No one is going to get wildly excited about spinach. Which is why I surrounded it with creamy ricotta cheese, salty feta, and a crispy breaded chicken breast. Spinach stuffed chicken never tasted so good.
When in doubt add cheese. When not in doubt add cheese. To be safe, let's make a pact to just always add cheese.
Take this recipe ... without the cheese it's just a chicken breast wrapped around wilty spinach. If I tried really hard I could make that sound appetizing, but it'd still just be chicken wrapped around spinach which would taste, unfortunately, exactly like chicken wrapped around spinach.
Add in some creamy ricotta cheese, garlic, onions, and salty feta? Now you have a dinner you can look forward to. If you're anything like me you start looking forward to dinner at the exact moment in the morning when you realize you're awake and not asleep. Especially nowadays.
Why you should make these:
Because they're retro fun.
Because cheese.
Because they're delicious.
Any time chicken is rolled around something pinwheel style it immediately gives off that whole "I'm just going to finish up dinner and then head to my Holly Hobby club meeting" but that doesn't mean it isn't delicious.
You say Old fashioned food. I say Delicious. You say This isn't 1970. I say Delicious. You say, c'mon Where's your sous vide machine? I say Where it's been for the last 2 years. In my Amazon "cart".
I'm not a foodie. I just like food. All Food. Modern, fancy food, rustic home cooking, a McDonalds Big Mac. I do not discriminate. Honey drizzled edible flowers? I'm on it. Pan fried marinated tofu? Love it. Pizza with Arugula, fig and Burrata? Load it up.
But that doesn't mean I can't love a 70's inspired piece of rolled up, breaded chicken. No, it's not new and fancy or trendy. Good food is good food and one doesn't need to avoid any foods simply because they were popular at a time when Three's Company ruled the airwaves and Quiche Lorraine ruled the dinner table.
Unless it's vegetables in Jello.
Spinach Stuffed Chicken with Feta
... and also some ricotta. And onions and garlic and maybe even some nuts if you want.
This recipe just has a few steps and ends up tasting like a meal that took way longer. Best of all, it's made with pretty basic ingredients that you're likely to have on hand.
- You're going to dice up some onion and garlic then sauté it.
2. Throw in a few handfuls of spinach. No spinach on hand? Use almost any edible leafy green: arugula, swiss chard, mustard greens, or collard greens.
3. Mix that with the cheeses and some pecans or walnuts if you like and plop it in the centre of a pounded chicken breast.
4. Roll 'er up, dip them in egg then dip them in breadcrumbs.
5. Cook them on a baking sheet that you've drizzled with oil. Drizzle some on the chicken just to be safe.
The Feta gives you a nice saltiness to the filling and the Ricotta makes it creamy and gooey.
Don't have ricotta? Don't worry. I have a recipe for making homemade ricotta in 30 minutes.
I don't have a lot of good things to say about the spinach other than you can hardly taste it due to all the cheese. Just kidding, the spinach adds an earthy, slightly bitter taste that offsets the richness of the cheese.
Spinach Stuffed Chicken with Feta
Ingredients
- ½ Onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- ¼ cup Ricotta
- ¼ cup Feta
- ½ cup spinach see notes for substitutions
- ¼ cup pecans optional, can also use walnuts
- 1 egg
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- 4 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Throw them into a pan and sauté until the onions are translucent.
- Add 2 large handfuls of spinach per chicken breast to the pan. It's around a total of ½ packed cup. Sauté with the onions and garlic until just wilted.
- Mix ricotta cheese and feta. Add in spinach mixture and combine. Add pecans if you're using them.
- Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise and pound until thin. Around ¼". Place a large spoonful of filling in the centre of each pounded breast.
- Roll the chicken around the filling.
- Dip in egg then breadcrumbs.
- Place chicken on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle top of chicken with olive oil. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 turning halfway through the cooking time.
Notes
Nutrition
Two chicken breasts will make enough for 4 large rolls plus a couple of tiny rolls if you remove the filet and roll those individually.
I served them with a crispy potato galette and spinach salad.
I hope you enjoyed this retro recipe revival. Patchwork crocheted poncho tutorial coming soon.
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Karen, I think I am going crazy. I thought I saw you starting your dahlia tubers indoors . But now I can't find it on your site. I need some help because I have just pulled my out of the basement.
Tell me I am not crazy.
Thank you,
Pam
It looks delicious. Isn't it a version of Chicken Kiev, without the ham? Now THAT is a 70s dish!
You are super fun. I just made my parents salmon loaf........our 70's meatless friday staple. Saturday was for pizza and Mary Tyler Moore....and Bob Newheart.....and whatever Cher was wearing. I'm makin' this next. With marshmallow salad. For dessert. Sorry......well......I'll just put it on the counter and they can eat it when they want. You Rock.
My mother isn't fond of fish so we never partook in salmon loaf. :) Fish sticks all the way, lol. ~ karen!
Now, deep fry it. ;)
Other ideas for stuffing: pepperoni, thinly sliced corned beef or ham, ect...
well damn. Of the listed ingredients I have an onion, egg and maybe breadcrumbs. Not even olive oil because on my last grocery trip I was so desperate to get out of there without getting near anyone, the oil I grabbed was avocado instead of olive. There is some arugula starting to come up in the garden...perhaps by the time it's big enough to pick I'll have gotten up the nerve to do another grocery expedition and even been able to get some of the other stuff.
Gosh—I just wish I loved to cook as much as I love to eat. This recipe looks delicious!
So happy you did not list kale when mentioning other edible greens. because kale is not edible.
Wow. I am really frickin' tired. It's always nice to end my day with your blog post, even if it makes me hungry for, you know, cheese.
I don't care if that recipe was developed in 1870's, I'd eat it. Chicken - gooood. Spinach - gooood. Cheese - gooood. Breadcrumbs - gooood. All I can think of is Joey in the episode of Friends with the trifle Rachel made with the layer of sauteed beef, peas, and onions.
"Cuisines: Three's Company" Bwahahahahaha
A friend dropped by today and she said she's going to make this meal this weekend. Then someone on my Instagram account said they made it tonight with leftover broccoli, which got me to thinking that a combination of broccoli, fontina and aged cheddar would be great. (the fontina would be the gooooeeeey cheese epitome) ~ karen!
Always add a dash of nutmeg to spinach, broccoli and greens!
You are multi-talented, Karen! Made this and it was easy and delicious. Many thanks! Will soon be using this recipe to impress my friends. Will also share your details, and urge them to subscribe. :)
You made it already?? Wow, that was fast! :) Glad you liked it. I got invited to a neighbour's for dinner so that's even *better* than having spinach stuffed chicken. ;) ~ karen!
Hope you sat 6' apart (insert hysterical laughing emoji here)