This chicken florentine recipe has a gourmet flavor with minimal prep and uses only one pan.
Chicken breasts and spinach are simmered in a creamy white wine sauce to create a savory and rich dish.
You’ll Love Chicken Florentine Because…
- Chicken florentine is delicious and easy to make.
- It’s a great weeknight meal that’s on the table in about 30 minutes.
- The chicken comes out tender and juicy.
- It’s versatile; feel free to add extra veggies or serve it over pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.
Ingredients for Chicken Florentine
- Chicken Breasts: I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in this recipe; if you’d prefer, you can swap them for boneless skinless chicken thighs.
- Spinach: I use fresh baby spinach in this recipe; it cooks quickly, and the stems are tender. You can substitute with other leafy greens like kale, but they may need extra cooking time.
- Wine: Choose a dry white wine to add great flavor to this sauce. Try sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or use any white wine you’d drink. It can be replaced with chicken broth.
- Cream Cheese: Adds richness and a creamy base to this sauce and helps to thicken it without flour. If preferred, a flavored cream cheese will also work well in this recipe.
- Heavy Cream: The cream adds richness to the sauce. For a lighter option, you can use half and half, but the sauce won’t be quite as thick.
Variations
- Chicken florentine is perfect over heavy kinds of pasta like bucatini, fettuccine, and penne, or for fewer calories, served over zoodles.
- Add chopped sundried tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, or any leftover chopped veggies to the sauce in Step 4.
- For a little extra kick, add some red pepper flakes. You can also add in a pinch of Italian seasoning, thyme, or oregano.
- Serve with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs like parsley or basil if desired.
How to Make Chicken Florentine
- Season and cook chicken (recipe below). Transfer to a plate.
- Saute garlic and deglaze the pan with white wine.
- Add spinach and cook. Mix in cream cheese and cream.
- Return chicken to the pan and cover with sauce. Cook.
Storing and Reheating
Keep leftover chicken Florentine in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat portions in the microwave or the stovetop with a bit of broth to loosen the creamy sauce.
Chicken Florentine Goes Great With…
We love to serve this with a fresh salad, bread, and pasta.
Did you enjoy this Chicken Florentine Recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below.
More Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
Creamy Chicken Florentine
Chicken florentine has a creamy and tangy sauce that pairs well with juicy and tender chicken breasts.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- ¼ cup white wine (or chicken broth)
- 3 cups baby spinach loosely packed
- ½ cup cream cheese
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Heat olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat and add the chicken breasts. Cook the breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through and a light golden brown. Remove the chicken onto a plate.
- In the same pan, add garlic and saute for 1 minute until fragrant. Add white wine to the pan and let it simmer and reduce for a few minutes. Stir the wine around so that any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan come off.
- Add the spinach and cook until wilted while stirring occasionally. This will take about two minutes. Once the spinach has wilted, add cream cheese and heavy cream. Bring this to a gentle simmer, making sure that the cream cheese has completely melted and is mixed well.
- Add the chicken breasts back to the pan, spoon the sauce over and simmer for a minute or two before turning off the heat. Serve hot.
Notes
Leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container. Since this is a cream sauce it will not freeze well.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 546 | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 239mg | Sodium: 979mg | Potassium: 1045mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 3245IU | Vitamin C: 9.6mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This is a keeper! I added sautéed mushrooms and served the chicken breasts over whole wheat penne. We will be having this again, it’s delicious!
Do you think this recipe would be good made in a crock pot on low heat?
I can’t say for sure as I havne’t tried it but both cream cheese and heavy cream do hold up well in the slow cooker. Let us know how it goes!
Made it in the slow cooker with everything but the spinach and then added some Parmesan’s after I shredded the chicken and gave it a good mix. I added the spinach to my husband and I’s bowls after (I didn’t want to spinach to get a weird texture since I knew we’d have leftovers) it was delicious.
Thank you for sharing Alex!
This was really good. I have added it to my favorites!
Easy great meal! It was a hit with entire family
In your notes, you say this is not good to freeze as it is a cream sauce, yet later in comments you tell Janae to try it!! Which is it?
As mentioned I have not tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Often dairy does not freeze well as it tends to separate. I hope this helps Fran and if you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!
This sounds good! I only have frozen spinach, would that work? How much should I add after defrosting and squeezing the water out?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure Susanna, but that should work just fine. I would use about 1/3 of a standard 10 oz package (so about 3-4 ounces of frozen spinach). I hope this helps!
This chicken was delicious. I used onion and chive cream cheese.. This is a keeper!!!!
This is the best, most delicious chicken florententine I’ve ever had in my life! My entire family is in love with it as well. I serve mine over mashed potatoes and they fit perfectly well together. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Lisa
That is great, Lisa! We love when one delicious recipe can bring everyone together!
I love all your recipes. Use them often. Can you please tell me what kind of white wine. Not a wine buff so don’t really know white or red wines for cooking. Would be so helpful to put kind of wine in recipes for us that don’t know wine. Thank you so much and keep the recipes coming.
Hi Donna, we often use whatever we have leftover in our fridge but some good options for this recipe are pinot grigio, sauvignon blanc, or chardonnay. You can also substitute the wine for chicken broth if you prefer. Thank you for the suggestion! We do try to add our wine suggestions or substitutions as we update and create our new recipes since we totally understand, it can be overwhelming if you don’t drink wine often. :)
I’m really excited to try this ASAP. I’ve never made Florentine before. Would sun dried tomatoes be good in this dish? I ended up with some but haven’t cooked with them before. Not sure if it would be good and if so… when to add them. Any advice would be appreciated
I would love sundried tomatoes in this dish Dionne!
This is so easy to make and was so good. It’s definitely on the list as a repeat recipe ❤️
Love your recipes
Why thank you Betty!
Should I use boneless chicken breasts or regular? The recipe does not say. How about chicken thighs as a substitute? Please advise. Thanks!
Hi Henry, we used boneless chicken breasts for this recipe. You can use a chicken thigh just make sure your chicken is fully cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F before serving.
Is this good as a make a head freezer meal?
Janae, I haven’t tried freezing this. I believe it would work, in theory! If you try it please be sure to come back and update us on the results!
I will try this recipe tonight. Has anyone made it with cutting the chicken into smaller pieces before browning?
I haven’t tried it Cleo, but I’m sure that it would work. Let us know if you try it with smaller pieces! Enjoy!
I am VERY picky when it comes to Italian food and this is the first dish I’ve made that not only my boyfriend by I also love! The pan-seared chicken tastes great and the sauce is heavenly. Tasted awesome as lunch the next day too, it made the office smell great and my coworkers jealous, haha. I love this recipe because it’s fast enough for a weeknight meal–I served mine with a side of instant gnocci. A keeper, thank you.
I am so glad you loved it Megan! Gnocchi sounds like a great side for this. I will have to try it!
Wow!!! This dish is AMAZING. Everyone loved it, even the picky littles. Thank you for sharing
I’m so glad your family loved it Jess! :)
The sauce is so good. Easy recipe family enjoyed.
So glad everyone loved it Melissa!
I will stir in some pappardelle.
Delicious addition!
I made the chicken florentine tonite, OM G, so so good, I did add a pasta to it, it was
something you would get at a high end restaurant. Can’t wait for more recipes.
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it so much Marge!!