Cheesy Spinach Mushroom Chicken Bake is an all-time favorite of our low carb chicken recipes. It is a super yummy and easy dinner recipe that is kid friendly, yes even with the mushrooms. Just don’t tell them it is good for them! Even though it is a healthy chicken recipe, you won’t believe how simple the ingredients are….
Earlier this week, I was preparing a favorite salad recipe, Strawberry Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken. The salad portion was all prepped and had the chicken on the grill. At the same time, I was also trying to get the kids in their swimsuits and sun screened so we could hit the pool. I got everyone ready and we jumped in the van, completely forgetting about the chicken on the grill. We returned home 2 hours later. Luckily, the grill ran out of gas or these charcoal chicken briquets would have ignited and I would have had another fire disaster on my hands.
After the grilled chicken disaster, everyone was a bit hesitant when I pulled more chicken out of the freezer the next day, but the result was a landmark recipe in the Jones household. Oh my was this cheesy spinach and mushroom chicken was delicious. My 13 year old son turned up his nose when he saw it come out of the oven but immediately admitted how amazing it was once he tasted it. This easy chicken recipe is on repeat at the Jones house from now on.
PrintCheesy Spinach Mushroom Chicken Bake
This low carb chicken dinner recipe is just dang amazing! So flavorful and satisfying even though it is healthy.
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced
Mushrooms:
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 2 Tb butter
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 C water mixed with 1 Tb white wine vinegar (or 1/2 C white wine)
- salt and pepper to taste
Spinach:
- 10 – 12 ounce bag of spinach leaves
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 C shredded parmesan cheese
- 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 Tb oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9×13 casserole with nonstick spray. Generously season the chicken with salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder. Place in the casserole, skin side down and bake for 16 minutes.
- While the bakes, prepare the mushrooms and spinach. In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter then add the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are browned all over. Don’t add the salt before they brown, or they won’t brown at all! Add the garlic once the mushrooms are browned and cook for 1 minute, then deglaze the pan with the water/vinegar mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste then allow it to reduce until most, but not all of the liquid is gone. Remove mixture from the pan into a bowl and set aside until the spinach is finished.
- Using the same skillet, add the oil and onion over medium high heat for 3 minutes. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute then add the spinach in batches. It will shrink down as it cooks. Once all the spinach has been added and cooked down, stir in the cream cheese, parmesan, salt and pepper until they melt and mix together. Add in the set aside mushrooms and stir.
- Remove chicken from the oven and flip over so the skin side is now up. Slather on the spinach/mushroom mixture evenly over the top of the chicken. Lay the sliced mozzarella cheese evenly over the top and return to the oven for 12-14 minutes more or until the chicken is cooked through.
I would totally do this and have for the most part. I would not add cream cheese to this.. It does not need the extra calories maybe a little bit of lemon. I have substituted red wine in place of white only because I’d don’t have white. This is a very good dish!
I agree, no cream cheese for me
See? This is why we are friends. I fantasize about food–and you supply new fantasies. 🙂
If we are using boneless, skinless chicken, why does your recipe say there is a skin side?
my sentiments EXACTLY!!!
Great question! It means the side where the skin used to be. The smooth side of the chicken breast.
Thank you so delicious and not very hard at all!
I made this tonight minus the cream cheese (didn’t have it on hand) and it was immediately added to the rotation. Picky fiancée loved it. Thanks!
What would be a complimentary side dish to this?
Whitney- how about some rice? This makes a nice sauce in the pan and you can drizzle the the rice with some sauce. Or a simple salad or steamed fresh green beans would also be wonderful!
Sooo…I like to make a new recipe every day, and googled the things I have on hand. This recipe came up and I AM SO GLAD IT DID! This was a-fricking-mazing!! SOOOOO good! Very flavorful and super fun to make, thanks for posting this so Google could find it for me. YUM!
So glad you loved it Denise! I make this about once a month and it is one of my favorites!
Can this be made without mushrooms? Not a mushroom fan but love spinach!
Teaya- I have to be honest and say no. Mushrooms add the depth of flavor for this dish that will not be found without them. I still think you should try this amazing dish. Chop the mushrooms small and just try it! I used to despise mushrooms myself 🙂
Made this for my boyfriend tonight, he’s picky and avoids vegetables like the plague. He asked that we have this not just again, but in the next few days! Great recipe, thanks 🙂
Thanks Michelle. I love to hear this type of comment! I always tell people to try things you think you don’t like every so often. You may find that you’ve just never had the thing you hate prepared well 🙂 -Carole
Just found you via Pinterest. My husband is Jewish and it is hard to find tasty chicken breast (his preferred part of the chicken) recipes that don’t include bacon. Look forward to trying your recipes.
My husband LOVED THIS!!!!!
Definitely took some time, effort, & love- but was worth it.
So glad he loved it! There are quite a few steps but it is so worth it! – Carole
can you use frozen spinach in place of fresh spinach in this recipe?
You could Ashley, but I would suggest using the fresh instead. As it wilts, the water it gives off adds to the sauce and flavor. -Carole
This is under low carb but I don’t see any nutritional information. I made this tonight and have to say it is very delicious. I just hope that my blood sugar doesn’t spike.
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Christina! There are many great websites out there that can help you determine the nutritional information you are looking for
I am really just concerned with the Carb count as I am diabetic. Did I misread that this was a low carb recipe?
It is low carb!
I cook for myself and like to make easy to freeze recipes that warm up well. Will this freeze and reheat nicely?
Thanks
Ginny
Ginny- this will freeze wonderfully
Thanks for the inspiration Carol and everyone. I also searched the web for spinach and cream cheese. I was about to throw out the spinach but I salvaged most of it. I made a sauce of onion, mushroom, garlic, spinach and cream cheese. I used organic vegetable broth instead of wine. No chicken yet, but divided the sauce for freezing and will use when I grill chicken, shrimp, scallops and more. This is also a great low carb fix to making a great tasty meal.
Here’s my tip: I often make batches of alfredo, hollandaise, mushroom steak sauce, pizza sauce, etc. and then I divide in ice cube trays and freeze. I then bag the cubes and use as needed for small individual meals later. For example, when I grill some asparagus, I take out a cube of hollandais and throw it in when finishing. Yummy! And I don’t waste a thing.
Glad I found you!
Kat
Kat- thanks so much for your wonderful comment and tips! I love when my readers share their knowledge with each other
This was really yummy! We used the soft cheese that is marketed as a cream cheese substitute with way less fat. Can’t ever remember the name. the chicken was great and very tasty! I am pregnant and lots of spinach is a slam dunk!! Thanks for the recipe!
Sarah- I’m so glad you loved it as much as we do! Good luck with the pregnancy
An amazing dish. My family loved it. I served mine with some mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli and it was a hit. Thanks for an amazing recipe’
Sean-Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know how it turned out for you
I used plain fat- free yogurt in place of the cream cheese to get the creamy effect!
That is a great idea Chantal! Thanks for coming back and sharing.
My husband and I are on a low carb diet and I was searching for new meal ideas, this recipe was very easy to follow and the chicken was delicious. My husband loved it, he says he wants this even when he’s not on diet. Love, love this recipe.
Thank you so much for coming back Marcia and letting me know how you liked it. I hope you find some other yummy low carb dishes here to enjoy as well
I love this recipe. I saw this on Facebook and decided to try it I forgot to put in the sour cream and I had to substitute Italian dressing for a dressing. It turned out wonderfully and it was delicious.
Glad you were able to make it work for you Riley
Im a little confused… so I cook the mushrooms and spinach together then cook more spinach with garlic ? Lol im just a little bit lost.
And does it have to have whit wine vinager.? Or can I use something else?
You can use another vinegar if you wish or even white wine
Elena- you cook the mushrooms first as instructed, take them out of the pan and then use that same pan to cook the spinach as directed. All the spinach won’t fit into the pan at first because it is too big. Once the first batch of spinach wilts down, add more to the same pan until you have all the spinach in there together and wilted down.
Great dish. My whole family enjoyed it. We tweaked it a bit with our favorite seasonings but otherwise we followed the recipe. This made my kids’ top ten list on the first try.
Love it when the kids love it too! Thanks Kerri for coming back to let me know
Thanks for sharing! I made this tonight and it was delicious.
You are very welcome Tonia! Have a look around and find a few more recipes to give a try!
I made this for dinner, without Parmesean (only b/c I didn’t have any) and Oh My Goodness! It might be the best thing I’ve ever cooked! I’m in love!❤️
Woo hoo!!! I adore hearing this type of comment Beth! Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know
Made this using chicken thigh instead of breast, and green onion instead of white. It was delicious and simple to bake. I will definitely be making this again.
Aren’t chicken thighs the best Tisha! Thanks for your great comment -Carole
I found this recipe after searching for a chicken dish that had spinach and mushrooms in it and I made it tonight. Wow, great dish! My husband immediately raved and said it was one of his favorite chicken dishes and to make sure I keep the recipe. My 1 1/2 year old daughter and 5 years old son loved it too! They both kept asking for more mushrooms! I usually avoid altogether or pick mushrooms out but I decided to try one and I actually liked them a lot! Thank you for sharing. I will definitely be making this a lot!
I love hearing comments like this Tiffany! So often our minds are so set against certain ingredients but we don’t know what we are missing out on
This was great! I admit though, I did change some things mainly because I didn’t have the exact ingredients on hand. I used canned mushrooms and frozen spinach. Also swapped the mozzarella cheese for Swiss. We all loved it! I browned the onions, then I added mushrooms and garlic for a few minutes. I then added the thawed, almost but not completely drained spinach. Then I added the cream cheese. I used white wine in place of vinegar as you suggested. The mixture was nice and thick made this way and sat nicely on top of each chicken breast. I served it with rice and my son said it’s a keeper! So even using my shortcuts it was delicious, which means the original recipe HAS to be a good one! 😀
Good for you Sharon for making it work with what you had on hand and I’m so glad you loved it!
Crazy good!!
Thanks Charity! I agree 🙂
I’ve been making this 3 times a week for about a month now. I have yet to get burned out on them and even my kids want them all the time. Thank you for this recipe.
Wow Brandi! I think it is a hit with your family….and I understand why 🙂 -Carole
DELICIOUS!!! I made this yesterday as part of my Mom’s birthday lunch. It came out great and everyone loved it! The only change I personally made, was using a little red cooking wine instead of the water/ white vinegar combo for the mushrooms. Great recipe. Thank you!
Howdy Lauren! This one is an all time favorite of mine so I love that it worked so well for you too
Would this go good with pasta?
Absolutely Mele!
I added tomatos and it was great!
I will try that addition next time Chelsea!
Hi, this sounds amazing but I just imported the recipe to My Fitness Pal. I’m assuming each breast is a serving and I added 6 breast; however, the nutrition facts says it has 73 grams of carbohydrates!! That’s very high for a low carb meal.
That sounds really high Ruth. Double check what you put in to be sure it is correct and if it is still too high, you can simply reduce the amount of both the mozzarella and cream cheeses.
Love it! Will make this again!
So glad Lisa!
tried this last night and it was great. will make again. just gotta say though that the comments from people that say they’ve made it or will make it without a key ingredient like mushrooms, spinach, cream cheese or white wine (because they don’t like something) really aren’t making your recipe. I think its the combination of the individual ingredients that make the dish special. I always follow the recipe the first time I make it and make changes or additions after that. my husband is the cook in our family but Im the one that tries new recipes because I follow them. Im glad I found this pin. THANKS!
Thanks Cheryl and I couldn’t agree more 🙂
Made this for dinner tonight. …it was DELICIOUS!
I’m so glad you loved it Wanda!
Absolutely delicious! I hardly ever make a recipe more than once, so this will be added to my recipe box I bought off of Etsy 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Carrie!
This was the first ‘recipe’ I’ve made in years. I usually grill a chicken breast, make a fresh vegetables and that’s dinner. I’m back on a low carb, low sugar ‘diet’ and wanted to make something good. It took a while to make this, but I enjoyed the process. My boyfriend was astounded by how good this was and so was I. I’m looking forward to trying out your other recipes now. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you came back to start trying out some recipes Cheryl! This is one of my all time favorite low carb recipes and I’m glad you enjoyed it as well.
Could this be made ahead of time and then just warmed up? I would like to make it for company but I’m not very good at cooking while talking with guests. Thanks. Lynn
Hey there Lynn! That would work or you could plan for all the prep work to be done before your company arrives and then put it in the oven when they arrive. Time to visit while it bakes in the oven
This is one of my favorite recipes! I love the combo of cheesy-creamy with mushrooms! Thanks so much for sharing this!
You are very welcome Hali! It is till one of my favorites as well
I have made this several times…it has become one of our favorite dinners! I usually make some angel hair pasta to go with it…the sauce from the spinach/cream cheese/mushroom mixture is wonderful over the pasta. If you’re looking to lighten the calories, use Greek cream cheese (Green Mountain Farms) it has 1/2 the fat content, made with yogurt.
★★★★★
Thank you Jeannie for coming back and sharing your review with my recipe and for your great tips!
Think you could make the spinach combo ahead of time and keep in the fridge until you are ready to start baking?
Hey there Kasey! I think it would, but have never tried it. Let me know how it works for you!
This was very good and not time consuming at all. Yes, I added the cream cheese and it was yummy! I make a lot of chicken, and cooked the chicken 20 minutes for the first bake and 20 minutes for the second bake. Chicken came out perfect and juicy. 4 cloves of garlic is a bit too much for us, so I made the recipe using just 2 cloves. Next time I make this I will increase the amount of spinach and double the mushrooms. Thanks for the recipe! Husband loved it!
★★★★★
I’m glad it was a hit Lisa!