Spinach artichoke chicken (or salmon) – a quick weeknight dinner

This spinach artichoke chicken dinner is one of our favorites. It comes together quickly with a few ingredients from the pantry and the freezer, but is delicious and company-worthy. You can use a store-bought spinach artichoke dip in a pinch but it’s so much better when made from scratch.

Ingredients:

• 1 shallot (or use 1/2 of an onion)
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 14 oz. can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• 10 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
• 2 heaping tbsp cream cheese
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
• salt, pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp butter

For the chicken:

• 2 large chicken breasts, each cut in half horizontally to have 4 thin cutlets.
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar (red wine or balsamic vinegar also works great)
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp each dried oregano, basil, thyme (or use Italian herbs mix)
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Instructions

Chicken:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl or a large ziplock bag and let marinate for 15 – 30 minute (not overnight – it will make the chicken tough).
2. Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and sauté the chicken for 3- 4 minutes on each side (a couple of minutes longer for really thick chicken breasts).*

Spinach Artichoke Sauce:

1. Sauté the shallot and garlic in butter on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes, until soft. Onion is fine if you don’t have shallots.
2. Add a drained can of artichoke hearts (run a knife through them) and spinach.
3. Mix in cream cheese and Parmesan
4. Add salt, garlic powder, onion powder to taste.
5. Mix everything thoroughly until melted and gooey and delicious. Add pasta water if you’d like thinner sauce.
6. Serve over pasta with the chicken.**

Notes:

* Make sure the chicken is not wet when adding it to the skillet. Pat it dry as best as possible.

** Save pasta water to thin the sauce if needed. I use a measuring cup to scoop out the water before draining the pasta.

Other ways to use this spinach artichoke sauce

• As a topping for oven-roasted salmon: season salmon filets with salt, top with 1-2 tablespoons of the spinach artichoke mixture, and bake at 400 F for 13-15 minutes (depending on the thickness of the salmon)
• As a topping for pizza: prepare pizza dough your usual way, brush some olive oil over the top and pre-bake for 5-7 minutes. Top with the spinach artichoke mix and extra mozzarella, bake another 7- 10 minutes, or until the dough is done (I bake mine at 500 F on a cast iron pan, so it bakes very quickly).
• As a dip with crackers or baguette (always a favorite).

I post my recipes as I make them on my Instagram page, I’d love it if  you follow me there.

Here are more  quick and delicious recipes using spinach:

Chicken Spinach Buffalo Wraps

Crock-pot Bean and Spinach Enchilada Casserole

Quiche Florentine (store bought crust makes it quick to prepare)

Mild Chickpea Coconut Curry