Let me introduce you to your new favorite chicken recipe! This easy one skillet meal has all the flavors of Spinach and Artichoke Dip simmered together and stuffed into simple chicken breasts. Incredibly flavorful, this delicious entree is the perfect dinner idea any night of the week!
Do you ever find yourself making the same thing for dinner over and over again? Even though I’m a food blogger, I’m completely guilty of this. We tend to gravitate towards spaghetti and meatballs, tacos, and burgers. This is what I know my husband and kid will eat, so these are the types of dinners that are pretty much always stocked in my pantry and freezer. Here’s the deal – I get TOTALLY sick of these meals! Don’t get me wrong, I love a great burger, but after a while, it gets a little old.
So, to get out of this dinner rut I went on a mission last week to make a few meals that were new and unique to the same-old, same-old. I knew that I wanted something with chicken, as I always seem to have frozen chicken breasts in my freezer, and they’re an easy, go-to protein. I wanted it to be creamy and flavorful, and with a bit of extra texture, similar to my Creamy Skillet Chicken with Mushrooms and Bacon. With this in mind, I decided to take the classic Spinach & Artichoke Dip, and make it into a meal! Needless to say, my chicken dinner challenge turned out amazing and became this wonderful One Skillet Spinach & Artichoke Chicken!
I started this recipe with simple chicken breasts. I used 4 medium to large breasts that I got from the frozen section. Feel free to use fresh chicken from the meat case at your local grocery store, instead of frozen. I then used a knife to “butterfly” the breasts – splitting them horizontally about 3/4 of the way through, leaving a slight hinge to keep the breast together. I did this to stuff the breasts with the spinach and artichoke filling.
I mixed the filling together in a bowl including all of the ingredients you would typically find in the classic dip recipe. This includes chopped, frozen spinach that has been thawed, cream cheese, sour cream, chopped artichoke hearts, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, and a bit of garlic. This filling will not only go inside the split chicken breasts, but will also be the base for your cream sauce.
This creamy, delicious sauce is amazing, and is perfect for spooning over your chicken once you have it on the plate. It’s like you’re getting a double-dose of these rich, delicious flavors, as they are both inside and smothered on the outside of the chicken.
This amazing dinner recipe is easy enough for an weeknight dinner, or special enough to serve for company. Any way you have it, this meal is sure to get your out of your same-old, same-old dinner rut!
Here’s how this wonderful meal comes together:
One Skillet Spinach & Artichoke Chicken
Let me introduce you to your new favorite chicken recipe! This easy one skillet meal has all the flavors of Spinach and Artichoke Dip simmered together and stuffed into simple chicken breasts. Incredibly flavorful, this delicious entree is the perfect dinner idea any night of the week!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
- 2 tsp. season salt
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
- 3 Tbsp. olive oil
Spinach Filling and Skillet Sauce:
- 1/2 c. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
- 1/2 c. canned or jarred artichoke hearts, chopped
- 4 oz. (1/2 block) cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 c. sour cream
- 1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 tsp. minced garlic, about 2 cloves
- 1 1/2 c. milk
Instructions
- Filling and Sauce Base: In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream, cheese and garlic. Stir together until creamy and well incorporated. Set aside.
- For chicken: Using a sharp boning or utility knife, butterfly the chicken breast by cutting them horizontally 3/4 of the way through. Make sure to leave a slight "hinge" to ensure the chicken is able to stay together once stuffed.
- Fill each chicken breast with two heaping tablespoons of spinach filling. Feel free to secure the chicken breasts together with toothpicks. This will help keep the filling from falling out of the chicken while cooking.
- In a small bowl, combine the season salt, paprika and pepper. Stir together. Lightly sprinkle over the outer sides of the chicken breasts.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and heat. Add the stuffed and seasoned chicken breasts and cook for 6-7 minutes per side. Cover the skillet with a lid to keep the heat in. Once the chicken has cooked on both sides, transfer to a plate and cover the chicken with foil to keep warm.
- For the sauce: Reduce heat to low. To the hot skillet add the milk and remaining dip mixture. Using a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan to get all of the brown bits included in the sauce. Continue to stir all of the ingredients together until it all comes to a low simmer. Add the chicken back to the skillet and spoon the sauce over the chicken.
- Remove from heat and serve right away.
Notes
If you are securing the chicken breasts with toothpicks, make sure to remove them before serving. This could be a choking hazard.
Enjoy! ~Erin
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