These juicy chicken breasts are stuffed with garlicky mushrooms, spinach and a blanket of oozing melted cheese. Simple to make with just a few ingredients, this is how to transform chicken breast from ho-hum into “ohhh yum!”
After this one, try Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken!
Stuffed chicken breast
Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breast is one of those recipes where you take just a few ingredients and deploy them in a way that makes chicken breast so much more interesting than it usually is! Chicken breast, spinach, mushrooms, garlic and cheese are the only base ingredients here. Vary the type of cheese and swap the spinach for other leafy veg to spin this dish to suit your tastes or what you have on hand!
To make it, it’s as simple as frying off the mushrooms and spinach, stuffing the chicken, giving it a quick sear and then baking to finish it off. The reward is THIS for dinner tonight ↓↓↓!
Looks a whole lot more interesting than the usual dull chicken breast recipes, right??!!
Ingredients in Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breast
Here’s what you need to make this recipe. Not that much, like I said!!
All these ingredients are pretty straightforward, so I don’t think I need to run through them like I usually do. Just a few points:
Chicken – It needs to be breast to be large enough to cut deep pockets. Boneless thigh won’t work;
Baby spinach – Chopped or sliced ordinary spinach, silverbeet (Swiss chard), kale or cabbage will work fine too;
Cheese – Anything that melts will work great. Mozzarella is ideal because it melts well but isn’t as runny as, say, cheddar or tasty cheese. This is worth bearing in mind since we don’t fully seal the chicken like with Chicken Kiev since it’s a quick recipe, so some cheese is likely to escape!;
Thyme – Fresh thyme and mushroom are such a classic combination, I can’t help but use it often! Dried thyme can be used as an alternative, else dried oregano, marjoram or rosemary. Fresh versions of any of the aforementioned will also be perfect, as would parsley or tarragon. Most herbs, really!
How to make it
One tip: stuff generously. Like paltry pie fillings and dinky dumplings, nothing is sadder in this life than stingy stuffing!
Sauté mushroom and spinach – The key here is to get great colour on the mushrooms. Colour means flavour, and we never say no to flavour.
Cut pocket slits – Cut a pocket in the chicken breast, per the diagram below, being sure not to cut all the way through. Cut the side where the meat has a fold, not the smooth side.
Season the chicken, including inside the pocket, with salt and pepper;
Stuff generously with the mushroom and spinach, then stuff in cheese slices;
Seal with 2 or 3 toothpicks. It will be stuffed too much to seal completely, and that’s OK (in fact it’s good!) The goal here is just to keep it closed enough so the filling stays mostly in place. Just insert the toothpicks on the diagonal, that’s enough to hold it in place.
Sealed and ready! This photo shows what it looks like once sealed. Ready to cook!
Brown the breast in an oven-proof skillet (so we can take it straight from the stove to the oven);
Bake and rest – Bake for 15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 65°C / 149°F. Then remove the chicken to a plate and rest for 5 minutes before serving. Resting is an essential step after cooking any protein to allow the juices in the meat to redistribute. If you don’t rest, the meat juices run out onto the plate when you cut into it.
What to serve with Mushroom-Stuffed Chicken Breast
The nice thing about this chicken breast recipe is that there’s already a decent amount of vegetables in it, making it virtually a meal-in-one. While our mums would beam approvingly if they knew we’d made the effort make an extra vegetable side dish, the truth is I wouldn’t go too far out of my way for it! For the photo above all I did was take the leftover baby spinach and drizzled it with some Balsamic Dressing. Totally simple and lazy, but hey it does the trick!
If you feel like making your mum proud though, have a browse of Vegetable and Side Salads. It’s organised by vegetable to make it easy to use something you’ve got!
Also pictured on the side is Lemon Herb Risotto. Before you start furrowing your brow at the thought of the effort needed to make a risotto, know that this is a simple no-stir, baked risotto! You read that right. Not only that, the results are staggeringly close to – no, I’d even say virtually indistinguishable from – traditional risotto. Creamy, luscious and perfectly al dente, all without standing at the stove stirring for thirty minutes.
Try it. I think you’ll be surprised! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 2 x 220g / 7oz chicken breast , skinless boneless (Note 1)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 30g / 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 200g / 7 oz mushrooms , sliced 3mm (1/8″) thick (~2 heaped cups)
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1/2 tsp thyme leaves (Note 2)
- 2 cups baby spinach (Note 3)
- 80 g / 3oz mozzarella , sliced (or other melting cheese)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°F fan).
- Cut pockets into each chicken breast, being sure not to cut all the way through (see photos in post). Cut on the side with the fold in the meat, to keep the smooth side intact.
- Season the inside and outside of the chicken with half the salt and pepper.
- Mushroom filling: Melt butter in a heavy based oven proof skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until they start to turn pretty golden. Then add garlic, thyme, remaining salt and pepper and continue cooking for a further 2 minutes until mushrooms are nice and golden.
- Add spinach: Add baby spinach and stir until wilted – about 30 seconds.
- Stuff mushroom mixture into the pocket of each chicken, then top with cheese.
- Seal with toothpicks as best you can – it doesn’t need to be fully sealed like we do with Chicken Kiev. Just mostly sealed.
- Sear chicken: Give the pan a quick wipe with paper towels. Heat oil over medium high heat. Sear each side of the chicken breast for 1 1/2 minutes until golden.
- Bake 15 minutes: Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 65°C/149°F (chicken flesh, not the mushroom filling).
- Rest 5 minutes: Remove from tray onto a plate, loosely cover with foil and rest for 5 minutes. Serve! Pictured in post with easy creamy Baked Lemon Herb Risotto and baby spinach with Balsamic Dressing.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Life of Dozer… and Life of Nagi!!
This was absolutely delish!!
V tasty! I used cabbage as had no spinach and used Swiss cheese. Def make again.
This was delicious, chicken was juicy and cooked perfectly. Loved it . Thanks Nagi
It was amazing!!! Used spicy dill and smoked Gouda for cheese. Easy recipe
hi this was just amazing. thank god i found your page.
hi this was just amazing. thank god i found this page.
Hi Nagi,
Just wondering if I could make this recipe till after the browning in pan stage and then refigerate to cook later in oven? I’m having a dinner party would really like to seem relaxed ( Even though I won’t be! ) I’m SO grateful for your recipes Nagi!!!
Excellent
This is a scrumpilicious recipe. I followed the recipe pretty much. The only thing I changed was the herb that I used. I used tarragon as I love fresh tarragon and sautéed mushrooms. In reading some of the reviews I had minimal juices at the bottom of my pan. This was definitely a hit in my house, and I will make it again.
Amazing dinner. Pretty simple to make & great flavors! I used a vintage cheddar instead of mozzarella, and still great!
I’m going to stuff this filling into a pita bread pocket for a delish lunch!
This was amazing! First time making it and it won’t be the last. Hubby loved it, served with cilantro lime rice and green beans. Will follow some ideas from others next time.
Thank you Nagi for your great recipes🥰
Thank you for a great recipe. I
added some bacon to them as well. I still don’t like cooking dinner but this was easy and my partner is so happy I finally cooked him dinner 😂
Made your recipe this evening. Worked out really well. I cooked it for ten minutes more because it was a large breast and I used dried Italian seasoning. I basted it in the lovely juices and poured the leftover juices over the plated chicken and potatoes and it was really juicy and tender. So, thank you!!
Hi Nagi. Saw this recipe on Instagram the other day and thought it looked so good yet seemed so easy. Made it for dinner tonight and it was just delicious. The combination of mushies, spinach & cheese with garlic and thyme was just perfect. It was also easy to prepare with your usual clear & helpful instructions. Another success from recipetineats. I have been a fan for years 🙏🏼
Made this 3 times, and it is sooo GOOD! I brown the chicken before I cut it open. Instead of butter I used bacon grease and added onion in with the mushrooms. Wife told me to tell you THANKS!!
Left mine in the frying pan with a lid on for 15 minutes was also perfect
Thanks for that feedback Shirley!! Enjoy! N x
Excellent recipe. I added about 1/2 cup of white wine midway through oven time. Perfect, tender, juicy chicken and lovely aus ju. Served with jasmine rice and fried green beans.
You are making me hungry Kay!! N x
After you brown on the stove can you put this on the grill
Yes you could Cheryl!! Enjoy! N x
Mmm what a great idea, going to try this out in a fusion style with your wonderful kiev recipe. Will up-date, but already can’t wait to taste tonight 🙂