Smothered Chicken with Creamed Spinach, Bacon, Mushrooms - a delicious way to cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts! Your chicken is guaranteed to be moist and tender.
Comfort food and healthy ingredients all in one dish! This smothered chicken recipe is gluten free, low carb, packed with protein and vegetables.
If you love stuffed chicken breasts, you'll love this easier "smothered" version of the stuffed chicken. The assembly is really easy: just put the creamed spinach, bacon, mushrooms and Pepper Jack cheese on top of seasoned chicken breasts and bake everything uncovered to perfection. This chicken dinner recipe is anything but boring!
How to make smothered chicken:
Generously season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt, lemon pepper seasoning and a small amount of paprika. Place the chicken breasts, flat side down, into the greased baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F:
In the mean time, make the creamed spinach. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes, covered, until the spinach is thoroughly heated through and start to wilt. Remove from heat. Add minced garlic and half and half. Bring to boil. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and keep stirring, on high heat, until mozzarella cheese starts to melt - about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until you have a nice, smooth creamed spinach - about 30 seconds or 1 more minute. Season with salt to your taste. Remove from heat.
In a separate pan, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add sliced mushrooms and cook on high-medium heat for 1-2 minutes until mushroom caramelize. Do not salt mushrooms or it will prevent the caramelization.
Remove the chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes). Top (or smother) each chicken breast with the creamed spinach:
Continue smothering the chicken with cooked and chopped bacon on top of chicken (make sure to cook the bacon in advance - I cooked it in the oven):
Add cooked mushrooms on top:
Add broken slices of pepper jack cheese (Monterey Jack cheese with Jalapenos):
Bake the chicken in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear. Broil for the last 2-4 minutes, if desired, being careful not to burn the cheese on top.
Smothered Chicken with Creamed Spinach, Bacon, Mushrooms
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1.5 lb chicken breast skinless, boneless (4 small chicken breast or 2 large chicken breast, halved)
- salt
- ¼ teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
Creamed spinach:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 10 oz spinach fresh
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ cup half and half
- ⅔ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
Other Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 4 oz mushrooms sliced
- 4 slices bacon cooked, chopped
- 4 slices Pepper Jack cheese or Monterey Jack Cheese with Jalapenos
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Butter the bottom of the baking dish (I used an oval casserole dish measured 13 inches x 9 inches x 4 inches deep).
- Generously season chicken breasts on both sides with salt, lemon pepper seasoning and a small amount of paprika. Place the chicken breasts, flat side down, into the greased baking dish and bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.
How to make creamed spinach:
- In the mean time, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach and cook for only 1 or 2 minutes, covered, until the spinach is thoroughly heated through and start to wilt. Remove from heat. Add minced garlic and half and half. Bring to boil. Add shredded mozzarella cheese and keep stirring, on high heat, until mozzarella cheese starts to melt - about 30 seconds. Reduce heat to simmer and keep stirring until you have a nice, smooth creamed spinach - about 30 seconds or 1 more minute. Season with salt to your taste. Remove from heat.
Cook mushrooms:
- In a separate pan, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Add sliced mushrooms and cook on high-medium heat for 1-2 minutes until mushroom caramelize. Do not salt mushrooms or it will prevent the caramelization.
Smothered chicken assembly:
- Remove the chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes). Top each chicken breast with the creamed spinach, chopped cooked bacon, cooked mushrooms and broken slices of pepper jack cheese. Bake in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear. Broil for the last 2-4 minutes, if desired, being careful not to burn the cheese on top.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Oh my goodness this was the best dish ever! It was so easy to follow and my husband who doesn’t like melted cheese even loved it so much flavor the only thing I did differently was cooked the mushrooms in the leftover bacon fat defiantly a keeper and I’ll be making it again for sure
Linda, thank you for the detailed comment and your rave review! ❤️ I appreciate it!
Excellent! Easy to follow. I used boneless skinless chicken thighs that were thoroughly cooked and tender in the 40 minutes. Will definitely make again.
Cindy, thank you for this positive feedback! Glad you enjoyed this! 🙂
This was really good!
Robin, glad you liked it, and thank you for the 5-stars! 🙂
Doubled the recipe. Outstanding! This recipe will be added to our family favorites.
Patricia, I am very happy this recipe was enjoyed by everybody! 🙂
This recipe sounds delicious, but one part is confusing. It says to wilt the spinach then remove from heat. Add minced garlic and half and half, then bring to boil (after it was removed from heat??). Can you please clarify?
Thanks! Looking forward to making this soon!
Connie, I see where the confusion comes from. This is one of my earliest recipes where I was sometimes not very clear in my instructions. 🙂 What I meant was to start cooking the fresh spinach, then cover it with the lid and remove it from the heat to let the spinach wilt in the residual heat. Then, add the other ingredients to the already wilted spinach and bring everything to a boil, etc. Hope this clarifies it.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious. Will definitely be adding this recipe into my dinner rotation. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Lady P, I am glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Thank you for taking the time to provide feedback and the 5-stars! 🙂
Could this be done in the microwave (how long) or stove top? My oven is on the blink.
Terry, you can make this on the stovetop - use a large high-sided, heavy-bottomed skillet, and cook it on medium heat, covered.
I am so proud of myself! I made this and it turned out absolutely heavenly! Ty for sharing such wonderful easy dishes to make. Yum yum
Diane, thank you for trying this recipe and so happy it was a success! Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback! 🙂
I made this smothered chicken last night for the first time and we loved it!
I will be adding to our rotation.
Deanna, I am so glad the recipe turned out well! Thank you for the comment and the 5-stars! 🙂