A one dish Spinach Artichoke Chicken bake with sour cream sauce and crusty Parmesan. 3 minutes prep, 15-18 minutes baking time and dinner is served!
I’ve been wanting to create a dish with these amazing three ingredients forEVER now. I tested a couple of recipes and frankly none was perfect so I never posted. It wasn’t until I got the perfect order and oven temperature right that it turned out amazing.
For the first test I put the chicken breasts at the bottom and sprinkled with artichoke and spinach and Parmesan but the spinach instead of cooking and wilting and becoming soft, just became crips and burnt. #failnumberone
The second time I tested it, I did it in the same order but with less heat. The spinach didn’t burn, but the Parmesan didn’t crisp up either and the artichoke tastes a bit funny. #failnumbertwo
How to make Spinach Artichoke Chicken
The third time I got it right. See how long it can take a food blogger to create a recipe? *sigh* The trick is, you have to add a little flavor boost at the bottom such as butter or sour cream or creme fraiche, THEN add spinach and artichoke, THEN chicken breasts, a bit of oil, salt, pepper and lastly Parmesan. It’s important to bake it all for a short amount of time on high heat to both, get the chicken to be soft and juicy and not release too much liquid AND the Parmesan to crips up without burning. #winwinwin
It’s super easy to make Spinach Artichoke Chicken in one dish in the oven as you see. You just need to know in which order to layer the ingredients and at what temperature to bake it for how long. I solved the puzzle for you. No need to test anymore, you are very welcome :)
Which Artichokes to choose for Spinach Artichoke Chicken
To keep it simple and stress-free, choose marinated artichokes. That way you don’t need to cook and peel and cut artichokes. Besides, they will already taste amazing due to it’s marinade. As always make sure to read the ingredient label and make sure all ingredients can be eaten individually. I also recommend to choose the ones in glass jars over the ones sold in cans. 9 times out of 10 they will be better quality and have less funky ingredients. I love to choose the ones that are labelled in Italian. They seem to be the artichoke hearts with the cleanest marinade ingredients. Artichokes in Italian is “carciofi” by the way.
How long to bake Spinach Artichoke Chicken and at what temperature
It seems like the magic number is 450 F. At 450 F you can bake chicken very quickly and you can get Parmesan to melt and crisp. The exact time will depend on how thick your chicken breasts are. It will probably be anywhere between 15 and 18 minutes. Mine were about 9 oz (250g) and took 15 minutes plus 2 minutes under the broiler for extra crisp Parmesan.
If you want to make absolutely sure it’s cooked through use a meat thermometer. Remember to pull out the chicken at about 10 degrees less than your desired internal temperature as the meat will continue cooking out of the heat source for a little more.
What to serve Spinach Artichoke Chicken with
You can simply eat it like this. Maybe add more artichokes and more spinach and have that as a “side”. OR make some salad as a side or some herb roasted potatoes.
The potatoes are roasted at almost the same temperature as the chicken, just reduce the roasting time in the original recipe by about 2 minutes to compensate the 25 degree higher oven temperature, add the potatoes 15 minutes earlier, add the chicken and both are ready at the same time.
Otherwise a summer salad with orange basil dressing will sure taste divine with the Spinach Artichoke Chicken and takes about as long to prepare as the chicken is in the oven. Perfect timing is key for a perfect dinner!
Spinach Artichoke Chicken Video
Spinach Artichoke Chicken
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
- 1 cup marinated artichokes
- 1 packed cup baby spinach
- 3 chicken breasts - (skinless, boneless)
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- sea salt
- Pepper
- 1 hand full parsley leaves - (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Spread about 1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream on the bottom of your oven proof baking dish then sprinkle some sea salt and pepper over it.
- Remove the leaves of the marinated artichokes and spread the leaves in one thick layer over the creme fraiche.
- Add baby spinach leaves in another thick layer.
- Add chicken breasts on top of baby spinach, then sprinkle some oil over chicken breasts and swish around with your hands to make sure to cover the whole surface.
- Salt and pepper chicken breasts, then sprinkle Parmesan Cheese on top.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes and if you desire, add another 2 minutes under the broiler to crips up the Parmesan. This is optional though. The chicken should already be cooked and the Parmesan tastes great soft as well ;)
- Sprinkle some freshly chopped parsley on top of all and serve hot.
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mel says
Would the timing be the same if I used chicken thighs?
P.s. Thank you so much for your time and effort in providing these recipes.
Lorena says
Hi Mel, if it’s boneless chicken thighs probably yes but bone-in chicken thighs take longer to cook.
Elle says
Is that really long enough for chicken? Did you pound it to thin it first? I prefer not pounded so would I cook longer?
Lorena says
No, I didn’t pound the chicken. I don’t like dry chicken so I only cook it until it’s JUST cooked through. You can always use a meat thermometer to reach desired temperature :)