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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.
My husband and I loved this dish. I'm really not a cook but I was able to make this, had to use boneless, skinless thighs so cooked it a little longer. I loved the sun dried tomatoes in it but, like another reviewer, think the bacon could be left out. Its going into our regular dinner rotation. Would this be considered a keto recipe?
Suzie, I am glad you tried this recipe and liked it! This is certainly a low-carb recipe. If you remove sun-dried tomatoes, this dish will become keto-friendly.
I made it by the recipe except for the bacon. It was wonderful! Will definitely make again - may even add bacon next time.
So glad this recipe was enjoyed! And, thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
Hello. Making this recipe tonight but can I ask What is Half and half? Am I missing something here. ? Looking forward to making it as chicken is so versatile and you can never have enough chicken recipe’s.
Alva, half-and-half is a US milk product that is half milk, half heavy cream. For example, 1 cup of half-and-half is 1/2 cup of milk + 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Heavy cream usually has about 36% fat content.
Made this tonight and my all adult family loved it! Only difference I made was added a splash white wine to my cheese sauce because wine makes everything better♀️ It was fantastic!
Jeannie, I am so glad this recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 Thank you so much for your comment - I love reading the feedback from people who try my recipes! 🙂
I made this dish, it wasn't very complicated. Wasn't sure about bacon since it's not my favorite. The flavors mixed very well, it is one of my favorite chicken dishes now. Thank you for this recipe.
Penny, your comment really made my day! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback and the 5-star rating!
Made this tonight….absolutely wonderful! All the flavors just popped! Thank you!
Lisa, I am so glad you gave this recipe a try and that it was a success! And, thank you for the 5-star review! 🙂
I made this tonight and Yummmm!! It was super good and flavorful!!
Jessica, I am glad the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback - it means a lot! 🙂
I love the recipes but now their are to many ADVERTISING over the whole thing for me to print off !!
I am glad you enjoy the recipes!
This recipe looks wonderful but after making in, I thought the steps could have been streamlined. To me, less could have been more. The sundried tomatoes added wonderful flavor and I don't think the bacon was needed for flavor and together they cancelled each other out.
You can certainly skip bacon - the dish will still be delicious without it!
Made this with boneless and skinless thighs. It was reeeally good! So many recipes I try to make chicken extra special fall flat on flavor and presentation (crack chicken for example) but this recipe delivers it all. The combination of flavors, cheeses, salty bacon , tangy sun dried tomatoes and garlic creamy spinach sauce it a winner! I might have added extra fresh minced garlic when I doubled the recipe, but otherwise I made it as published.
Colleen, your comment made my day! THANK YOU! I am so flattered by your feedback. 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share such a positive and detailed comment - I appreciate it!
I made this tonight, we loved it. Enjoyed all the different flavors!
Thanks for an easy delicious recipe . Can't wait to make it again!
Jamie, thank you for your wonderful comment! 🙂 Glad the recipe was a success and that you will make it again - it's a huge compliment to me as a cook!
Is the calorie count for the entire dish
The calorie count is per 1 serving, and there are 4 servings in this recipe.
Really superb combination of flavors Julia and textures…. Used frozen spinach defrosted and it is perfect just as is!
Becky, thank you for such a generous comment - I appreciate it! Yes, this is a perfect recipe for using defrosted frozen spinach.
I usually prep my food before freezing so my chicken was already marinating in the liquid dressing (2x mini pouch) when it was defrosting, so when I cooked it I kept the dressing as fat. I usually buy dry sundried tomatoes so I dunk them in olive oil and some Italiano when prepping (drained when used). I used 6 spinach nuggets (placed in colander all afternoon, then pushed water with spatula). When I did the sauce, I used unsalted butter and whipping cream (35%). I did 15+15 minutes of cooking and the chicken was moist. I actually forgot to put the Monterey Jack (mild), so I put the whole thing under broil for 2.5 minutes. Served as is. Delicious! For us it makes 2 suppers.
So glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it! Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Absolutely delicious! We served it over angel hair. My husband is making me send the recipe to everyone now.
Wow, Delisa, your comment really made my day! Glad you've enjoyed this recipe - and thank you for taking the time to share this positive feedback!
This was absolutely awesome! Everyone loved it!!!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for the comment and the 5-star review! 🙂
Made this dish tonight and it was delicious. Keeper for me!
I am so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback! 🙂