It seems that the spinach and feta quesadillas that I made last week simply wet my appetite for my craving for the Greek spinach and feta flavour combo. Next up on my list of things to try using this flavour combo was something a bit more challenging, chicken breasts stuffed with spinach and feta. I don’t make stuffed meat dishes like this too often as they can be a bit tricky to make and I sometimes end up with most of the stuffing squeezing out before it is finished cooking but this time the reward was worth the risk. I started out looking at the filling and I went with the standard spinach, feta, dill, parsley and green onions found in spanakopita. Ricotta is an ingredient that can be used in a spanakopita filling that I tend to skip but in this case I was thinking that it would help hold everything together. I was unable to find any butchers twine to hold my stuffed chicken together so I used some flavourless, unwaxed dental floss which worked out pretty well.
With my chicken stuffed and all wrapped up, I seasoned it a threw it into into a pan with some oil and browned it up. After getting the outside nice and brown I transferred the stuffed chicken breasts to a baking dish and finished cooking them in the oven. At this point the pan that I had just cooked the chicken in was filled with those brown bits of pure flavour and I could not let them go to waste! I deglazed my pan with a splash of wine and used those brown bits to make a simple pan sauce which I finished with a bit of cream and some of the leftover dill and parsley that I had on hand.
The spinach and feta stuffed chicken with pan sauce turned out so amazingly well! Luckily this time I did a pretty good job of tying the chicken breasts up and they held together with hardly any of the stuffing coming out. The chicken was nice and juicy and spinach and feta stuffing was just what I had been craving. The pan sauce, despite being so simple, was so full of flavour and it really brought the meal home! I served the spinach and feta stuffed on a bed of spanakorizo a Greek spinach rice to get even more spinachy goodness.
Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken
ingredients
- 1/2 cup spinach (steamed and squeezed dry of any excess liquid)
- 2 tablespoons feta
- 2 tablespoons ricotta
- 1 green onion (sliced)
- 1 tablespoon dill (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 chicken breasts (1 pound) (butterflied and pounded thin)
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot (diced)
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon dill (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
directions
- Mix the spinach, feta, ricotta, green onion, dill, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Lay the chicken breasts out and split the spinach and feta mixture between them. Roll up the chicken around the filling and tie it up or secure it with toothpicks.
- Season the chicken with season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a pan.
- Add the chicken, brown on all sides, about 2-4 minutes per side.
- Place the chicken in a baking dish and bake in a 350F/180C oven until it reaches 180F, about 30 minutes.
- Melt the butter in the pan that you browned the chicken in.
- Add the shallots and garlic and saute for a minute or two.
- Add the wine and deglaze the pan.
- Add the chicken stock, lemon zest, season with salt and pepper and reduce by half.
- Remove from heat and mix in the heavy cream and herbs.
you are killing me with this! it looks amaaazzinng. i cant wait to make it!
I like the dental floss trick—I can never find butcher's twine at the store!
oooh, you're makin me hungry! This looks amazing and includes my favorite flavor combo!
Ooo, I'm so delighted by this dish. 🙂 I love the spinach and feta combo but have never tried it this way. Excited to try it. 🙂
This just made me extremely hungry…Yum Yum Yum!!!
Stuffed chicken is the best. Nice combo here!
This sounds great to me.
Wow, Kevin, this looks wonderful!
This looks so totally awesome. Can't wait to try it. This has all my favorite flavors all together!
YUM! Is it wrong that I'm now starving at 11:12PM? 🙂
Looks delicious. I do a shortcut and cut a pocket in the chicken breats and pipe in the filling.
Yum!!! Fantastic stuffed chicken. Nice trick with the floss! I'll have to keep that in mind next I make stuffed anything. ;-D
YUM! This dish looks amazing!! I love how creative you are with your ingredients.
Beautiful colors in the photo. Bet it tastes wonderful Kevin!
That looks absolutely delicious. I'm drooling right now!
Oh Wow! Your cooking as well as your photos are so stunning. I'm inspired, thank you!
A droolworthy combo!
Cheers,
Rosa
Kevin, I am so hungry for that entire plate of food…from the chicken all plump and juicy to the delicious rive….. Come and cook for me please!!!
Ha! Love the dental floss idea. Way to be inventive.
The dish sounds fabulous. YOu can never have too much spinach, feta, or ricotta in my book.
I love feta and this chicken recipe looks good! Great idea with the dental floss!!
I love stuffed chicken. I ususally use garlic, chives and butter..
I recently did chicken stuffed with goats cheese and it was soo good. I love feta and spinach so really want to give this a go. You photo's are always fantastic!!
uauu, so beautiful!
it looks delicious!
I finally know what I'm going to make for my Valentine's Day dinner. Thank you, I can't wait to try it.
This looks great. I'll probably make it this weekend.
After stuffing the chicken, place plastic wrap over it on a plate……place it in the fridge for an hour or so… the cheeses get cold and firm and when you quickly brown the chicken pieces it has no time to melt and drizzle out …. by the time it goes into the oven.. it's no big deal if a bit gets into the baking dish….
Love spinach and feta……
spinach and feta were made for each other! this looks marvelous!
Looks great. You can never go wrong with this type of filling. Your sauce looks particularly rich here.
Amazing – I was looking for a new dish to make for hubby and this is it! Cheers
What an elegant looking dish Kevin. Great flavor combination!
This is one of my favorite ways to eat chicken, stuffed with spinach and feta! I also like sundried tomatoes in it.
Per usual, your recipes are fail-proof. This meal was delicious! A definite keeper. Thanks for sharing!
LOVE THIS Kevin! You should seriously enter this into the foodislove contest on my siter–last day
aaaah, this is one of my favourites! I also do fish fillets topped with spinach and feta – heavenly!
What happens after step 11!?! Do you pour that over the chicken in the oven? Why isn’t anyone asking this! I have chicken in the oven and the wine/stock on stove and the instructions stop✋️ and everyone seems ok with this. Well dinner ruined. I hate not knowing recipes and trusting the process.