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 delicious and very easy to make. I added cheese and some of the mushroom & spinach filling to the top of the chicken breast when they were almost done (broiled for 2 minutes to melt the cheese). Well worth the effort, I highly recommend!
My husband and I just love this recipe. I have made it a few times now. it is a winner for us. Thank you so much for it.
Hi Nagi, thank you for helping me cook. I’ve been following your recipes since last year. This is the best chicken dinner I ever made😊
To You from U
Forgot to add the stars
Delicious! After reading some reviews that mentioned it needed extra flavour I added a pinch of salt to mushroom/spinach mix, added a splash of sherry to the mushrooms, used dried tarragon vs thyme, and used fontina instead of mozz. Excellent. Made 3-7 Oz breasts using the same times specified in the instructions. Turned out perfectly moist. Excellent.
Hi nagi, i just about to make this dish. Can the be made ahead and place in the refrigerator and be cooked tom?
I get so excited every time you post a new recipe and this one , like all the others, did not disappoint. So delicious. I tell everyone about your website.
Please keep the amazing recipes coming.
Another winning recipe! This was so easy to make and we all loved it. Thanks!
Wahoo, that’s great to hear Chris!! N x
Delicious – easy to make and chicken so tender. I deglazed the pan with a little White Wine, Garlic and Dijon mustard, reduced slightly and finished with finely chopped parsley. Served with simple Garden Salad- perfect meal- and we still had room for your Pineapple upside down Cake! Thanks Nagi!
Delicious! The cooking times were perfect although my chicken breast weighed much more than 7 ounces. Its a super easy recipe which tastes great and has a very nice presentation. Next time I will try cremini mushrooms instead of button mushrooms, and use more garlic and thyme for more flavor!
It was nice/ok. Nothing really special & certainly not “off the charts” Think the mushrooms should definitely be stronger flavoured mushrooms like shiitake, portobello etc for a fuller flavour & I added extra thyme (fresh from my garden).
The pan frying & oven method is good to ensure a moist result.
Good morning Nagi!!!
Let me just SAY…..This was receipe was off the CHARTS!!
It was so moist and so so good. My husband wished i had packed it with more of the “goodies” on the inside (and it was mile high full!)…..I told him that the spinach and mushrooms would make a wonderful vegetable side dish!! He loved it and so did I. I actually took pics to send you but couldn’t figure how to, so I sent them to my girls instead. LOL
My girls introduced you to me, and now I think it’s a challenge who cooks more of your recipes!!
Thank you, you are amazing!! Blessings to you and Mr. Dozier….. dogs are the best!!
This recipe is fantastic, it has so much flavour, I decided second time around to add bacon and onion and it’s even better. Will be a regular in my house for sure! I use recipes from here all the time, thanks so much Nagi!
Hi Nagi.
Made this recipe last night & was very apprehensive about chicken breast being dry as other times they have been dry but YOU SAID it would be moist & it WAS, really nice & easy so will be making again, thank you. Hugs to the beautiful boy.
I love hearing this Jennifer! If your chicken breast is dry then you’re overcooking it – try taking it off the heat slightly earlier to avoid dry chicken 🙂 N x
Sorry, forgot to mention your vegan recipes are a hit with the daughter. Please , could u rustle up some more? Would be so appreciated.
Will be making this dish for dinner tomorrow (Canada). Love your new adventure. Such a wonderful way to help people. Daughter is a social worker. Al the best in your new adventure. We love Dozer. Lol
so while I had these finishing in the oven with some home made potato wedges my parents sent a picture of their dinner…was the same thing haha. Thanks nagi, was really tasty and easy to make, will be a keeper for sure.
Loved this – thought it was going to be a bit fiddly but wasn’t! My biggest difficulty was finding 220g chicken breasts … gave up and used 440g chicken breasts and cut them in half after cooking (good for checking they were cooked through). This recipe is a keeper – as is the suggested baked Risotto – I used thyme and parsley to complement the stuffed chicken. Yum!!!
I made this last night and was excited because it looked tasty and perfectly suited my keto lifestyle. It was not tricky and the finished dish looked beautiful. The chicken was moist, the mushrooms glistening and the cheese melted just right but the flavour was a bit bland. I put in plenty of garlic and fresh thyme from my own plant. If I were to try it again, I’d use a gruyere instead of the mild mozarella and add more herbs. Any sugestions?
when a recipe calls for garlic cloves, I imagine the biggest garlic clove I have ever seen and then adjust accordingly 🙂 I may have been a bit generous with the fresh thyme too. Together with the buttery mushrooms, mine wasn’t bland at all. Oh, I also used generous lemon pepper to season the chicken because I rarely use salt.
ANOTHER GREAT RECIPE BY NAGI!
Made this tonight, the chicken was so juicy!
One tip, DO stuff generously as Nagi says – I was a little wary as I couldn’t see how the filling was ever going to stay in place, but it really doesnt matter if it spills out. Next time I will definitely be more generous!