Recipe: Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This delicious chicken recipe is bound to add some zesty Mediterranean flavour to your next dinner. You only need some juicy, seasoned chicken breasts, tangy feta cheese, fresh spinach, and a few more ingredients for extra flavou

Creating the perfect spinach and feta stuffed chicken breasts dish is much easier than you might think. Let’s take a look at each element of the recipe and how best to prepare it, starting with the spinach. 

Ingredients 

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 450g baby spinach leaves 
• 170g feta cheese 
• 115g ricotta 
• 32g olive oil 
• 3 garlic cloves 
• 5 spring onions 
• Salt and pepper 

Preparing the Spinach 

Cooking spinach is an easy process, as long as it’s fresh and you prepare it properly beforehand. For this recipe, we prefer to use baby spinach. To start with, thoroughly wash your spinach leaves to remove any excess dirt, then gently pat them down until dry. Inspect each spinach leaf to ensure it is fresh and OK to eat. Older spinach leaves should have their stems trimmed and given a further rinsing before use. Once you begin cooking your spinach leaves, they will start to wilt in the pan. This is fine, as this makes them more aromatic and easier to combine with your feta cheese to make a delicious filling for chicken breasts. 

Preparing the Feta 

While you can use other varieties of cheese for this recipe, we think feta is the best choice because of its texture and salty flavour. You can usually find feta cheese in blocks or individual cubes ready for cooking. If you have a full block of feta cheese, simply slice off as much as you need for your meal. Wash the feta slice under water for a few seconds to remove any brine. With a fork, mash the feta into small pieces, ready to combine with the spinach in your recipe. 

Preparing the Chicken Breasts 

Chicken breasts are the easiest meat to use when making this recipe. However, to ensure this dish turns out perfectly, you need to use chicken breasts that are both boneless and skinless. You can purchase chicken breasts that are already boneless and skinless, which will save you the time and effort of removing the skin and bones. But if not, bone removal is 

best done by cutting into the thickest part of the meat lengthwise. Once the bone is found, cut along either side of the bone to separate it easily from the meat. Peel away any skin or excess fat to ensure your chicken is fully ready. 

Method 

• Preheat your oven to 240°C (220°C fan assisted). 
• Finely chop your spinach leaves and spring onions, and grate the garlic cloves. 
• Add the olive oil to a frying pan and heat it over a stove at medium-high heat. 
• Add the chopped spring onions to the pan and cook for four minutes. 
• Add the chopped spinach and garlic to the pan, and cook for a further minute until the spinach is wilted and fragrant. 
• Once cooked, place the spring onions, spinach and garlic into a bowl. Add the feta pieces and ricotta cheese and mix them all together. 
• Add any extra seasonings to the mixture, such as salt and pepper, chilli, mint or oregano, depending on your preferences. 
• Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. 
• Cut a small opening in each chicken breast and fill the insides evenly with the spinach and feta mixture. 
• Close up the opening of each breast and secure them with toothpicks. 
• Place the chicken breasts on a baking tray and bake them in the oven for around 18 minutes or until fully cooked and golden brown. 
• Remove from the oven and serve with roast vegetables.