This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Chicken recipe - the chicken breasts are seasoned with dry Italian salad dressing mix, smothered with the creamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and bacon, and baked to perfection! The best baked chicken ever!
If you want to know how to cook the best chicken breasts, this is the recipe for you! No more boring, dry chicken. A lot of people prefer to bake their chicken vs. frying it on the stove top, and in this recipe the chicken breasts are baked in the oven and are very juicy and moist and flavorful thanks to all the stuff on top!
This Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Smothered Chicken is one of the best chicken breast recipes I ever made! It's just like stuffed chicken, instead you put everything on top and bake!
How to make Sun-Dried Tomato Spinach Bacon Chicken:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Use 4 small chicken breasts or 2 large chicken breast, sliced horizontally in half.
Butter the bottom of the baking dish. Season chicken breasts from both sides with the Italian salad dressing mix. 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 until it is heated through and starts 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 minutes. The creamed spinach should be pretty thick in texture, not watery. If watery, bring to boil again and cook off extra liquid, constantly stirring. Season with salt. Remove from heat.
Remove the baking pan with chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes):
Top each chicken breast with creamed spinach:
Then, top with sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil and chopped into smaller bites):
Next, top with chopped cooked bacon:
Next, top with the broken slices of pepper jack cheese.
Bake in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until the smothered chicken is completely cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear:
These are really some of the best baked chicken breasts I ever made!
Sun-Dried Tomato, Spinach, and Bacon Chicken
Ingredients
Baked Chicken Breasts:
- 1.5 lb chicken (4 small chicken breasts or 2 large chicken breasts sliced horizontally in half)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 0.5 oz Italian Dressing mix packet (half the packet)
Creamed spinach:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 6 oz baby spinach fresh
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- ⅔ cup half and half
- ⅔ cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Other ingredients:
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil, chopped into smaller bites
- 4 slices bacon cooked
- 4 slices Pepper Jack cheese or Monterey cheese with jalapenos
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Butter the bottom of the baking dish. Season chicken breasts from both sides with the Italian salad dressing mix. 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 until it is heated through and starts 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 minutes. The creamed spinach should be pretty thick in texture, not watery. If watery, bring to boil again and cook off extra liquid, constantly stirring. Season with salt. Remove from heat.
Smothered Chicken Breasts:
- Remove the baking pan with chicken breasts from the oven (you baked them for 15-20 minutes). Top each chicken breast with creamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil and chopped into smaller bites), chopped cooked bacon, and broken slices of pepper jack cheese. Bake in the oven, uncovered for 15-20 more minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
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.
I don't prefer the cheeses on the list. I did Swiss. Not excellent. I'll do provolone next time. Other then that it was amaze balls. It's on the list. Thank you.
You're very welcome! I am glad you liked this dish!
Are the calories 766 per chicken breast or for entire dish? It was delicious
That's the calories per serving, per one chicken breast.
Just made this it was amazing!!!
Thank you so much! 🙂
Would it be good adding mushrooms to this ?
Yes, mushrooms will be a great addition to this recipe! If you like mushrooms on top of chicken, here is the recipe you might want to look at: https://juliasalbum.com/smothered-chicken-with-creamed-spinach-bacon-mushrooms/
I made this chicken tonight and it was delicious! I didn’t have half & half so I just used 1% milk and I substituted a little olive oil instead of butter in the pan that I bake the chicken in. I will definitely be making this again. IMG_4303.JPG
Thank you, Carol! So glad you liked it!
Recommended sides?? Rice? Roasted potatoes?
Planning on making tomorrow for dinner party with friends. What side do you serve with this? Rice? Potatoes?
Can't wait to try this. Maybe consider including nutritional information like Calories, sat. fat, sugars and protein like they do for weight watchers smart points program.
Instead of going through the steps of making the creamed spinach, can we just use frozen creamed spinach (defrosted) instead?
You can absolutely use store-bought spinach - it will work great too!
Hi can you cook this in a crockpot?
I don't think it will work, it might fall apart and look quite different in the end than what you see on the photos here.
Hi Julia
This recipe looks great, could you please tell me what 'half and half' is?
I'm in Australia and I've not heard this term used before.
Thanks
Making this right now... But the creamed spinach is NOT working. It stays watery and clumpy... Almost looks like cottage cheese now... Very irritating...
The creamed spinach is delicious on it's own! Can't wait for the entire meal to finish baking.
I have to agree with you - I thought that creamed spinach was a great dish all on its now! 🙂
Hi, I was just wondering if you know the calorie and fat content for your Chicken with spinach, bacon, sun dried tomato cheese recipe? I made it and LOVED it!
Thank you, Rebecca! So glad you liked it! I don't have this capability on my site yet to provide the calorie count but there are free online tools like this one that will give you the calorie info: https://www.caloriecount.com/
I added up 461 calories, 46g protein for 1 thin sliced breast. I will say this is only a rough count if you followed the recipe exactly. I followed the concept but made adjustments (italian seasoning instead of dressing, different blends of cheese - low fat mozz, provolone, asiago, parmesan, and romano, plus a 6 cheese blend that IDK what is all in it lol). That being said, it's a good starting point. Otherwise you can always add everything in the whole recipe up and divide by servings, which is what I did but with my specific version.
Great recipe! My hubby and I loved it!
Thank you! 🙂