Chicken and Spinach in Creamy Parmesan Mushroom Sauce is your perfect comfort food as well as an easy midweek dinner (you can also use leftovers for lunch). Using boneless and skinless chicken thighs guarantees juicy and tender result.
And while you are cooking this tasty creamy chicken and spinach dish – your entire house will smell like a top notch Italian restaurant just like my parmesan chicken pasta – all thanks to garlic and Parmesan. And don’t you just love the smell of garlic being cooked? I used to eat spinach only in spinach salad until I discovered how wonderful it tastes in combination with other ingredients, especially chicken and mushrooms.
Chicken, mushrooms and spinach is the perfect trio here! I initially set out to make chicken spinach pasta, but instead I added adding mushrooms and omitted pasta and this definitely added more texture and flavor here.
It’s also important that all ingredients in this chicken and spinach dish are cut up in small pieces before cooking starts and that includes chicken.
What kind of chicken to use
I used boneless and skinless chicken thighs because they are juicy, full of flavor and don’t dry out like chicken breast. I recommend you do the same.
How to cut boneless chicken thighs
Make sure to use one of your sharpest knives to cut the chicken thighs into thin slices. Cutting the chicken used to be such a chore for me until I discovered that I was using the wrong knife!
How to brown mushrooms
When cooking mushrooms you don’t have to add any extra oil to the pan. When heated, they release moisture fairly quickly and will brown in their own juice. And I just love the transformation of the plain white mushroom into a much darker and yummier version.
How to make it gluten free
To make it wheat free, use cornstarch or rice flour instead of regular flour.
Cornstarch as a substitute: Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour, therefore you will need to use ½ tablespoon cornstarch.
Rice flour as a substitute: If using rice flour, substitute 1:1, namely use exactly 1 tablespoon of rice flour.
What does creamy parmesan mushroom sauce taste like?
I am pretty happy that the sauce for this chicken, mushroom and spinach dish turned out to be not too cheesy, so you don’t have to feel guilty about eating it. It’s rather light – has a little bit of cream, a little bit of milk, very little butter and only half a cup of Parmesan cheese.
Yet it still tastes rich. You can eat this amazing chicken and spinach dish as a main entry or with a side of pasta or rice.
I love chicken mushroom spinach combination – it’s simple, tasty and never fails no matter what!
Our new favorite creamy chicken recipe is Cajun Chicken Pasta dish! It’s ready in less than 30 minutes and is so unbelievably good that I cannot recommend it enough.
Chicken and Spinach in Creamy Parmesan Mushroom Sauce
Ingredients
Chicken and Mushrooms:
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs, (thinly sliced)
- 10 oz mushrooms, (1 package)
- Salt and pepper to taste
Creamy Parmesan Sauce:
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup spinach
Instructions
- Chicken and mushrooms: In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat it over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until browned. Season chicken with salt and pepper right inside the pan. Remove it onto a plate and add the sliced mushrooms in. Add in salt. In about 5 more minutes, your mushrooms should look nice and moist, and dark. Once cooked, remove them from the pan. I put them on the same plate as the cooked chicken strips.
- Sauce: To make the sauce, add butter to the pan, allow it to melt and then cook garlic in it until slightly browned – only for a couple of minutes. Add 1 tablespoon flour (omit flour if you like your sauce to be a little more runny). Slowly add chicken broth, half-and-half and Parmesan cheese. All these will blend in very quickly.
- Add salt slowly and taste the sauce to make sure the salt level is to your liking.
- Spinach: Add spinach to the sauce and allow it to wilt. I added 1 cup of spinach, but you can certainly add more or less depending on your preference.
- Putting it all together: Add the chicken and mushrooms back into the pan and mix in well. Serve warm and garnish it with parsley, if desired.
- Eat as is, or serve along pasta or rice.
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.
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Very good recipe and easy to make. Like others, I increased the amount of spinach, almost filling up the pan, but it wilted down and mixed well with the mushrooms and cheese. Served over brown rice it was a tasty and filling meal.
Increasing amount of spinach seems like the right idea, Kurt.
Great recipe we are adding into our monthly menu rotation! I made it last week and it was such a hit my husband requested it for his birthday dinner tonight! Only changes I made were I did not remove the mushrooms before making the sauce, and I seasoned the chicken with a blackened chicken seasoning I have. Thanks for sharing this!
Happy Birthday to him, Jess! I love that he requested it for his birthday dinner!!!!
Well done! I used the chicken tenders I had on hand, being careful not to dry them out. Browning the mushrooms well is a good idea. Season everything as you go along, of course. I used as much spinach as would fit in my 12 inch skillet and it still disappears… so pile it on. Served with arborio rice (with chicken stock), which sopped up the gravy oh so well. This recipe got moans of happiness from around the table, so print out this recipe and keep it. Well done!
Spinach can be very elusive! Arborio rice is a perfect carb for chicken and disappearing spinach.
How do you sliced the chicken thighs?
Take one thigh and slice it in half?
Or slice it up in little pieces?
Thanks!
I thinly sliced them
This recipe is a definite keeper. I used twice as many mushrooms, then 11 oz of spinach and wilted it before making the sauce. This was an easy recipe for a weeknight dinner but fit for a special occasion. Even my picky eater son loved it.
So happy everyone enjoyed it!
This was nothing short of amazing. I added gnocchi to it and it was a hot. Keeper recipe! Thank you.
Gnocchi are so good at soaking up the sauce! Great idea, Patti!
Thank you for this delicious recipe which I have shared with many. I prepared it as directed with a few changes. I seasoned the chicken lightly with Seasonello prior to cooking, used evaporated milk in place of the half & half plus added 3 cups of spinach.
Everyone asked for seconds asking for your recipe!
Yes!! Sounds like you nailed it with a few changes!