Chicken and Spinach in Creamy Paprika Sauce is a hearty, but easy chicken recipe that the whole family will love! It’s amazing in flavor because of dry white wine and sauteed garlic.
I also love the delicious paprika sauce! It is so creamy and buttery, with just a mild tang from the fresh lemon juice. You can make this chicken and spinach recipe on a weeknight right on your stove top!
Easy chicken recipe
I like to use thin chicken breasts in this easy chicken recipe. Or, if my chicken is too thick, I usually halve them horizontally. I love working with thin chicken fillets. And I made a number of thin chicken breasts recipes, such as this Low Carb Chicken. Try it too!
Make sure to season your chicken very generously. I always use sea salt, pepper and paprika as my spices. Then I sauté my chicken with butter until golden brown. So simple!
Paprika flavored creamy sauce
This version of paprika flavored creamy sauce is my absolute favorite, I have been making it for a couple of years now. Maybe more. I love that it’s a colorful sauce but it’s also really filling, and welcoming on a cold day. My creamy sauce for chicken is incredibly simple to make using heavy cream, wine and stock. I also sautéed garlic and added juice of a fresh lemon and of course paprika. The great thing about this sauce is that you can also use any kind of vegetables, such as spinach if that’s what you have on hand!
I use flour to thicken the sauce a bit, but it can be omitted if you are gluten free. Chicken and spinach go very well together with the paprika flavor here. I love it!
What wine do you use in this paprika chicken recipe?
When I made paprika chicken, I used Pino Grigio. It’s a pretty good wine. However, any dry white wine that you like can be used. When we talk good wines, I also think about Chardonnay or Riesling. All these are great choices. They will produce an excellent flavor for the chicken sauce.
When cooking with wine, you should never use “cooking wine”. Cooking wine is loaded with sodium and is not tasty at all. But cooking with a regular drinking wine will always give you a better tasting dish.
What can I substitute for wine
- White Wine Vinegar. This is an ideal substitute for dry white wine. Made from white wine, it has many of the same flavor characteristics, minus the alcohol. Use ¼ cup vinegar + ¼ cup chicken stock to substitute for wine. This is my favorite substitute!
- Rice Vinegar works too in the same proportion as White Wine Vinegar.
- I do not recommend Apple Cider Vinegar because of its flavor.
- Chicken or vegetable stock. You can substitute stock for white wine entirely if you are sensitive to vinegars.
- Lemon. Because we are already using lemon, adding slightly more would compensate for the loss of flavor from wine. So simple!
What kind of skillet should I use
Make sure to use a good heavy skillet here, such as cast iron. It helps to have a large one too. I used 12 inch Lodge Pro-Logic Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet in this paprika chicken recipe. It’s well designed, has a helper handle and sloped sides. Overall, it’s a very sleek looking for cast iron! With so much room!
I do have other cast iron skillets, but prefer this one due to its size. It’s very large with even more space due to its sloped sides. Besides it never sticks or leaves weird black dots on meat like other cast iron skillets do. And it’s one of my most used kitchen tools!
If you are a lover of easy chicken recipes like we are, be sure to also try Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Pan-Fried Chicken!
Chicken and Spinach in Creamy Paprika Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts, (boneless & skinless)
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika, (for seasoning chicken)
- ¼ teaspoon Salt and Pepper, (each for seasoning chicken)
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
Creamy Paprika Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon flour (sifted)
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup chicken broth, (sodium free)
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, (juice of squeezed lemon)
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
- Cooking Chicken: Season the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika, rubbing it evenly over both sides.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet (I used cast iron skillet) over medium high heat and cook on the first side for about 3 minutes. Flip, and turn the heat down to medium and cook for another three minutes. Remove and set chicken aside on separate plate.
- Making Creamy Sauce: Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the now empty skillet. Add garlic and cook stirring frequently about 2 minutes. Add flour using a sifter until well mixed. Add wine next and cook for 1-2 minutes to allow alcohol to evaporate.
- Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream and lemon juice. Add salt and paprika. Mix well. Simmer for 2 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning (if necessary) at this point.
- Spinach: Add in the spinach and cook for additional 2 minutes until the spinach has wilted.
- Adding Chicken Back: Return the chicken to the skillet and cook covered for 2-3 minutes if your chicken breasts are thin; or for 5-7 minutes, if they are thick.
- Serve immediately.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
You might also like the amazing Chicken Alfredo Pasta.
Jo-Anne says
Loved this! It was easy to make with minimum ingredients. Great flavour. I didn’t have heavy cream so I used half and half. Will definitely make again. Thanks
Olya says
Thank you so much Jo-Anne – I am glad you appreciated the minimum ingredients part!
Louissa says
Fantastic weeknight recipe! My husband and I both loved it! Super quick and easy yet fancy enough for a dinner with company. Thank you so much for sharing!
Olya says
Yes! Happy to read that you both loved it and I love that you think it’s fancy!
'Nita says
Tasty recipe! Like some of the other folks who tried this, I added crushed red pepper and used bone-in and skin-on thighs instead. It took a little longer to cook, but totally worth it!
Olya says
Bone-in and skin-on thighs in creamy spinach sauce are sooo delicious!
Bev says
Made it tonight 29/08/2021 I just tweeted it a bit by adding extra paprika some chilli pepper flakes and button mushrooms mi served it with baby red potatoes roasted in garlic and Parmesan cheese it was lush I will definitely make again. Thank you for posting the recipe
Olya says
Thank you Bev! So glad you made an entire meal out of it!
Cindy says
I have rotisserie chicken I need to use, any way to incorporate it into this recipe? Gave it full rating as it has all the things we love.
Olya says
You can definitely make a sauce and serve it with the chunks of the rotisserie chicken in it!
Renee says
I’ve cooked this recipe now a few times & it’s always a crowd pleaser! Absolutely love it!!
Olya says
Thank you so much, Renee!
Pinky Danani says
Hey can I just use cooking vinegar instead of wine
Olya says
I would use white wine vinegar and just a splash to start with.
Merrie B Albrecht says
Can I use boneless skinless thighs?
Olya says
Yes, absolutely!
Skip says
Just made this for my GF, added mushrooms though. Incredible !!
Olya says
I am sure GF LOVED it!
Renee says
This was incredible and so quick and easy! My boyfriend couldn’t stop raving about it.