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Creamy Spinach Chicken

This one-pan Creamy Spinach Chicken is the recipe you pull out on that busy Fall week when life is crazy but you still desperately want a home cooked warm and cozy meal.

An easy chicken dinner with garlic spinach cream sauce that is flavorful, delicious and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare!

Creamy Spinach Garlic Chicken in a skillet

Chicken with Creamy Spinach Garlic Sauce

Here’s what you can expect from this delicious creamy spinach chicken recipe: Lightly breaded seasoned chicken cutlet, crispy and flavorful, coated in a creamy garlic sauce packed with spinach.

Made with minimal, pantry-friendly ingredients…and you get your protein and vegetables all in one!

We love this creamy spinach chicken recipe because what is better than only having to deal with one single pan when you are cooking and only cleaning one pan.

The cleaning part is always makes me do the happy dance whenever I make this one-pan creamy chicken and spinach meal.

Other delicious/must-make one-pan/one-skillet goodness that you need in your life: Mexican Chicken Casserole, Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Chicken, Skillet Chicken Parmesan, White Wine Tomato Skillet Chicken, Easy Frittata.

What goes into Creamy Spinach Chicken

For the sake of perfecting this recipe for you all, there was a whole lot of creamy spinach chicken in our household for a few weeks. On repeat for lunch, dinner, lunch, and dinner over and over again.

The good news is both my husband and I loved it so much we didn’t mind the repetition at all…which is a true testimony to how good this creamy spinach chicken dish really is!

Lifting a piece of chicken cutlet in creamy spinach sauce

While this creamy spinach chicken dish tastes amazing, you won’t believe how easy it is. This is not one of those fancy, written-for-professionals type of recipe.

It calls for simple, pantry-friendly ingredients that you may already have at hand:

  • Chicken cutlets – a.k.a. thinly sliced chicken breast. If you are using regular chicken breast, slice it lengthwise so it is thinner and easier to cook.
  • All purpose flour – used to bread the chicken
  • Butter
  • Garlic – use fresh! Avoid substituting with garlic powder
  • Half and half
  • Spinach
  • Salt and black pepper – important seasoning to ramp up the flavor profile in this dish

Besides the ingredients above, you will need a 12″ or 10″ skillet to cook the chicken cutlets in spinach and garlic sauce.

I like to use a non-stick skillet to make this creamy spinach chicken goodness because it makes pan frying the breaded chicken a lot easier. If you are using a stainless steel skillet, make sure to grease it really very so that the chicken cutlets will not stick to it.

How to Make It

Prepare chicken cutlets

When it comes to making this creamy spinach chicken, we want to season, bread and pan fry the chicken cutlets first so that chicken is well flavored and has a lightly crispy texture on the outside.

Pan frying chicken cutlets

Prepare creamy spinach garlic sauce

Once the chicken is done, they will be removed from the skillet, and then we will use the same skillet to make the creamy spinach garlic sauce.

Cooking cream sauce in the skillet

Once sauce thickens, add spinach.

It may look like there is a whole lot of spinach, but don’t worry, it will cook down quite a bit!

Adding spinach to creamy garlic sauce

This is really a great way to pack in all the veggies for your non-veggie lovers.

Coat chicken in creamy sauce

Once spinach is folded into the sauce, bring the chicken cutlets back into the skillet and coat it with sauce.

And like I promised from the very beginning, only one pan/one skillet is needed to cook this entire dish!

When creamy spinach chicken is done, remove from heat promptly so that chicken doesn’t overcooks and sauce doesn’t over-thicken.

Closeup of one skillet Creamy Garlic Chicken

I seriously love this so dang much.

Chicken is juicy, perfectly seasoned with a light golden brown crust, coated in a rich and creamy spinach cream sauce infused with garlic.

I cannot tell you how many times we have whipped a pan of creamy spinach and chicken up on busy evenings. And it hits the spot every single time.

Tips and Tricks

  • Use a large skillet (10 or 12-inch non stick skillet) for this so that creamy spinach chicken is not over-crowded in the pan.
  • Use thinly sliced chicken, or chicken cutlets. Another option is to slice a regular chicken breast into half lengthwise to get a thinly sliced chicken.
  • Do not overcook chicken. Overcooked chicken is no longer juicy and has a rubbery texture. Using a meat temperature can help with that. Once internal temperature reaches 165℉, remove chicken from skillet promptly.

Substitutions and Variation

Here are some fun ways to bring some variety to this creamy spinach garlic chicken dish:

  • Instead of chicken broth, use white wine! Be sure to cook down the alcohol if you are using white wine. You shouldn’t be able to taste alcohol in the sauce if it is completely cooked down.
  • Add other veggies in addition or in the place of spinach: red bell peppers, carrots, kale, green onions, broccoli etc. It’s a great way to load up the vegetables!
  • I love making this with pork chops instead of chicken as well. Cooked internal temperature of pork is at least 160℉. Do not overcook pork as well!
Chicken in creamy sauce in a skillet

What to serve with Creamy Spinach Chicken

This is a super versatile chicken recipe and here are some of my favorite sides to serve it with!

One of our favorite go-to weeknight dishes because it is easy, fast and everyone loves it.

Winner winner Creamy Spinach Chicken dinner! ❤️

DID YOU ENJOY THIS RECIPE? Please comment below and give us a 5-star rating! This will help others find this recipe on Google and Pinterest. We very much appreciate your help! 🤍

Other Chicken Recipes

A skillet of chicken and spinach in creamy sauce

Creamy Spinach Chicken

Crispy seasoned chicken coated in creamy garlic spinach sauce. An easy one-pan chicken recipe for a quick dinner meal!
4.80 from 106 votes
Print Pin
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 281kcal
Author: MinShien

Ingredients

  • 4 pieces chicken cutlets thinly sliced
  • salt to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • vegetable oil
  • 4 tbsp all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 4 cloves garlic smashed
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 1/4 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 cups spinach

Instructions

  • Season chicken cutlets (see Note 1) with salt and pepper. A quick dash on each side. Then coat both sides with 2 tbsp of flour.
  • Heat large skillet with vegetable oil under medium high heat, then place chicken cutlets onto skillet. Do not overlap cutlets. Sear cutlets on one side until they brown slightly, flip, and then sear on the other side.
  • Once chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165℉, remove from skillet immediately. Do not overcook chicken.
  • Lower to medium heat, then add butter and smashed garlic.
  • Once garlic is fragrant, add 2 tbsp flour, half and half and chicken broth. Stir continuously to dissolve flour, and bring sauce to a boil.
  • Once sauce thickens, add spinach and fold it into sauce.
  • Bring chicken cutlets back into the skillet and coat each piece of cutlet with sauce. Remove from heat once chicken is covered with sauce. Chicken shouldn't stay in the sauce for more than a minute.
  • Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Note 1: If you can’t find chicken cutlet (thinly sliced chicken), slice chicken breast lengthwise into two thin pieces.
Update: Recipe was updated to 2 tbsp of flour instead of 1/2 cup based on feedback and retesting. 

Nutrition

Calories: 281kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 571mg | Potassium: 605mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1831IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 95mg | Iron: 1mg
Did you make this recipe?Take a pic and tag me at @joyous.apron, or hashtag #joyousapron on Instagram!

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4.80 from 106 votes (82 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




57 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    This was so quick and easy to do and super tasty. I also made the roasted lemon broccoli to go with it, and the flavours complimented each other beautifully

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! And yum! What a great combo!

  2. My sauce came out as a paste … not sure what I could have done wrong .. disappointed

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      It over thickens and becomes paste-y when it cooks for a too long or over higher heat. Try adding more milk at any time to thin out the gravy if needed, or cook it under lower heat.

  3. 5 stars
    These are a hit with my family. Easy for me to make, and they love the dinner.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      That’s great, Debi! Thanks for sharing!

  4. 5 stars
    Like all your recipes, this did not disappoint! Loved it, it will now be on repeat in our house too!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you so much , Kathleen! Happy to hear that you’ve been enjoying the recipes!

  5. 5 stars
    This made such a delicious dinner! We served ours over egg noodles and it was so good that there weren’t any leftovers!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Yum!! Sounds delish!!

  6. 5 stars
    Gosh, this was PERFECT for dinner! The whole family loved it. Served it with rice and steamed broccoli, and we were set. Thanks!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Yum! Such a good meal!!!

  7. Michaela Kenkel says:

    5 stars
    We LOVED this recipe!! So delicious and so quick to make too!! Perfect!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you Michaela! So happy to hear that you all enjoyed it!

  8. 5 stars
    Love that this was made in just one pan and it tasted amazing!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Wonderful! Glad you liked it!

  9. 5 stars
    Creamy and delicious! We had none left which means I will be making this again and again.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Yay! I love hearing that. Thank you for sharing, Nikki!

  10. 5 stars
    This was a great way to use up some extra spinach. The flavors are wonderful!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you for trying it and sharing, Megan!

  11. Made this recipe last night…I believe there is a typo in your recipe with respect to the 1/2 cup of flour. I followed this recipe to a tea, and soon after adding the flour, it became like paste. Typically, one would have the same amount of butter and flour to make a roux. 1/2 cup was way too much. I needed to add more than 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth to thin it out.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thanks for the feedback Lisa! I retested the recipe and made a change to the amount of flour needed (updated to 2 tbsp).

  12. My sauce came out as a thick paste as well, despite adding lots more milk and chicken broth. Perhaps directions should say to gradually add liquid over low heat? My family gobbled it up anyway though!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thanks for the feedback, Brenda! I just updated the amount of flour (2 tbsp).

  13. 5 stars
    Hi! Made this tonight and it was wonderful. I did add is dried tomatoes and loved that addition. We ate over Boursin and herbed polenta.

    1. Sun dried tomatoes, lol

    2. Joyous Apron says:

      I’m so glad you enjoyed it Janna!

  14. 5 stars
    I have made this twice!! SO GOOD! It’s in our regular rotation now!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Yess!! Love it when you all make it a regular! 😀

  15. 5 stars
    Oh heavens, I’m always looking for new chicken recipes and this one is amazing. Our family devoured it. I’ll make more next time so we have leftovers!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Awesome to hear that, Julie!

  16. 5 stars
    This was REALLY yummy. My chicken was very thinly sliced, so i just cut it up and tossed it with spinach…added additonal cream and broth because my sauce came out too think and not nearly enough…Next time I will use actualy cloves of garlic…used the minced kind this time and thought it needed more. Also added about 1/4 cup white wine…YUM. Over spaghetti, wanted egg noodles but didn’t have any so spaghetti it was. I will 100% make this again. Sorry, it was inhaled before pictures could be snapped!!

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      YUM! That white wine add sounds amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. So glad you enjoyed it!

  17. 5 stars
    This was absolutely delicious. I added a bit more chicken stock to thin out the sauce slightly, but the flavors were so very good. I will definitely make it again.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thanks Debbie! So glad you loved it!

  18. Kelsey Robinson says:

    4 stars
    great recipe, quick and easy! I just did added some more spices. Is this recipe really only 4g of protein?

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thanks for pointing it out! There is an automatic calculator for the nutrition stats and I think it was confused about the chicken cutlets. Just made the minor adjustments. And I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!

  19. JEFFREY TANNER says:

    5 stars
    this recipe it looks yummy I save it for my wife to prepare it for dinner and at a side dish we are going to serve it with rice or any other healthy grain that will be good and maybe some steamed vegetables on the side with butter and salt and pepper 😋 thank you for the recipe.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Thank you for giving it a try! Hope it was delicious!

  20. Rona Howard says:

    5 stars
    Such a delicious and easy recipe. I will be making this again.

    1. Joyous Apron says:

      Always love hearing that! Thank you, Rona!