Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake
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Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Chicken is a must make for dinner! This easy artichoke chicken is the best dinner that’s secretly healthy!
Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake is a healthy chicken casserole recipe, inspired by the our healthy spinach artichoke dip. This cheesy, flavorful, protein-packed meal is easy to make and perfect when you want comfort food that actually tastes good!
This chicken artichoke casserole has a cozy cheese sauce that is secretly healthy. With almost 4 cups of veggies and lean chicken breast, this is a healthier comfort food recipe that you can feel good about!
Tips for the Best Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake
- Drain the artichoke hearts before using them. This will result in a super creamy dish that isn’t watery.
- Be careful adding salt. This recipe is naturally high in sodium due to all the cheese and dairy products. Look for lower salt cheese, and avoid salting the chicken if you need a low sodium recipe!
- Cook the chicken to an internal temp of 165°F. Using an instant-read cooking thermometer is the best way to ensure that the meal is safe to eat. To be sure that there isn’t any pink inside, turn the breasts over often as the casserole is baking. But, avoid overcooking.
Ingredients:
substitutions
Chicken Breast – This recipe will need 1.5 lbs of chicken breast, which is about 3 large chicken breasts. You can use chicken tenders or boneless chicken thighs.
Neufchâtel Cheese – Neufchatel cheese is very similar to cream cheese but with 1/3 lower fat content. Reduced fat cream cheese can also be used, or regular cream cheese.
Greek Yogurt – Fat free Greek yogurt is going to taste less creamy and more like sour cream, so choose whichever suites your tastes. This is high in protein and helps add moisture to the dish.
Cottage Cheese – Cottage cheese is a high protein, low calorie way to add to the creaminess of this recipe. Any percentage of milkfat will work. Do not use non fat cottage cheese because it will separate.
Mozzarella – We use low moisture shredded mozzarella to avoid a watery casserole. You can use fresh mozzarella which will melt better because it generally contains more fat, but it may be more watery. If you have leftover fresh mozzarella try this Caprese Chicken Recipe.
Parmesan – Use freshly shredded parmesan. Avoid shelf stable grated parmesan.
Dried Basil – 2 tbsp of finely chopped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning can be used in place of dried basil.
Spinach – You can use thawed and drained frozen spinach in this recipe instead of fresh. You will need about 8 ounces (roughly 2 cups frozen or 1 rounded cup thawed). If using frozen spinach be sure to squeeze as much moisture from it as possible before mixing it with the cheese.
Artichokes – Canned water-packed artichoke hearts are the best option for this recipe. Marinated artichoke hearts will work, but rinse and pat them dry to prevent adding oil. Make sure to drain the artichokes well. If you love fresh artichokes, try our Crockpot Artichokes.
Low salt – this recipe is naturally high in salt due to all the cheese/dairy. Look for lower salt cheese and omit the salt on the chicken if you need a lower sodium recipe!
How to make Spinach Artichoke Chicken
- Cook chicken for 6-8 minutes turning as needed. Drain the excess liquid from the pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside.
- Mix the Neufchâtel cheese, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, and spices. Chop the artichoke hearts and spinach and mix them into the cheese.
- Mix the chicken in the cheese mixture until well coated. Transfer to a prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Top with remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
- Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
How long does it take to cook chicken breast in the oven?
In this recipe, the chicken is partially cooked before baking at 400° for 20-25 minutes to finish cooking and be safe to eat.
Can I prepare this ahead of time?
You can absolutely make this chicken artichoke bake ahead of time! Follow the recipe up to the point of baking, instead of popping it in the oven simply cover it with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
When you’re ready to bake, remove the dish from the refrigerator while the oven preheats. Remove the plastic and bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes.
Serving suggestions:
This recipe can be enjoyed as a complete meal as-is, but it also pairs really well with these side dishes:
- Salad – Something light and refreshing is a good option, like a Healthy Caesar Salad or Kale Salad with Lemon Dressing
- Vegetables – You can save time by cooking asparagus in the oven right along with the spinach artichoke chicken. Roasted Brussels sprouts with parmesan is another great option.
- Beverage – Serve this meal with a glass of white wine or our fall sangria.
Liz’s Recipe Tips
If you don’t have an 8×8 baking dish, another size baking dish or oven-safe pan can be used. Look for something that can hold a similar volume. A medium-size cast iron skillet is another great option, and you will have less dishes to wash later.
Don’t broil the cheese if you plan on having leftovers. The cheese reheats best if it is just barely melted and not bubbly on top.
For a little kick, add ¼-½ tsp of crushed red pepper flakes to the cheese mixture.
Storage
Storing: Any leftovers will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Just be sure to store them in an airtight container.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this chicken casserole. Dairy products like cheese tend to separate as they thaw out, which can give the dish an odd texture and consistency.
Reheating: You can reheat the leftovers in the microwave on 50% power until they are hot all the way through. Or, reheat in a toaster oven or a regular oven at 350°F.
Other healthy chicken dinner recipes:
Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes or grab our free healthy 30 minute dinners cookbook.
Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 3 large breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 oz Neufchâtel cheese
- ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt I used full fat, but any % will work
- ½ cup small curd cottage cheese I used 2%
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded parmesan
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 14 ounce can artichoke hearts packed in water, not oil – drained well (about 1 ½ cups chopped)
- 2 cups fresh spinach lightly packed (or about 8 ounces of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove moisture)
Topping
- ⅓ cup shredded mozzarella
- 2 tablespoons shredded parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray an 8×8 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Begin by slicing the chicken. Cut each breast lengthwise once and then thinly slice against the grain into about ¼ inch slices and set aside.
- Heat a skillet with 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, place the chicken into the pan and cook until opaque (6-8 minutes) turning the meat as needed.
- Once the chicken is cooked, drain the excess liquid from the pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the softened Neufchâtel cheese, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ½ cup mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan cheese, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried basil, and ½ tsp onion powder. Mix using a rubber spatula until everything is well incorporated.
- Chop the drained artichoke hearts and spinach into small pieces and mix into the bowl with the cheese.
- Add the cooked chicken to the mixing bowl and stir until it is well coated with the cheese mixture.
- Transfer the chicken/cheese mixture to the baking dish and spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Top with 1/3 cup of mozzarella and 2 tbsp of parmesan.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted. If you want the cheese on top to be bubbly, you can broil for 4-5 minutes towards the end of the cook time.
- Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
Video
Delicious! Definitely cooking this dish again!
This was VERY good. I took it on a trip and a friend tried some and immediately asked for the recipe. There is a fair amount of prep work involved but it is worth the effort. As noted, it has a higher sodium count than some dishes so watch for that. Multiple veggies and multiple cheeses make this a very flavorful dish. The protein count gets a good bump with the Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. Now I have a reason to buy that funny named cheese that sits next to the cream cheese in the store.
This is the 2nd of your recipes I’ve tried and I love this one too! Both my husband and I are hooked! I can’t wait to try more. We are trying to eat more clean and balanced and out less often. As one who hates to cook, so far your recipes are fun! Thank you for this site!
One of my favorites! So flavorful & delicious!
Easy to make, easy to follow and pretty healthy! We made a couple minor tweaks with seasoning and opted for tenders instead of breasts. Ultimately we will add to our dinner rotation for sure!!
Absolutely delicious
Will definitely be making again!
Super easy to prep, adding this to our regular rotation. I am eating higher protein, lower carb meals to lower my A1C as I am a type 2 diabetic so I ate mine as is tonight. My 15 year old used corn tortillas to scoop his up. We both absolutely loved this! Tastes just like the spinach artichoke dip we love from a local joint but much healthier for us in the long run!
We made this and LOVED it! It was easy and full of flavor! We had it on top of angel hair pasta and had it with banza pasta the next night. Wil definitly be making again!
So glad you liked it, Alicen! Thank you so much!!
I’ve had this on my “to make” list for awhile and I wish I’d made it sooner. The combo of cheeses and yogurt make it so creamy. I’ll definitely be making it again. Thank you for another great recipe!!
This recipe is SO delicious!! Everyone in the family likes it and requests it often.
Delicious! I riced cauliflower and added that also-
Thank you for such a great recipe!
Made this for supper tonight and it was amazing. I didn’t have any spinach but had kale I wanted to use up. Served it over some farro and a side of broccoli.
This recipe is great-
High in protein and delicious!!
A must try
Beyond delicious!!! This will be a new staple in our home. I used frozen chopped spinach and I cheated by shredding a rotisserie chicken. I also added mushrooms and it was great!
Tried this recipe and with one exception it worked out great. We found the spinach under cooked the first time I made it. The second time I sauteed the spinach down just a little bit (about half the volume) then drained it and then added it to the mix.
Excited to try this. I am bringing an appetizer to a gathering this weekend. I am going to shred the chicken and bring this!