Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
This spinach and cheese stuffed chicken breast is juicy, loaded with flavor, and full of creamy goodness.
Servings 4
Cost 15
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast boneless, skinless
- ½ cup spinach fresh
- ½ cup ricotta
- 1 bundle asparagus bagged or fresh
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
Sauce
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes canned
- 15 oz tomato sauce diced tomatoes work too; optional
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 tsp basil dry or fresh; chopped
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper optional
Instructions
- Cook the sauce - heat the olive oil in a sauce pan. Once heated, add garlic - cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes, basil, onion powder, salt, pepper(s). Bring to boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- While the sauce cooks, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Make spinach stuffing - in a pan, heat a tbsp of olive oil. Once hot, add the spinach - season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes or until slightly wilted. Turn heat off and add ricotta cheese. Mix in and set aside to cool. Wipe out pan.
- While spinach cooks, pat chicken breast dry with paper towels. With a sharp knife, make 3-4 slits in the chicken about ¾ of the way through the meat. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff spinach & ricotta stuffing inside each of the slits in the chicken.
- Put a few scoops of tomato sauce at the bottom of a baking pan. Add the chicken to the pan and top with the rest of the sauce (you can leave some aside to top later). Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
- While chicken bakes, in the same pan used to cook spinach, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. When heated, add asparagus - season with salt & pepper. Add another clove or 2 or crushed garlic if you’d like.
Notes
Serve hot topping asparagus over the chicken and covering with Parmesan cheese (optional). Enjoy!