An epic baked stuffed chicken breast! Slathered in tasty Italian flavours, then stuffed with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and cheese, this chicken breast is juicy and oozing with flavour. Five minutes is all it takes to prepare this with no marinating time required.
This is one of those recipes that’s so easy and versatile, you don’t even need a recipe for it. The variation possibilities are endless in case you don’t have the exact ingredients called for, and I’ve provided a handful of ideas. So you can make this tonight with whatever you have!
One of the pleasures / tortures of working in the food industry is constantly being surrounded by food. Whether on social media, research, creating and testing recipes, jobs for clients, for my monthly feature in Super Food Ideas magazine, and even when I’m with friends and family, I live and breath (and eat) food for most of my waking hours.
In fact, I see so much food that it takes something seriously good to grab my attention. And when this Sun Dried Tomato, Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Chicken from Yammie’s Noshery came across my radar, I jumped on it straight away.
It was just meant to be. I had everything to make it, and I made it that very night. Well, a variation of it. Because – you know. That’s just what I do. I rarely stick to the script. 😉
This is one of those secret weapon recipes that tastes so ridiculously good and yet you barely need a recipe for it. In fact, these photos are all you need:
The beauty of this baked stuffed chicken breast recipe is that it’s a base that you can adapt to your own taste using whatever ingredients you have. Assuming that you have chicken breast. And cheese. Because….well, you know. The end result just wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have both of those……
So I’ve added a bunch of suggestions in the recipe notes. Basil, ricotta, feta, other pickled / marinated vegetables, frozen spinach, olives, to name a few.
I love making this with sun dried tomato because for a relatively unattractive looking shrivelled up vegetable, it packs a lot of flavour punch which is right up my alley. So I always have a jar lurking in my fridge. Just a bit of sun dried tomato can make anything so much more interesting. Think – omelettes/frittas, pastas, salads.
The one thing I did differently from the original recipe was swapping out the bottled Italian dressing for a simple homemade Italian dressing that is thicker than what I use for salads. It’s more like a thin paste. By making it thicker than usual salad dressings, the flavour sticks to the chicken breast better which eliminates the need for marinating time.
Speed and no advance preparation is what this recipe is all about!
I am quite particular about how I cook with chicken breast. It’s so lean, I find it either has to be marinated, or pounded thin so it cooks quickly and stays nice and juicy. I honestly have no memory of my mother cooking with chicken breast when I was growing up. Asian food is all about “dark meat” which is fattier and has more flavour – thigh fillets, wings, drumsticks. (No feet and other questionable parts for me!)
However, this method of cooking chicken breast works really well to keep it beautifully juicy. It cooks faster than a whole chicken breast even though it is stuffed because the stuffing is not as dense as chicken flesh.
And as it roasts, the juices from the sun dried tomato and cheese bastes the chicken which is already slathered in the Italian dressing, so when you take it out of the oven, you will find plenty of sauce in the skillet to pour over the chicken when you serve it.
I know I’m talking this up as a fast midweek meal, but I swear, I would happily serve this up for company too. It’s one of those crowd pleaser meals, don’t you think?? – Nagi x
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Sun Dried Tomato, Spinach & Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 6oz/180g small chicken breasts (2 pieces), boneless and skinless
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomato (oil packed. Use enough to cover the chicken, cut into strips)
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese (or other melting cheese of choice)
- leaves Handful of spinach
- 2 tsp olive oil
Italian Dressing
- 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp sugar, any
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp EACH Italian mixed herbs and red pepper flakes (Note 1)
- Salt & pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Whisk together the Italian Dressing ingredients in a bowl. It will be thicker than salad dressing.
- Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, taking care not to cut all the way though.
- Coat the chicken (inside and out) with the Italian Dressing.
- Place chicken on work surface. Stuff with sun dried tomato, top with cheese then finish with spinach leaves. Just stuff in as much as you can.
- Seal with toothpicks (just stick them in on the diagonal – see photo in post).
- Heat oil in an ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add chicken and cook for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until golden.
- Transfer to oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly and chicken is cooked through. Rest for 3 minutes before serving, drizzled with the juices in the skillet.
Recipe Notes:
Small 6oz/180g – 15 minutes
Medium 7 oz / 210g – 18 minutes
Large 8oz/250g – 20 minutes 3. Other ideas for stuffing: Spinach (thawed frozen spinach, excess water squeezed out), ricotta, feta, olives, other pickled / marinated vegetables, fresh herbs, bacon (of course). 4. Slightly adapted from this Sun Dried Tomato, Spinach and Cheese Chicken by Yammie’s Noshery. 5. Nutrition is per serving, for a whole 6oz/180g chicken breast per person. If you use chicken breast much larger than this, each chicken breast can serve 2 people.
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe video!
LIFE OF DOZER
Turns out he loves sun dried tomatoes and asparagus as much as his Mama. 😉 (OK OK….he got some chicken too…..)
PS Yes I am using chopsticks feed him. Soooooo Asian, I know…..!!!
HI Nagi!
Had NO idea that you got a fulltime at Superfood – or did I miss read that? Congrats! Have not known though to get the issues I have a couple but that is it. I Tunes are not very helpful anymore as they NO LONGER do support and so on for Apple programs. Making even purchasing rather difficult for most items. I love the idea of stuffing chicken breast but I would have thought it needed to be cooked before the cheese which would melt quickly and would cook ahead of the meat?. Trying new things with Lactose Free dairy but hope to explore more of these xo
Continued luck Nagi.
Regards, Dee
Hi Dee! If you Mozzarella, it actually holds itself pretty well because it is stuffed inside so it doesn’t start melting instantly. 🙂 Also the bake time is shortened by searing the chicken first!
Should the sun dried tomatoes be plain or packed in oil?
Hi Walter! Thanks for the question, I use oil packed because it’s juicier 🙂 I’ve added a note in the recipe!
Gorgeous photos, great recipe, and Dozer being fed with chopsticks made my day!
Well, you know….keeps my fingers clean!!! 😉 N x
Well, you know….keeps my fingers clean!!! 😉 N x
Wow Nagi – I’d seen this on your site and bookmarked it as a ‘must try something with sun dried tomatoes recipe’ – and then just came across it on FoodGawker. Congratulations. Such a ‘tasty’ photo – totally screams ‘cook me – NOW!’
Thank you Kelly! That’s quite a compliment! N x
Oh Nagi- I just have to be irreverent and put a query to my many, many friends with gorgeous pups like Dozer – ‘Hey, does X, Y, Z dig asparagus? What about dried tomatoes??’ I just bet about 99% will be rushing to their fridges, calling on puzzled pups and try these out 🙂 !! Well, I do know two love asparagus . . . Oh, the chicken dish – well, that one was a foregone conclusion for a giant tick before I got past the title!!!
BA HA HA!!! Honestly, you are going to see Dozer consume some MUCH weirder stuff in the years to come!! His latest obsession is kiwi skin. What the….??? 😉
Absolutely stunning!
Thank you Dhanya! N x
Nagi, my husband is allergic to mustard (annoying much!!) do you think this will work without it? Or do yo have a suggested alternative?
Hi Kerryn! Mayo will work – just something to thicken the liquid. 🙂 Otherwise just leave the mustard out, increase both the white wine vinegar & olive oil a bit and let the chicken marinate in the dressing for 1 hr+. That will allow time for the flavour to penetrate into the flesh, making up for the slight loss of flavour from leaving out the mustard. N x
Yum! Looks delish! And I don’t know about a sun dried tomato but my beagle ate a tomato that fell off our plant last year. Lol. Tomato tomoto.
BA HA HA! Dozer could never live on a farm, he would be the size of a HOUSE eating all the fruit & veg!!!
I can’t wait to try this dish. Wondering if I have to use cheese or if there something I can substitute it with. Also… Love your dog.
Hi Sue! Always happy to hear puppy compliments ? Must admit I’ve never made this without cheese, I can’t think of a sub!
I don’t understand why it is so difficult to insert your own recipes into the new recipe area. It should be very easy. Using iPad. Please help
Hi Dianne! Can you explain what you mean? If you want to enter this into the app, just open this recipe in the browser in the app, press Print recipe (so only the recipe comes up) then Save recipe. 🙂 Does that help?
That recipe has my name all over it!! We always have those ingredients in our house. I think wild gypsies took you right at birth and you’re really Italian. You’ve GOT dark hair — and I bet you talk with your hands. 😉 Can’t wait to make the recipe — in fact I’m getting all sorts of ideas for stuffing. Dozer is so adorable.
I DO tend to gesture a lot when I speak…… And I do like to think I’ve got a strain of Italian blood in me!!! And I’m sure you can do even BETTER than this with stuffing ideas! N x
Excuse me commenting but….if she talks with her hands she’ll tell you it’s small talk!
BA HA HA!!! OMG I literally burst out into laughter when I read this!!!! Ann, you are just too too funny!!!!!
Did he REALLY eat that sun dried tomato? Seems a bit too healthy for him 🙂
These look lush as alway doll! I love LOVE sundried tomatoes!!! It makes everything seem fancier and more relish doesn’t it!!!
Sun dried tomato is like bacon – just makes EVERYTHING BETTER!!! 😉 N x
Oh how wonderfully this will fit into my low carbness!! 🙂 I know it’s a flaw, but I stopped enjoying sun dried tomatoes years ago. As in, I haven’t tasted one in a decade. I may buy a small jar and give them a try though because they do seem like a natural in this recipe. Or..I may vary the recipe and use some roasted Hatch chilies that I have in my freezer. If I do, I’ll switch up the spices to a more southwestern profile with lime in the luscious sounding dressing.
Oooh YES!!! CARB FREE DINNER!!! I do hope you try this with sun dried tomatoes Susan. It’s SO GOOD!!! (And a flashback to the 80’s!)
Omg…I love this. I’m hooked on sun dried tomatoes all over again. I made a pocket, but by your photos, it looks more like you sliced yours open leaving it attached. It looks like you were able to put more stuffing in. I browned off two of them and only baked one, so I’ll have the second one tonight. Can’t wait.
YESSSSSSS!! I am so glad you’re back on the Sun Dried Tomato Train! 😉 N x
Buying the sun dried tomatoes today. I think a decade break is long enough. 🙂 I have a bunch of spinach I need to use, but I think basil would be awesome too and the basil in my garden is starting to flourish, so next time. Can’t wait for dinner tonight!!
Bring back the 80’s Susan!!! I’m on a mission to make sun dried tomatoes trendy again…. 😉 Hope you enjoy this! N x
Yum, yum that is something I used to make a version of often. We’ve been more vegetarian, gluten free lately, other than Sunday night cheat night. Indian food and naan bread. Seeing this, I do miss my stuffed chicken breasts, and…I can believe Dozer likes the sundried tomato’s. Our dogs eat anything we offer, but no chopsticks:-(
Oooh. You’ve just given me a hankering for Indian…..
Hi Nagi! You know you got me hooked on sun dried tomatoes, I always have a jar on hand! This will soon be on our dinner plates. I just bought mozzarella and I have a ton of basil in my herb garden so I think I’ll sub that in for the spinach. I so agree that this would be a perfect dish to serve company! Dozer has such a tough life… 🙂
If you could see him now….he is curled up on the sofa next to me, snuggling under a furry blanket…..
Nope – I’m not convinced Dozer actually ate that sundried tomato, Nagi. He’s having a good sniff at it in the first photo, but he doesn’t look very sure to me 😉
Stuffed chicken breasts are perfect ‘easy things to impress people with’ and I love the way you’ve done yours – you’ve managed to make them look easier then ever. Love your filling choices, too – I agree that it needs cheese, but then everything else is optional/adaptable!
He did, he did! Along with kiwi peel! 😉