Creamy Basil Garlic Chicken with Spinach

Creamy basil garlic chicken with spinach is a easy enough for a weekday meal, but is great for guests too!

Dinner In One Dish In A Dash

When you can make a complete dinner that tastes great in one pan and in 30 minutes, what’s not to like?

This meal has tender chicken in a creamy basil sauce that’s flavored with roasted garlic.

Roasted garlic is great to have on hand because it has many uses. It’s easy to make and when you can catch a sale on garlic, make a batch! I will link up the instructions in the recipe card.

The Veggie Choice Is Yours

I happen to like spinach, especially in a creamy sauce, but I understand it’s not everyone’s dish of tea.

Therefore, you can use any veggie in place of the spinach. You just have to make sure it goes well with chicken. And of course, you have to like it!

My suggestions for spinach haters is whole green beans, asparagus, kale or peas.

In this I used defrosted frozen chopped spinach. If you use that too, make sure to squeeze out the water. Fresh baby spinach is a better choice because it requires no squeezing, but I didn’t have any on hand.

Herbs: Fresh Is Always Better

I had fresh basil on hand because it’s summer and I grow it.

Supermarkets carry live basil plants year round, so it’s always available.  With a little luck and care, they can be transplanted and grown all winter indoors.

But if you don’t have fresh basil available, the dried kind in the jar will fill in nicely.

The Recipe

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Creamy Basil Garlic Chicken with Spinach

Creamy basil garlic chicken with spinach is a easy enough for a weekday meal, but is great for guests too!

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Chicken, skillet dinners

Cuisine: American

Keyword: asian spinach, garlic chicken

Servings: 4

Calories: 445kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 lbs chicken tenders or 4 boneless skinless breasts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach thawed and water squeezed out -OR- 2 cups fresh baby spinach

SAUCE

• 2 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil -OR- 2 tsp dried
• 1 cup light cream or half-and-half see NOTES
• 1 small head roasted mashed garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Sprinkle chicken pieces with the 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
• Place the flour in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the cream so there are no lumps. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Brown the chicken on all sides; remove from pan.
• Pour the sauce into the hot pan and whisk until sauce begins to bubble. Add the spinach and cook for about 1 minute.
• Add the chicken back to the pan, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Notes

You may use 1/2 cup more cream if you want a thinner sauce.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 445kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 180mg | Sodium: 1215mg | Potassium: 1003mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5044IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 115mg | Iron: 2mg

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*Adapted from Diethood