I’ve always loved ornate foods. Give me an intricately-braided bread or a triple-layered cheesecake any day (seriously, please do).
One dish I’ve always particularly admired is stuffed chicken breast. I never had the drive to make it, thinking it was just too much work.
Well, handy dandy Pinterest got me interested in trying it. Without even bothering with a recipe, I decided it was time to take the plunge.
Things I learned: While cottage cheese is a good substitute for ricotta in a pinch, it won’t work for anything like this. It will run out of the chicken. Also, stuffed chicken breast does freeze amazingly well, but it takes a darn long time to thaw out. Lastly, I really like stuffed chicken breast, especially since it’s only 188 calories a serving.
Yields: 2 stuffed chicken breasts (4 Servings) | Time: 1 hourIngredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 8-12 spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup low-fat mozzarella or cheddar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 475°.
- Butterfly or pound each chicken breast until they are only 1/4″ thick or so. If you need instructions on how to butterfly, this is a great video.
- Spread or sprinkle cheese evenly over the entire butterflied chicken breast.
- Lay 4-6 spinach leaves on the cheese-covered chicken breast, or until the entire breast is covered in all spots by at least one leaf. If you like, you can use more or substitute another vegetable like broccoli.
- Roll up each breast and secure the ends with toothpicks or a piece of cooking twine (I used two toothpicks).
- Place chicken in a greased baking dish that has a minimum of a 1″ side. Spray the breasts lightly with oil (for better browning). Cook in the heated oven until the outside is browned and the inside reaches 165°. If you find the chicken is getting too brown too fast, lower your oven temperature. If it’s not getting brown enough, raise the temperature.
Nutrition Info
Assuming eating half a breast, each breast is 140g, and using low-fat mozzarella
- Calories 188
- Calories from Fat 75
- Total Fat 8.4g
- Saturated Fat 3.3g
- Cholesterol 73mg
- Sodium 161mg
- Total Carbohydrates 1.6g
- Dietary Fiber 0.7g
- Protein 25.6g
I love that this dish is super easy to make and freezes rather well. I just followed the instructions up to step five and then put them in a freezer bag. When I was ready to cook them, I just pulled them out and let them thaw fully before baking. I served mine with pasta and a simple tomato cream sauce.
Food For Thought 