This Chicken Florentine recipe has perfectly seared chicken in a thick and creamy spinach sauce. Serve it with pasta, rice, or with a simple green salad. Add a splash of lemon and some fresh parsley for added flavor and color!
Love easy chicken recipes? Try my Creamy Chicken Stroganoff recipe next!
Chicken Florentine
This is one of those recipes that looks and sounds fancy, but is actually really easy. I love adding a splash of lemon juice at the end and serving it with Creamy Herb Pasta, Buttered Noodles, or Parmesan Garlic Pasta.
The sauce is so flavorful and creamy, you’ll definitely want to add this to your regular dinner rotation!
How to Make It
Use a meat tenderizer to pound the chicken about 1/2-inch thick. It will plump up more when cooked so be sure to go thin.
Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture and tap off excess. Sear in olive oil and butter over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside.
Add garlic to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add white wine (or chicken broth), let it boil gently until reduced by half. Slowly stir in the half and half. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and let it reduce by half again. Stir in the cream cheese.
Add the spinach and stir to combine.
Add lemon juice if desired. Add chicken and any drippings back to the pot. Cover until heated through. Garnish with parsley and serve!
Pro Tips
- Pound the chicken flat for even cooking. Chicken breasts plump up when they cook because their proteins gel, causing them to plump up. Thin cutlets also cook more quickly and are much more appetizing.
- Let the chicken sit out while you prepare the other ingredients, placing cold chicken in the skillet cools down the olive oil/butter and can cause uneven cooking.
- Keep the chicken undisturbed while it cooks to maintain the golden crust that forms. The chicken will release from the pan when it’s done searing, using force will cause it to tear.
- A combination of butter and olive oil is best. The butter gives the chicken a golden color, the olive oil mitigates burning due to it’s higher smoke count. (If the pan gets too hot while the chicken is searing, decrease the heat to medium.)
- Mushrooms, capers, cherry tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes make nice additions to this meal.
- The cream cheese can be omitted, I’ve made it without it before. It does thicken it a bit and adds additional flavor and creaminess.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 112!
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3 days or freeze for 3 months. This meal does freeze well!
Tools For This Recipe
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Tools For This Recipe
- 3 Quart Stainless Steel Sauté Pan– I love cooking chicken in this.
- Meat Tenderizer– This makes the meat much more tender.
- 8-inch Chef’s Knife– This is the one I have, I love it.
- Cutting Boards- I love having assorted sizes. (One for the meat, one for the veggies, etc.)
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Tried This Recipe?
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Chicken Florentine
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
Chicken Dredge:
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, finely shredded
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Florentine Sauce:
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ cups white wine, or chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/3 cup softened cream cheese
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1/2 fresh lemon or 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice, optional
- Fresh parsley, to garnish
Instructions
- Place saran wrap over each chicken breast and use a meat tenderizer to pound it until it’s about 1/2-inch thick and of equal thickness throughout. Pat dry.
- Combine chicken dredge ingredients. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture, tap off any excess.
- Melt the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the chicken and cover the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden. If needed, sear in 2 separate batches. Set aside on a plate once cooked, it's done when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Decrease heat to medium and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the white wine and deglaze the pan by running a silicone spatula on the bottom to scrape up the brown bits from the pan. This gives the sauce plenty of flavor. Increase heat slightly and allow it to gently bubble until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
- Temper the half and half by heating in the microwave for 40 seconds. Add it to the skillet in splashes, stirring as you do so. Bring it to a gentle bubble, then reduce heat to low.
- Stir in the softened cream cheese until smooth and combined.
- Add spinach until it’s soft and wilted. Add lemon juice if desired.
- Return the chicken & any drippings back to the pan. Cover to heat through. Sprinkle with parsley and serve!
Notes
Pro Tips:
- Pound the chicken flat for even cooking. Chicken breasts plump up when they cook because their proteins gel, causing them to plump up. Thin cutlets also cook more quickly and are much more appetizing.
- Let the chicken sit out while you prepare the other ingredients, placing cold chicken in the skillet cools down the olive oil/butter and can cause uneven cooking.
- Keep the chicken undisturbed while it cooks to maintain the golden crust that forms. The chicken will release from the pan when it's done searing, using force will cause it to tear.
- A combination of butter and olive oil is best. The butter gives the chicken a golden color, the olive oil mitigates burning due to it's higher smoke count. (If the pan gets too hot while the chicken is searing, decrease the heat to medium.)
- Mushrooms, capers, cherry tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes make nice additions to this meal.
- The cream cheese can be omitted, I've made it without it before. It does thicken it a bit and adds additional flavor and creaminess.
- This recipe is in The Cozy Cookbook on page 112!
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe.
This was wonderful. I always add more seasoning to Pinterest recipes. I seasoned chicken with some chicken seasoning before dredging in flour. Will definitely make again…husband loved it! Thanks
Happy to hear you and your husband enjoyed this one Pat! This is one of my favorite chicken recipes. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!😍
So delicious. I didn’t have half & half so I used cream and I added shallots I had in the fridge. Very rich and decadent. Great recipe I’ll make again for the family. Great idea to serve over pasta.
I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed it Lee Ann! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I’m so glad that you found a new dinner recipe for your rotation! 🙂 -Stephanie
Can you use heavy whipping cream instead of hapf and half and cream cheese?
Hi Valarie! I think that would work just fine! It just might not be quite as thick but you can simmer it until your desired thickness is obtained.
I made this and my whole family loved it! Even though most of them do not like spinach the flavor of the sauce took over and everyone absolutely raved about it. It will now be in my monthly recipe rotation. Thank you so very much for sharing from our family to yours❤
I’m so happy the whole family loved it!😃 My husband and daughter aren’t in love with spinach either but they love this meal! Thanks for commenting!
This was delicious! I made it exactly as written and served it with some pasta and vegetables. Will definitely make again
I’m so happy to hear that Sherry! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Easy
Delicious!!!
Thank you!
I’m so happy you liked this one Mimi! I love how presentable this dish is. It always looks restaurant quality and tastes like it too😋! Plus it’s super easy. Thanks so much for the review!
I made this recipe with no modifications & it was excellent! My 10 yo daughter & my boyfriend (that doesn’t like spinach) loved it as well!
Hey Lahaina! I am so happy to hear that! And anytime you can convert a non-spinach lover, that’s a big win! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review, I really appreciate it! -Stephanie
Thanks for the recipe, it was delicious! I made half of it.
Loved it 🙂
You’re very welcome, glad to hear you enjoyed it!😃
Just made this for dinner! Great recipe! I used 6 chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts. I used white wine instead of broth and included a quarter cup of fresh lemon juice. I didn’t use the full amount of cream cheese since it might be too heavy. Browning the chicken and adding the garlic really gave it a lot of flavor.
Thank you!
You’re very welcome!😃 Happy to hear you liked it and you were able to customize it a bit!
The recipe doesn’t say how much butter..
Sorry about that! It’s there how, it was in the post but not in the recipe card! (2 TBS!) ❤️