Get my Cookbooks! Stuffed Chicken Breast
This Stuffed Chicken Breast is filled with a creamy 3-cheese blend with spinach, herbs, and sun-dried tomatoes! It’s easy to make and customize with different fillings!
Serve this with my Smashed Potatoes and be sure to try my Baked Chicken Thighs recipe next!
Stuffed Chicken Breast
There is no better way to make dinner exciting than to make Stuffed Chicken Breast! This recipe pairs so well with a variety of potato side dishes as well as roasted vegetables. The filling options are endless and fun to customize!
This particular recipe has a creamy 3-cheese blend with sauteed spinach, garlic, herbs, and sun-dried tomatoes! It’s an easy way to add a gourmet flair to your regular rotation, and you can even stuff the chicken ahead of time!
Be sure to check out all of my pro tips below!
How to Make It
*See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Soften the spinach and garlic in a skillet and let cool. Combine the stuffing ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
Slice a pocket into each chicken breast as shown below, being careful not to cut all the way through the other side. Fill each with stuffing and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika.
Sear in oil from the sundried tomatoes (or olive oil), for 2-3 minutes per side, until golden.
Bake at 375° for 17 minutes or until the internal temp of the thickest part of the chicken reads 165°. Serve with mashed potatoes and roasted green beans.
Make Ahead Method
- Stuff the chicken as outlined. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
- Remove the chicken from the fridge and let it come close to room temperature (20-25 minutes), then sear and bake as outlined.
Pro Tips
- Chicken: If your breasts are very thick, tenderize with a meat mallet to thin it out slightly. This will also make the chicken more tender.
- Cheese: Shred/grate the cheese from a block for best results as it will melt and taste better. I use Dragone whole milk low moisture mozzarella and BelGioioso Parmesan.
- Stuffing Amount: I use just under 1/2 cup of filling per chicken breast.
- Add-on options include sauteed mushrooms, bacon, feta, and more!
- Toothpicks can help keep the filling intact if you are having trouble with that, the cream cheese in this recipe helps the filling stay pretty sturdy/in place, so I don’t find them to be necessary.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This chicken does freeze well.
- To Reheat: Wrap loosely in foil and bake at 325° for 15 minutes, depending on the size. (If possible, let it sit out at room temp for 15-minutes first.) You may choose to add 2-3 teaspoons of water to the foil to keep the chicken juicy.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- 12-inch Enamel Cast Iron Skillet– The perfect size for this recipe and oven safe!
- Sharp Paring Knife
- Meat Mallet -This is the one that I use, it’s great!
- Digital Meat Thermometer
Try These Next
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- Creamy Chicken Pasta
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- Marry Me Chicken Pasta
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- Lemon Pepper Chicken
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- Chicken Roulade
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- Baked Ravioli
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- Bacon Ranch Chicken
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Tried This Recipe?
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Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Filling
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3 cups packed spinach, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained/chopped
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella, see notes
- 1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
- ½ teaspoon EACH: dried basil, dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Pro Tip 1: Instead of olive oil, I like to use reserved oil from the sun-dried tomatoes in this recipe!
- Pro Tip 2: Sear the chicken in a cast iron or oven-safe skillet so that you don’t have to transfer it to a casserole dish after searing!
Prepare the Filling
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- Add 1-2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach and garlic and cook until wilted, 3-4 minutes. Let cool.
- Set the spinach/garlic and sundried tomatoes aside. Combine remaining filling ingredients, then gently stir in the spinach/garlic and tomatoes. Set aside.
Prepare the Chicken
- Pat the chicken dry. Use a sharp paring knife to create a pocket for the stuffing. (Slice the side of the chicken that has the fold on the bottom.) Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. (See process shots in blog post for a visual on what the pocket area looks like.)
- Stuff each chicken breast with the filling. Sprinkle the top of the chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is glistening and hot, add 2 chicken breasts at a time and sear each side until it begins to turn golden, 2-3 minutes.
- Pro Tip: I use 2 spatulas to maneuver the chicken when flipping, it’s easier to handle gently. The top and bottom of chicken will cook about halfway up but the middle will still be uncooked.
Bake
- If your skillet is not oven safe, transfer the chicken to a baking dish.
- Bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes, or until the thickest part of the chicken reaches 165°. Rest for 5 minutes prior to serving with mashed potatoes and roasted green beans!
Notes
- Chicken: If your breasts are very thick, tenderize with a meat mallet to thin it out slightly. This will also make the chicken more tender.
- Cheese: Shred/grate the cheese from a block for best results as it will melt and taste better. I use Dragone whole milk low moisture mozzarella and BelGioioso Parmesan.
- Stuffing Amount: I use just under 1/2 cup of filling per chicken breast.
- Add-on options include sauteed mushrooms, bacon, feta, and more!
- Toothpicks can help keep the filling intact if you are having trouble with that, the cream cheese in this recipe helps the filling stay pretty sturdy/in place, so I don't find them to be necessary.
Storage
- Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-4 days or freeze for up to 3 months. This chicken does freeze well.
- To Reheat: Wrap loosely in foil and bake at 325° for 15 minutes, depending on the size. (If possible, let it sit out at room temp for 15-minutes first.) You may choose to add a 2-3 teaspoons of water to the foil to keep the chicken juicy.
The nutritional information provided is an estimate and is per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe.
So we tried this tonight. It didn’t look like the picture 🤣. Ours were just topped chicken breast. But boy was it good!!!!! I think next time instead of plain cream cheese, I would like to try flavored soft cheese. Maybe add minced mushrooms. Even the Hubs said this recipe is a keeper!!
I’m so happy you liked it Karen! It’s definitely a fun one to play around with. The filling ideas are endless. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!💖
I loved it, thank for the recipe. I did add extra garlic to the spinach mixture and added bacon to the cheese mixture. It’s a keeper.
Wonderful! I’m so happy that you enjoyed it Mary G! Thank you!!
I have made this a few times now and it just rocks. It is so freakin good. I add just a bit more sun dried tomatoes and dried Basil and it’s so delish. Unfortunately I have yet to have chicken breasts in the house when making this so I use leg meat unfolded, the filling placed on top and the chicken folded back over. It makes a bit of a mess when cooking because these’s no real pocket and the sides are open, but it’s still so incredibly good. I really need to just go buy breasts the next time though.
I top this off with sautéed mushrooms and serve it with roasted red potatoes or mashed potatoes. Green beans go nicely with this too.
This dish has seriously been on my regular rotation of go to meals. It’s just so darn good!
And y’all, you may not like tomatoes in your food but sun-dried tomatoes are a different beast and really help make this filling. I can’t imagine it without them. They just hit different, I promise. Give it a try!
Nice work Missy! I’m so happy you’ve been enjoying it. I totally agree with what you said about the sun dried tomatoes. They are a game changer! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!💗