Sometimes I get in a chicken breast rut. Perfectly Cooked Pan Seared Chicken Breast is delicious, don’t get me wrong. But we tend to eat a lot of chicken around here so I do get antsy to mix it up a little. Enter stuffed chicken. It’s rich and decadent with interesting morsels of flavour in every bite. Cheese! Walnuts! Spinach! Lemon and herbs! Mmmmmm this is a good one. This is totally something you could make for guests or a date night. It’s also ready in 30 minutes using only one pan, so you can make any old weeknight ‘special’ by bringing this to the table. Did I mention it’s gluten free and packed with micronutrients? Good and good for you.
Now, if you remember in my Kitchen Basics 101 – Complete Meals: Planning, Prepping, Timing post, you want to plan your meals to have only one hands on component. This chicken will be your hands on component, so I would suggest choosing sides that are more hands off. I went with roasted sweet potatoes and instant pot green beans – I posted the recipes for these sides on my instagram. It would also be delicious with a nice green salad and some sourdough bread or rice pilaf.
Substitutions
I also want to mention that this recipe (like most of the things I make), is very adaptable. Please don’t ever feel like you need to make a last minute trip to the grocery store for one ingredient. Don’t like/have goat cheese? Cream cheese or Boursin cheese works great here. All out of spinach? A big handful of chopped green herbs or other tender leafy green would be just as delicious. Onion powder and/or other dried or fresh herbs stand in well for green onions. Pine nuts or pecans are a great substitute for the walnuts. You can really take this filling any direction you like, so please have fun with it and don’t let the ingredient list stress you out!
I hope you enjoy this meal and feel fancy eating it, like I do! Let me know in the comments how it goes for you and if you made any changes, I love hearing everyone’s unique take on a recipe! Talk to you soon 🙂
Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, tender removed I used 5 larger breasts, 1 breast served 2 kids
- 1/2 cup soft fresh goats cheese cream cheese or boursin works as well
- zest of a lemon
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped pine nuts or pecans work well also
- 1 cup packed fresh baby spinach, chopped
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
- sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
For Garnish
- juice of a lemon
- fresh chopped green herbs like parsley, cilantro or basil optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Heat a large cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) over low heat and toast the walnuts until lightly browned and fragrant. Add the walnuts to a bowl. Remove pan from heat.
- Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels. Cut the chicken breasts down the sides lengthwise (as if opening a book). You can score the inside spine of the chicken to help it open further and achieve an even thickness on top and bottom – this will allow the chicken to cook evenly. Alternatively, you can place the chicken breasts in a large ziplock bag and pound to about 1/4-1/2" thickness with a meat mallet (I just used my metal lemon squeezer). This should make the chicken breasts large enough to fold over lengthwise once stuffed.
- Add remaining ingredients to the bowl with the walnuts and combine. It will seem like too much spinach at first, but if you keep mashing it together with the cheese it will become a nice mixture.
- Spoon about 2 Tbsp of filling down one side (lengthways) of each chicken breast. Pull the other side over the filling and flatten the chicken breast evenly.
- Drizzle the chicken breasts with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. You will do the other side of the chicken once added to the pan.
- Heat cast iron skillet (same one used for the walnuts) over medium heat. Once hot, add chicken seasoned side down. Drizzle the unseasoned side facing up with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Sear for 6 minutes until chicken is nicey browned and easily lifts from the pan.
- Flip chicken breasts and sear for 3 minutes.
- Transfer skillet to preheated oven and cook for additional 5-8 minutes until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. If you wan't more colour on top, set the oven to Broil for a minute or two, watching carefully so as to not burn it.
- Remove from the oven and tent with foil, allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a scattering of fresh herbs, if desired.
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Lodge 12-inch Cast Iron Pan – My everyday go to, most used pan. I keep it on the stovetop because I use it so often there is no point in putting it away. I keep it nicely oiled and it is better than any non-stick pan I’ve ever had. It gives the best sear and I am happy knowing there are no weird chemicals or coating potentially going into our family’s food. The size is perfect for our large family. It’s just the best pan, trust me!
Tempered Glass Lid for Lodge 12-inch Pan – It’s so handy having a lid for my cast iron pan to lock in the heat when I want to focus on steaming or cooking through foods after a good sear. Also so nice for keeping food warm if you need to let it sit for awhile. I was getting weary of ripping off sheets of tinfoil for this purpose – what a waste!
Oh my!!! I have got to try this!
Yes! You will love it 🙂
Can’t wait to get back home to try this – looks relish!
Suppose to read – delish!
haha i figured so! yes it is soooooo good 🙂
Looking forward to trying this. Looks so yummy!
Thanks so much, let me know how it goes for you!
this is excellent! hubby loved it with goats cheese 🙂
Yay, glad to hear you both enjoyed it! I like making this when I’m in the mood for something “fancy” 🙂
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based on there being goat cheese in this, the recipe appears to be inaccurately listed as dairy free.
Hi Carly, thanks for taking the time to comment. Well I’ve learned something new today! I had assumed Dairy referred to cow milk products only and that is why I classified this recipe as Dairy Free. Since reading your comment I researched further and discovered Dairy includes milk from all mammals. I did not know this! I will adjust the recipe accordingly. Thanks for pointing it out, I apologize!