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 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes 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

*Adapted from Diethood

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Love cheese? Then you’ll flip over these margharita chicken breasts. Easy to make too!

Margharita Chicken Is The Cheesiest

This will definitely satisfy any cheese lover because there’s gobs of cheese inside and on top to.

The cheese melts all over the place on the pan so make sure you line it with parchment or foil so you don’t miss one drop of the ooey gooey mozzarella!

Fresh Is Best

Where the cheese may be the star of this chicken recipe, it also relies on basil and tomatoes.

Canned tomatoes are definitely out here because you need nice thick slices.

When tomatoes are in season and if you grow your own, those are definitely best. However, it is possible to find great-tasting tomatoes in the supermarket. I find the vine ripened ones to have superb flavor. My supermarket also sells hydroponic beefsteak tomatoes and those also have a great flavor. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, try Kumatoes. They really have a home-grown tomato taste.

When it comes to basil, again use fresh because the taste cannot be beat. Fresh basil is also part of the “look” of this dish too. You can usually find the whole basil plant over by the tomatoes in most produce sections. The benefit with the whole plant is you can re-pot it and it will keep on growing.

Tasty Marinade

The marinade is the secret to this chicken’s gourmet flavor.

It’s a simple herb and garlic mixture in a sherry base. The flavor it imparts takes this chicken to a new level, so don’t skip this step even if you’re tempted.

Cheese Filling

My usual way of handling cheese fillings in chicken is to shred my cheese then mix it with a bit of sour cream or soft cream cheese. I also add a couple of tablespoons of soft breadcrumbs so the filling will stay put inside the pocket.

I’ve done that here, but since the additional cheese melts all over the place, this is a step that can be eliminated and you can substitute my filling mixture with a big thick slice of mozzarella.

The Recipe

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Margharita Chicken

Love cheese? Then you’ll flip over these margharita chicken breasts. Easy to make too!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Chicken, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: chicken, margharita chicken

Servings: 4

Calories: 682kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves, butterflied
• 4-8 thick slices of fresh tomato see NOTES
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves
• Salt & pepper to taste I used about 1/2 tsp of each sprinkled on top of the assembled chicken
• 1 cup additional shredded mozzarella for topping

MARINADE

• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp olive oil extra-virgin preferred

FILLING

• 2 cups shredded mozarella cheese see NOTES
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp soft breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp Parmesan or Romano cheese optional

Instructions

• Mix marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Place butterflied chicken breast in a zipper freezer bag and pour marinade over the chicken. Seal bag and turn it a few times to coat the chicken. Let the breasts marinate about 2-3 hours. Then remove from the bag and let the excess marinade run off.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
• Place chicken on the baking sheet.
• Place 1 or 2 tomato slices and about 1/4 cup of fresh basil in each chicken "pocket"
• Mix all the filling ingredients in a medium bowl and divide into 4 equal portions. Place each portion on top of the tomato/basil.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Place additional cheese on top of each chicken breast and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until top cheese is melted and starts to bubble.

Notes

Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may need 2 slices, but if you use very large tomatoes, you will probably only need one slice.

You can skip the cheese filling recipe and use 1 thick slice of mozzarella for each chicken's filling. If you do, then don't use shredded, buy the block of mozzarella and cut a nice thick slice. You can also eliminate the additional shredded cheese for topping by topping each breast with a thinner slice of mozzarella.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 682kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 70g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 221mg | Sodium: 884mg | Potassium: 1270mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2088IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 522mg | Iron: 2mg

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Real fancy, huh?  Well it’s only mushroom & basil pasta–but boy is it ever GOOD!!! And here’s to Meatless Mondays!

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Pâte Avec Champignons et Basilic

Real fancy, huh?  Well it’s only mushroom & basil pasta–but boy is it ever GOOD!!! And here’s to Meatless Mondays!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: pasta, skillet dinners, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: French

Keyword: meatless casserole recipes, meatless pasta dinnners

Servings: 2

Calories: 793kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 8 oz spaghetti cooked to package directions
• 2 cups quartered mushrooms
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic large ones, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh basil chiffonade (shredded)
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1-2 oz Asiago thickly shredded
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

• Cook spaghetti as per package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and the olive oil. When butter is melted and begins to bubble, add the garlic and the mushrooms. Saute, stirring frequently, until mushrooms begin to sear. Remove from heat.
• Add cooked pasta and basil to the skillet and toss to coat with the olive oil butter mixture and the mushrooms.
• Top with Asiago cheese. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 793kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 23g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 241mg | Potassium: 577mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 620IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 208mg | Iron: 2mg

Pasta with Mushrooms & Basil

Pasta with Mushrooms & Basil

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