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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.
Amazing!!! Husband was weary when he heard spinach, he ate everything. He said best chicken he has had in forever! Restaurant quality! My ten year old loved it too! The creamed spinach is everything!!
So happy to hear this! Your comment made my day! 🙂
This was delicious! Thanks for the inspiration for a weeknight dinner change-up. We'll be making this again.
Thank you! I am so glad you liked this recipe! 🙂
This recipe look and sounds delicious but what is half and half?
Light cream. Not whipping cream, but cream sold in a carton that is a lighter version of heavy cream. Often used in coffee.
If you don't have half-and-half, you can use this substitution: Instead of 1 cup of half-and-half use 1/2 cup of milk + 1/2 cup of heavy cream.
If you don't have half-and-half, here is a substitute: To make 1 cup of half-and-half combine 1/2 cup of heavy cream + 1/2 cup of milk.
Loved this recipe the chicken was tender and full of flavor
Made it twice so far...
SOOOOOOO YUMMY!!!!! I added broccoli. I figure any time you can add additional veggies, it’s a good thing!
So happy you enjoyed this recipe! Adding broccoli sounds delicious!
Love it
Thanks!
I'd like to make this for a ladies luncheon in October. How far in advance, and what steps, would you make this? There are 16 of us, so I would have to make X 4 times your recipe, and don't want to cook much when all are here. Thanks.
I think this recipe is an excellent choice for making it in advance. I would make it one day in advance, refrigerate it in an air-tight container. Then reheat it in the oven the next day when you are ready to serve.
What’s a good side dish for this recipe?
Rice, cauliflower rice, roasted vegetables, or angel hair pasta.
Can I use pork chops instead of chicken??
I think it's a great idea!
This is so delicious and easy I have made this more than any other chicken recipe my family can't get enough of it.Thank you. I also use a lot of your recipes you are one amazing cook.
Thank you for such a wonderful comment! Glad you've been enjoying the recipes!
I don't usually cook spinach I really don't like it at all lol, but the pics looked so good I had to try!!!! Turned Out amazing!!!! The whole family loved it! Easy to make, great directions, awesome all the way around, if you are like me and don't try new stuff very often, I honestly advise this as something to try!!
Thank you for such a nice comment! It made my day! I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe.
What side dish are good with this? Or just leave it like it is?I'm cooking this tonight. At my local grocery store they didn't have italian dry mix. What else can I use?
Serve this with rice, roasted asparagus. Flavored rice would be great. Or angle hair pasta tossed in olive oil and garlic.
I JUST made this and it is the best dinner we've had in a long time! So so so so good! Thanks for sharing a great new dinner that will definitely be in rotation at our house!
Katie, I am so happy to hear that! Comments like yours make my day. Thank you!
Super delicious recipe. I actually made with thin chicken breasts and it was sooo good. This is a keeper.
Thank you, Kate! I am glad you liked this recipe! 🙂
Loved the recipe (: amazing
Thank you so much! 🙂