Cheese-Stuffed Chicken With Spinach, Pesto, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

With all the flavors of summer (basil! mozzarella! tomatoes!) but with the ease of ingredients you can find year-round, this stuffed chicken recipe can be your weeknight dinner savior. This is a quick dinner to put together with everything coming together in less than an hour. Speed up your dinnertime even more by prepping the chicken ahead of time and cook off when you’re ready! Did stuffed chicken go out of style at some point? I’m still here for it—mostly because it’s usually filled with cheese, and when is that ever wrong? (Answer: It never is.)The original version of this recipe came from The Modern Proper, one of my favorite food blogs for their gorgeous photography, fantastic recipes, and entertaining Instagram stories.

How to Make Cheesy-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Start by cutting a slit in each chicken breast, so you have somewhere to land the filling, which is just a mix of cream cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, pesto, and garlic. If you can make homemade pesto (use your favorite recipe or here is one with lemon!), I highly recommend you do so and use it here. I haven’t found a store-bought pesto I love around my area, but if you have one, take the shortcut!

When you’re ready to fill, simply stuff the chicken breasts with the cheese mixture, fresh spinach, and chopped sun-dried tomatoes. I like to season the outside with Italian seasoning along with salt and pepper and give each side a good, hard sear in cast iron (here’s an oven-to-table one that’s worth the price!) before transferring to the oven to finish cooking. You could also throw these on a hot grill with the lid closed to finish cooking if you want to take the heat outside. Sprinkle with fresh basil and parsley when you’re ready to serve.

It might be advisable to let these cool slightly, as the molten-hot cheese filling is just waiting to strip the top of your mouth, but we’ll see if you can wait.

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken With Spinach, Pesto, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

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• Author: Amanda
• Yield: 4 servings 1x

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Description

With just a little chopping and mixing, you can have these cheesy-stuffed chicken breasts on the dinner table in under an hour! Transfer to the oven to finish cooking or throw on the grill to take the heat outside.

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Ingredients

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• 4 large chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1/4 cup pesto, preferably homemade or high-quality store-bought
• 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup (0.5 ounce) finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, cut into chiffonade

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Preheat a large, 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Cut a pocket in each chicken breast, taking care not to cut all the way through. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper, and season the outside with Italian seasoning.
3. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the garlic, pesto, cream cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan until combined. Layer the cream cheese mixture, sun-dried tomatoes and spinach in the pocket of each chicken breast. Secure with toothpicks, if necessary.
4. Add the olive oil to the preheated skillet; once hot, sear the stuffed chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden-brown. You may have to do this in batches as to not overfill the pan. Arrange all four chicken breasts in the skillet and place them in the oven for 16 to 20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 160°. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and basil before serving.

Notes

Inspiration: Stuffed Chicken Breast with Spinach, Cheese, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes on themodernproper.com

• Category: Chicken, Dinner, Weeknight Dinner, SOS Dinners