Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast with ricotta and spinach, a healthy, gluten-free, low-carb, high-protein recipe that is super delicious, and super easy to make. My favourite chicken dinner recipe that goes down well with the whole family.
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Chicken breasts are my first choice when it comes to a good old chicken dinner recipe. They are not only lean, low in fat and calories, but they also cook quickly, no matter the cooking method or the dish.
Ricotta and spinach are a match made in heaven for me, and I often use this combo, my favourite recipes using it being Turkey Spinach Lasagna Recipe with Ricotta, and Spinach Pinwheels with Ricotta.
Unlike the cream cheese, ricotta is not as rich, but it's still creamy, and I have so far used it only in savoury dishes, all of them being a smashing success.
You can use fresh spinach if you don't have frozen one, it should not change the texture of the chicken breasts, but do make sure you squeeze out all the liquid once the spinach is thawed.
Ingredients used to make stuffed chicken breasts
- chicken breasts - make sure they are similar size, so they can all bake at the same time
- ricotta - drain the liquid well if here is any in the tub
- spinach - thawed and all liquid squeezed
- salt & black pepper
- paprika - it adds a nice touch to the chicken
- garlic granules
- olive oil - to drizzle over the chicken breasts
- lemon juice - optional
Easy swaps
Apart from the lovely lemon kick, you could also use some chilli flakes, or cayenne pepper if you want a bit of spiciness to it, although I thought it was just perfect for my taste the way it got cooked.
Also, if ricotta is not really your favourite, you can substitute it with cream cheese. Spinach, although it's always my first choice, can be replaced with kale or mixed salad leaves, but I'm not quite sure how that would taste, I must say I hardly ever cook with kale.
Step-by-step photos and instructions
For stuffing 3 chicken breasts, I used 3 frozen chopped spinach cubes, and that was more than enough. If you use fresh spinach, 1 ½ cup of leaves should be enough
- place the spinach cubes in a pan, pour over hot water, and bring to a boil
- drain the water, and squeeze as much water as you can
- in a bowl, add the ricotta and spinach, and mix well
- Use a sharp knife to make a pocket into the chicken breasts, or you could cut them up horizontally, without cutting all the way through.
- Stuffed each chicken breast with the spinach filling
- In a small bowl, add the salt, pepper, paprika and garlic granules and mix well
- Drizzle olive oil over each chicken breast, rub the paprika mix over, then drizzle some more olive oil
So, depending on your oven, the chicken should not need any longer than about 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit). Do check on it though after 25 minutes.
Other chicken breast recipes
Baked Honey Mustard Chicken Breast with Lemon
Nando's Peri-Peri Butterfly Chicken Breast Recipe
Quick and Easy Chicken Breast Recipes for Dinner
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Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoon ricotta
- 3 cubes frozen chopped spinach
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- 3 tablespoon olive oil to drizzle over
- lemon juice - optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (390 Fahrenheit).
- Add the spinach cubes to a pan, pour over boiled water, and bring to a boil.
- Drain the water, and squeeze out as much water as you can.
- In a bowl, mix the ricotta with spinach to get a smooth paste.
- Using a sharp knife, make a pocket into each chicken breast, then stuff with the spinach filling.
- Mix the salt, pepper, paprika and garlic granules, drizzle half of the oil over the chicken breasts, then rub each chicken breast with the mixture.
- Drizzle the remaining oil over the chicken.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
- Drizzle some lemon juice over - optional.
Notes
- Apart from the lovely lemon kick, you could also use some chilli flakes, or cayenne pepper if you want a bit of spiciness to it, although I thought it was just perfect for my taste the way it got cooked.
- Also, if ricotta is not really your favourite, you can substitute it with cream cheese.
- Spinach, although it's always my first choice, can be replaced with kale or mixed salad leaves
Anthony Van rensburg
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