Chicken Florentine Recipe
Chicken Florentine is a creamy and rich Italian-inspired dish featuring golden, pan-seared breasts, served over a bed of spinach. The cutlets and spinach are smothered in a wine cream sauce flavored with garlic, herbs, and gouda cheese.
This dish is guaranteed to have rave reviews at your dinner table tonight! Load up this week’s menu with delicious and hearty entrees! With this Slow Cooker Yankee Pot Roast, Garlic Brown Sugar Lamb Ribs, and Apple Cinnamon Pork Chops, everyone will be asking for seconds.
Easy Chicken Florentine Style Recipe
This Creamy Chicken Florentine at dinner means zero leftovers in my house. My entire family is crazy about this dish! You can never go wrong with that luscious cream sauce over crispy cutlets and garlicky spinach.
The chicken breasts are perfectly seared in a delicious and creamy sauce. The recipe may sound fancy, but it couldn’t be easier. You basically sear the breast cutlets, wilt the spinach, and make a quick cream sauce. It only takes around half an hour from start to finish.
But be ready— this is about to become your most requested dish! I love serving it over some fluffy mashed potatoes. It’s comfort food at its finest!
What is Chicken Florentine?
To cook something Florentine-style means preparing it in the style of Florence, a region in Italy. Spinach is the star of most Florentine dishes, which you’ll notice in this meal.
Also, the traditional version features golden seared breast fillet drenched in a creamy, herby wine sauce with cheese. It is a simple, rich, and creamy dish, with elegant and utterly delicious flavors.
What is in Florentine sauce?
It’s made with sauteed aromatics in combination with the white wine. We add both milk and cream, then stir in gouda. The result? A silky, cheesy, and addicting sauce!
How do you make Chicken Florentine?
- Pan-fry the meat in butter. Use a mallet to tenderize and flatten the breasts. For the coating, mix the herbs, spices, and flour in a bowl. Then, dip the chicken in the coating while the butter heats up in a pan. Fry until both sides are golden. Cover. Reduce heat and continue cooking until the meat registers an internal temperature of 165F.
- Sauté the vegetable. Next, sauté the aromatics in butter and season to taste. Then, add the spinach and sauté until it has wilted down.
- Make the Florentine sauce. Begin by sweating onions in butter, followed with the garlic then the wine. Once it’s reduced, carefully stir in the gouda, cream, and milk. Whisk until smooth and combined.
- Serve. Take a serving of spinach and arrange it on a plate. Drizzle with sauce. Top with the cutlets, spoon more sauce on top and garnish with chopped fresh parsley. Serve hot.
How long do you cook Chicken Florentine?
This recipe takes around 30 minutes to prepare from start to finish, and that already includes the prep time.
The breasts cook quickly because it’s already tenderized and flattened, while it takes minutes to cook the spinach. As for the sauce, once the wine is reduced, it comes together very fast.
Chicken Florentine variations and substitutions:
- Use stock: You can substitute the wine with homemade chicken broth.
- Use other cheeses: Try the Florentine sauce with fresh-grated parmesan cheese, mozzarella, cheese, or even cream cheese. You can basically use any of your favorite cheeses here.
- Add other flavors: Boost the flavor with capers, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, or mushrooms.
- Swap it with other meats: This recipe will also work with thin, boneless pork chops.
- Make it gluten-free: Swap with gluten-free flour.
What to serve with Chicken Florentine?
My family loves enjoying it over a bed of buttery, fluffy mashed potatoes.
That phenomenal sauce is also delicious over white rice, a side of scalloped potatoes, or steamed vegetables.
For a more rustic meal, serve it with fresh-baked dinner rolls or crusty Beer Bread.
How to store it?
This dish freezes beautifully! First, transfer leftover to a tightly-sealed container once it’s completely cool. Then, store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
To freeze, use a freezer-safe dish or container, and freeze it for up to 3 months.
To heat, thaw, and microwave for a few minutes until warm. You can also heat it up on the stove.
More Homemade Chicken Recipes:
- Slow Cooker Bourbon Chicken
- Lemon Chicken Piccata
- Chicken Francese
- Crispy Chicken Parmesan
- BBQ Enchiladas
Recipe Tips:
- Pound the meat flat so it cooks evenly and doesn’t plump up.
- Use any dry white wine that you prefer. I tend to go with a pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc.
- Also, don’t move the cutlets while browning so that it forms a golden crust.
- Always season as you go along.
- I find fresh spinach to have the best texture, but if frozen is all you have, that’s fine too.
- In addition, after you add the wine, scrape up all the brown bits from the pan. Those bits hold a lot of flavors!
- Feel free to make your own Italian seasoning at home.
Chicken Florentine Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon Italian dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/4 white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt.
- 6 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 10 oz spinach
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped
Sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter unsalted
- 1 small onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or half and half
- 2 cups white wine
- 1/2 cup gouda shredded
Instructions
- In a medium shallow bowl, combine flour with paprika, Italian herbs, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Whisk together.
- Tenderize the breasts with a mallet to flatten a bit.
- Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour mixture and tap off any excess.
- Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add 3 tablespoons of butter. Once melted add the chicken breasts and cook until golden brown on each side, about 3-5 minutes per side.
- Cover the chicken and reduce the heat to medium and cook until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F or 75 degrees C. Remove and set aside, cover with foil to keep it warm.
- Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 of the diced onion, 1/2 of the minced garlic, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook and stir frequently until the onion is translucent. Then add the spinach, stir and cook for a few minutes, just until wilted.
Sauce:
- In a saucepan, add the butter and melt it, add the rest of the onion and cook until translucent over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir frequently, cook for 1 minute.
- Add the wine, stir, and cook until reduced.
- Add the milk, cream, stir, and add the gouda. Stir until combined and smooth.
Serve:
- Add a good amount of spinach to a plate, drizzle some sauce on top and add the chicken, spoon more sauce on top of the chicken and garnish with parsley.
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