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Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken is such a popular and easy dinner recipe I can put together for my family. It’s delicious and less than 350 calories! A perfect simple chicken dinner recipe that’s low-carb and keto-friendly!
You may also like my broccoli-stuffed chicken breast or my asparagus-stuffed chicken breast.
When it comes to a hearty, healthy, and delicious weeknight meal, you can’t go wrong with Cheese and spinach Stuffed Chicken! Perfectly marinated chicken is loaded with a creamy ricotta filling and popped into the oven. It doesn’t get easier than this!
This cheese-stuffed chicken breast recipe has a delicious creamy spinach filling and is baked until tender and juicy. In under one hour from start to finish, you can have it ready on your the dinner table in no time! With fresh spinach, garlic, three kinds of cheese, and the right blend of spices, the creamy filling will take your taste buds on a ride.
You may also want to try my addictive Buffalo Chicken Tacos or my Easy Avocado Chicken Salad.
Ingredients Needed
- Chicken Breasts: Chicken thighs won’t work for this recipe.
- Seasoning: I use a blend of Italian seasoning, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Red Pepper Flakes: for a touch or heat. Feel free to add as much or as little as you’d like!
- Cheese: A mix of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan.
- Olive Oil – you may also use avocado oil
- Spinach: I like to use fresh spinach. Frozen will work as well, but once thawed, make sure you squeeze out the excess water.
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic gives the best flavor as opposed to garlic powder.
- Salt: Divided
How to make Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken
- Make the Marinade: In a small bowl, mix olive oil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Mix everything until combined and set aside while you work on your chicken.
- Cut the Chicken: Using a sharp knife, cut a pocket in the chicken, but be sure you don’t cut all the way through. Rub the chicken with marinade and store in the fridge until ready to use. One hour is preferred, but you can take it out whenever you’re ready for it.
- Make the Filling: While the chicken is marinating, mix the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, spinach, and garlic in a small bowl. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook: Stuff the filling into the chicken and secure it with a toothpick if needed. Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken is nicely browned. When it’s ready, serve it up with a nice side salad or steamed vegetables. Asparagus would work beautifully!
How to make it in the air fryer
- Preheat the air fryer to 375F.
- Follow the same instructions above until you reach the step where you close off the stuffed chicken breasts with a toothpick.
- Grease the bottom of the air fryer with cooking spray. Place the stuffed chicken breasts in the air fryer basket.
- Air fry for 16-20 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fresh spinach is always great, but of course, you can use frozen. If you’re using frozen spinach, thaw it thoroughly first and take up a handful and squeeze out the water before mixing it with the cream cheese. If you’re using fresh spinach, cook it first.
I use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. Lay them flat on a cutting board. Then cut a pocket parallel to the cutting board, that remains connected on three sides.
You can either stuff the chicken or lock the fillings in, by closing the chicken with a toothpick. Or you can stuff the chicken and turn it upward, almost like a bowl, so the fillings are on top.
If you have leftovers, you can store them in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the oven or microwave when ready to eat.
Yes. Follow the same instructions as you normally would making this recipe until you reach the step where you stuff the chicken breast and close it with a toothpick. Then after this step you can either wrap it and freeze it for later use or store in the fridge if making it the next day. I would would just place them in individual freezer safe ziploc bags.
Tips for cheesy stuffed chicken
- You can use fresh or frozen spinach, just make sure to drain off the water.
- Try different cheese if you like, but keep them melty! Swiss would work as well as feta.
- Allow your chicken to marinate in the fridge; an hour is good, but you can take it out quicker.
- An instant-read thermometer is your best bet for determining the temperature of your chicken. 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature.
What to serve with chicken stuffed with spinach
- Healthy Garlic Oven Roasted Mushrooms Recipe
- Garlic Roasted Broccolini
- Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
- Parmesan Oven-Baked Asparagus
- Roasted Honey Glazed Carrots
- Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
More chicken recipes
- Easy Butter Chicken
- Air fryer Chicken Parmesan
- Keto Chicken Fajita Wraps
- Chicken Pasta Salad
- Greek Chicken Bake
- Mediterranean Chicken
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Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, or to your taste
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt, divided
- 4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts
- 4 ounces Ricotta Cheese
- 4 ounces Grated Mozzarella
- ¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1½ cups Chopped Fresh Spinach, steamed just until wilted, squeezed dry with paper towels and chopped
- 1 Garlic Clove, minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease the 9×13 baking dish with some oil.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tablespoon Olive Oil, 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning, ½ teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes, ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder, ¼ teaspoon Onion Powder, and 1/2 tsp. of the 1 teaspoon Salt, mix well and set aside.
- Place the 4 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts one at a time on a cutting board and carefully insert the tip of a sharp knife into the thickest part of the chicken breast. Cut an opening about 4 inches wide to create a pocket without cutting all the way through.
- Pour the prepared rub all over the chicken and using your clean hands generously rub on all sides and inside of the pocket. Refrigerate and let marinate until ready to use.
- While the chicken is marinating, prepare the cheese filling.
- In a mixing bowl, combine 4 ounces Ricotta Cheese, 4 ounces Grated Mozzarella, ¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, 1½ cups Chopped Fresh Spinach, and 1 Garlic Clove (minced). Season with salt and pepper to taste, then mix until well combined.
- Remove the chicken breast from the refrigerator and stuff each breast with the cheese mixture. Secure the pockets with a toothpick if needed.
- Place the stuffed breast into the prepared dish and bake for 25 minutes until the chicken is nicely golden brown, flipping halfway through to ensure even browning. Alternatively, you can cook it on the stovetop.
- Remove the toothpicks and serve warm. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- You can use fresh or frozen spinach, just make sure to drain off the water.
- Try different cheese if you like, but keep them melty! Swiss would work as well as feta.
- Allow your chicken to marinate in the fridge, an hour is good, but you can take it out quicker.
- An instant-read thermometer is your best bet for determining the temperature of your chicken. 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These chicken breasts were tasty, creamy, moist and tender. The only negative comments are that browning the chicken was left out of the recipe, and I didn’t read in the ingredient list that the spinach had to be steamed until I was ready to stuff the breasts. It was not included in the actual steps of the recipe. I also had to let the stuffed chicken cook about 10 mins. longer because the browning part was also left out of the recipe directions. We will be having this again! It was delicious. Thank you.
Hi. I’m in the middle of making this dish and when I watched the video wondering why it was taking longer, I realized that you pan seared the chicken first. I only had it in oven on 375 for minutes and it was still somewhat raw. I was following the written instructions though. So, now I just turned the heat up to 400 and hopefully it won’t dry it out from being in there longer than recipe. So, I think you skipped that part in your instructions? Other than that, it looks and hopefully will taste very good once its done! Thanks for posting.
can i use chicken thighs instead
yes you can
Outstanding!! and easy. Will make again and again
I made this tonight! It was delicious! Thank you for posting
So glad you loved it!
Hi Rena
Love nearly all your recipes! Recently bought a Ninja 160 Max Air Fryer, so, just wondering if this could be cooked in it and if so have you any advice on how long?
Thanks for you help.
You can use your air fryer. Set it to 350-360F. Air fry for 15 minutes. open it. Flip the chicken breasts and air fry again for another 8-10 minutes. You can look in and make sure they are done in the last 4-5 minutes. You don’t want to over cook
Very delicious! I will make this again easy dinner that my husband really loved.
Yay. Thanks. Glad he loved it