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:
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.
WOW!! This chicken recipe is tremendous!! I did add a little extra mozzarella to thicken up the spinach as I used 2% carnation milk in place of heavy cream!! This is a keeper! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Gigi, thank you for your raving review! 🙂 🙂 So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
Do you think this could be adapted to a crock pot?
Thanks. It looks delicious
Carol, I haven't tried it in a slow cooker, but the recipe can probably be adjusted for the crock pot.
Can this be used with chicken thighs?
Katie, you can use this recipe without any changes with skinless boneless chicken thighs.
Whats half and half. Half and half of what ?
Linda, half-and-half is half milk, half cream. So 1 cup of half-and-half = 1/2 cup regular milk + 1/2 cup heavy cream (about 36 % fat content).
I just made this amazing recipe! Never in my life did I ever dream I could make something so wonderful. Thank u very much for them and also being so detailed in the recipe it makes it easy for even the most amateur person to follow. (That would be me- haha)
Diane, your comment really made my day! Thank you for this super positive and thoughtful comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂
I have chicken thighs instead of chicken breast, would this substitute work okay?
Nicole, if you use skinless, boneless chicken thighs the cooking times would be very similar to cooking skinless boneless chicken breasts. I would not use bone-in chicken in this recipe.
What is half and half? I live in Australia.
Ruth, half-and-half is half milk, half heavy cream. For example, 1 cup of half-and-half = 1/2 cup of regular milk (about 3% fat content) + 1/2 cup heavy cream (about 36% fat content).
What a delicious treat. We had it without the sun dried tomatoes as I didn’t have any. Will try it with them next time. The whole family loved it.
Bels, thank you for trying the recipe and so glad it was a success (even without the sun-dried tomatoes)! 🙂
I made this tonight and my husband and I both enjoyed it. I made my own dry Italian dressing mix to monitor sugar, salt, preservatives. I also used my secret weapon, low-fat buttermilk instead of half and half. I use it in any savory recipe that calls for heavy cream or half and half, or even milk. I also did turkey bacon as we are watching fat and carbs. Flavors and textures were great. A repeat for sure.
Karla, thank you so much for sharing your secret weapon to reduce the fat content - super helpful to me and other readers. I will have to try low-fat buttermilk sometime too to see how it works in recipes like this.
I’m planning to make this recipe Sunday evening. Any suggested sides? I have a not too picky two year old granddaughter.
Melinda, here are my suggestions:
1) Angel hair pasta to soak up the sauce.
2) Store-bought ravioli.
3) Regular rice or flavored rice.
4) You can also try this cilantro-lime black-bean rice
5) Or, this: parmesan sun-dried tomato and basil rice.
6) Roasted vegetables. Make a side of roasted veggies, such as asparagus, green beans, broccoli, or Brussels sprouts.
7) For low calorie option, try cauliflower "rice" or cauliflower mashed "potatoes".
8) Roasted spaghetti squash with the flesh scooped out.
9) Spiraled zucchini "noodles".
This sounds delicious but Haven't made it due to the very high level of saturated fat and sodium. Any ideas of how to tweak the recipe to lower the daily percentage value of the fat and sodium?
Linda, here are some ideas on how to reduce the amount of saturated fat in this recipe:
1) Skip making creamed spinach. Instead, just cook fresh spinach in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until wilted (or use frozen (thawed) spinach).
2) Skip the bacon (many people who've made this recipe said bacon can be skipped as it doesn't add THAT MUCH flavor).
3) So, with these 2 changes in mind, you will only be using 4 slices of Pepper Jack cheese or Monterey cheese to top each chicken breast and skip all the cream and mozzarella cheese. And skip the bacon.
These changes should somewhat lower the amount of saturated fat and sodium.
This sounds delicious but I haven't made it due to the high level of saturated fat and sodium. Any suggestions as to how to tweak the recipe to lower the the daily percentage values?
Linda, here are some ideas on how to reduce the amount of saturated fat in this recipe:
1) Skip making creamed spinach. Instead, just cook fresh spinach in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until wilted (or use frozen (thawed) spinach).
2) Skip the bacon (many people who've made this recipe said bacon can be skipped as it doesn't add THAT MUCH flavor).
3) So, with these 2 changes in mind, you will only be using 4 slices of Pepper Jack cheese or Monterey cheese to top each chicken breast and skip all the cream and mozzarella cheese. And skip the bacon.
These changes should somewhat lower the amount of saturated fat and sodium.
I plan on making this for guests because it sounds amazing. I was wondering if it could be put together a day ahead and then finish cooking the next day. How long would you recommend cooking it cold from the fridge?
just tried this on the family , went down well tasted delicious ,very tender , this one is going on the rotation.
I am so happy you enjoyed this recipe and that it's going into your rotation! 🙂
Quick question..do you cover the chicken with foil when baking it both times?
Jocy, no, I baked this uncovered at all times.
This was perfect! Very easy! My hubby stated that this was my best chicken breast recipe ever!
Ericka, your comment made my day! Thank you for taking the time to share it!
This has been a total hit with family and guests. I served it with cauliflower rice and a spring greens salad.
Annette, I am so happy everyone liked it! Love that you served it with cauliflower rice!
This dish was so easy to make and my family absolutely loved it! It’s perfect for Keto. I will make this again.
Jen
Made this today for dinner and it was wonderful. All of the ingredients come together to create a tasty and very delicious baked chicken dish. A little time consuming but oh so well worth it.
It's a keeper! Will make again!
Thanks Julia,
Quincella, you are so welcome! Thank you for taking the time to share such a wonderful and positive comment - I really appreciate it!
Jen, I am very happy your family loved this recipe. And thank you for the 5-star rating! 🙂