Take your chicken for a little drive through the undulating hillsides of the Tuscan countryside with this delicious and easy casserole. The perfect travel buddy for any of your stay-at-home mealtime excursions, this Tuscan Chicken Casserole won’t stay in its lane when it comes to flavor. The oven maneuvers its way around the chicken to ensure its left super tender, allowing this well-traveled bird to take the driver’s seat and slowly meander alongside the highway of creamy sun-dried tomato sauce and melted mozzarella, making this an unforgettable voyage. Take a quaint culinary trip with Tuscan Chicken Casserole for your next table-wide gallivant. Sometimes taking a meal through the awakening backroads turns out to be a memorable excursion for both you and your taste buds!
Ingredients
- 6 ounces frozen spinach, thawed, squeezed dry, and chopped
- 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 4 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- salt, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
- black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, grated, divided
- 1 pound chicken breast, boneless and skinless, sliced horizontally
- 1 (8-ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped, reserving 1 tablespoon of the oil
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
Step 1 –Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Step 2 –Coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Step 3 –In a large bowl, add the spinach, the cream cheese, and the heavy cream and beat well with an electric hand mixer.
Step 4 –Add 1/2 of the minced garlic, the salt, the onion powder, the chili powder, the black pepper, and the Italian seasoning to the spinach mixture and beat to combine.
Step 5 –Add the parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese to the spinach mixture and beat to combine.
Step 6 –Place the chicken breasts, laid flat, into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
Step 7 –Season both sides of the chicken breasts with the salt, the black pepper, and the remaining minced garlic.
Step 8 –Evenly spread the spinach mixture on top of the chicken breasts.
Step 9 –Top the spinach mixture with the sun-dried tomatoes and their reserved oil.
Step 10 –Evenly top the casserole with the remaining mozzarella cheese and the parsley.
Step 11 –Cover the chicken casserole loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Step 12 –Uncover the casserole and bake until chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 15 minutes.
Step 13 –Plate and serve immediately.
