A complete supper can be made out of these chicken thighs, extra vegetables, and dry Italian salad dressing, served with crusty bread. Serve with potatoes, rice, pasta, or egg noodles.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon butter
- ½ cup onion, chopped
- 4 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened
- 2 tablespoons chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons creamy basil and ricotta pesto (such as Barilla®)
- 1 tablespoon dry Italian salad dressing mix (such as Good Seasons®)
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 1 cup tomatoes, diced
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs
- 1 pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3 slices mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Melt butter in a skillet and cook onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Combine Neufchatel cheese, chicken broth, pesto, dry Italian salad dressing, garlic powder, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and beat using an electric mixer until well combined. Stir in spinach and sauteed onions. Gently fold in tomatoes and basil. Transfer mixture into a casserole dish.
- Season chicken with salt and pepper and place on top of spinach mixture in the dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, 20 to 30 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
- Remove chicken from casserole dish, top with mozzarella cheese, and microwave until cheese is melted, about 1 minute. Serve chicken topped with spinach mixture.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 389 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 110 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 907 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 25 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I added pepper s, red and yellow for sweetness, and extra onions and garlic. But very good over all.
This is incredibly rich and delicious! I changed very little and the Hubs was blown away! I invoked my inner Chef John and used cayenne vs red pepper and used fresh garlic vs powdered. Just tossed shredded mozzarella cheese on top the last few minutes of baking. Served over pasta, which I think is a must because it is so rich and creamy….will do again! Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this tonight, it was wonderful. Couldn’t find the Creamy basil & ricotta pesto – so I just used 1 Tbls pesto & 1 Tbls ricotta. Also used breasts instead of thighs. Will definitely be adding this to our menu rotation.
Excellent & I made a few additions. Added 1 Tbsp minced garlic to onions while sauteing & sliced mushrooms.
This was excellent. I really wasn’t sure what this would end up tasting like, but I would definitely make this again. This would be considered a “company” meal. I’m not much of a cook – I cook because we need to eat. I used the dried herbs, but can’t imagine how it would taste with the fresh ones. But I followed the recipe pretty much as it is written. Even the hubby liked it and he is very picky. No, he wouldn’t eat the spinach, but he thought it was good overall.
This recipe turned out great. I could not find basil rigotta pesto so I used tomato rigotta pesto.
very tasty. I used kale and beet tops.
Enjoyed the meal. Followed the recipe did not change any ingredients. Put it over wide noodles. It took longer then 30 minutes for the chicken thighs to bake.