Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast

I have had the WORST time with my sinuses lately. Sleep is something I vaguely remember. I go to bed with headaches and wake up every hour, on the hour. This morning was no different. At 4:30 I finally decided to go ahead and get out of the bed. I figured, it's Sunday so I'll go prep some things to have for lunch after church and clean the kitchen.

After surveying the pantry, cupboards, and refrigerator I decided to use some potatoes before they went bad...I'll post that recipe late. I saw the box of frozen spinach and remembered promising my husband I would make him spinach stuffed chicken breasts . . . 3 weeks ago. Stuffed chicken breasts it is.



The recipe is really easy and uses thing you probably already have on hand. I would have added some ricotta cheese to the spinach mix but I didn't have any on hand and it was just as delicious without it.

Here's what you'll need for the chicken:
4-5 Boneless skinless chicken breasts*
1 (10-oz.) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
4-5 TBSP your favorite Marinara sauce, optional
*make sure they're about the same size

Carefully slice the chicken along the side...kind of like a hot dog bun. I think the term is "butterfly" but I'm not sure so to say it should resemble a hot dog bun is pretty accurate.

In a small bowl combine spinach, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. If you wanted to add some cheese, ricotta would be a nice choice here...just make sure you squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible before mixing everything together. Fill each chicken breast with some of the "spinach stuffing." I used toothpicks to "sew" the sides up so that the spinach wouldn't come out.

Spray a shallow baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and place the chicken breasts in the dish. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.



During the last 5 minutes, I put a tablespoon of the marinara sauce on each of the chicken breasts and let them finish cooking. The end result was delicious and made a pretty presentation.