Oven-Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts

A super-easy way to make Stuffed Chicken Breasts that’s impressive and delicious with a filling of spinach, cream cheese, and Parmesan. Yum!

The Easy Way To Stuff Chicken Breasts

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.

So, instead, you’re going to simply butterfly the chicken. 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. Start at the thinner edge of the chicken breast and work your way through to the thicker side, leaving that side still attached over there.

Once the breasts are open, you just arrange the filling in there in layers, then fold the “book” 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 too much, you can absolutely use them. 

The Filling

This stuffed chicken recipe has 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 here, but anything that melts will 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.

Note that the reason this filling works so well is twofold. First, the cream cheese mixture holds together well so it doesn’t go oozing out. Remember I said that we’re not really stuffing these but sandwiching the ingredients inside. If the filling is too cheesy or too loose, it will slide out. Second, we’re using a slice of cheese instead of shredded because it takes a bit longer to melt, and it tends to hold to itself a bit better. So some of it will melt out (and get browned and tasty) but most of it will stay in place.

What Kind Of Spinach?

I find it’s easiest to use frozen spinach that has been thawed. Why? Because frozen spinach has already been shrunken in size 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 and taking the time 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. 

A Faux-Breading Topping

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. This mimics the crunchy exterior of breaded chicken but with way less effort.

You’ll mix together some panko breadcrumbs with a little bit of olive oil, then mix it up. It won’t seem like it wants to evenly mix at first but keep stirring and it will get evenly distributed. You can add some salt, pepper, and garlic powder to the mixture if you’d like as well.

Baking The Stuffed Chicken Breasts (Time and Temp)

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.

I find it best to put some parchment paper or a silicone mat onto a baking sheet, just so the cheese doesn’t stick and make cleanup difficult. Then you’ll bake the chicken breasts in a 425°F oven until they’re no longer pink in the middle, 20-25 minutes.

All in all, this recipe is a delightfully easy way to make something special out of simple chicken breasts. Try it and I think you’ll agree.

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