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
Oven-Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts are amazingly easy but totally impressive with a filling of spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan.
For the sliced cheese, you can substitute your favorite kind. Or omit it or the panko topping to make the dish even simpler. No matter what, you’ll love it!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 4 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
- 1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
- 4 (1 oz.) slices Swiss cheese
- 4 (6-7 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Meanwhile, squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the thawed frozen spinach. In a medium bowl, mix the squeezed spinach, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.
- Cut each piece of chicken almost in half thickness-wise, so it’ll open like a book. Arrange one slice of cheese on one side of each opened piece of chicken (cut or fold the cheese to fit). Spread the cream cheese mixture on top.
- Fold the chicken breasts closed and arrange on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.
- In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and oil. Sprinkle the mixture on top of the chicken.
- Bake until the chicken is cooked through to 165°F on an instant read thermometer and the bread crumbs are browned, 20 to 25 minutes.
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