Creamy Chicken Florentine
Creamy Chicken Florentine is an amazingly flavorful weeknight dinner made in just 30 minutes! Made with mushrooms, spinach, and Parmesan!
Italian food is some of the best food, but I don’t always have time for complex recipes. This Creamy Chicken Florentine is super simple and ready in less than half an hour! If you love this, try my Creamy Skillet Pesto Chicken!
Many Italian dishes require pasta, but not this one! You could definitely serve this with pasta to soak up the delicious florentine sauce or keep it low carb with just the chicken and veggies. This is a great keto dinner if you keep the carbs low in your white wine.
CREAMY CHICKEN FLORENTINE
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What is Chicken Florentine?
Chicken Florentine is super delicious, but what should you expect when you see this main dish on a menu?
Florentine translates to “in the style of Florence.” Historically, this Italian dish is any protein (usually eggs or fish) slathered in a Mornay sauce over a bed of spinach. Spinach has become associated with Florence, so most “florentine” recipes use it. I used Parmesan cheese instead of Gruyére for this sauce, but the flavor stays mostly the same.
Some versions of Chicken Florentine are also sprinkled with cheese and browned in the oven. The mushrooms aren’t required for florentine, but I love the extra flavor and heartiness they bring to the dish.
Chicken Florentine Ingredients
This Chicken Florentine recipe is almost all pantry ingredients!
CHICKEN – I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. They’re the classic preparation, but if you want a cheaper cut of meat chicken thighs would work well too. Be sure to brown the skin until it’s crispy before proceeding with the recipe as directed.
SAUCE – I used whole milk for the sauce, but heavy cream will also work for an even creamier florentine. You’ll want to use a crisp white wine for this Parmesan sauce, like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc.
VEGETABLES – This recipe is traditionally made with spinach and mushrooms for a nice earthy flavor. You can use canned or fresh mushrooms. If you’re using frozen spinach, be sure to thaw and drain any excess liquid before adding it to the sauce.
This is one of those great chicken recipes for meal prep! It will last about 4 days in the refrigerator and a couple of months in freezer-safe containers. Simply reheat in the microwave or in a saucepan for amazing leftovers.
How to Make Chicken Florentine
- First, place a large skillet over medium heat. Then sear the chicken in 1 tablespoon of butter and oil until golden brown on both sides, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken out of the pan and cover it so it stays warm.
- Then, sauté the mushrooms in the same pan with a little salt until tender. Remove the mushrooms from the skillet and wipe the skillet out.
- Once the skillet is cleaned, melt more butter to the pan and cook the garlic for a minute. After that, add the flour and stir, stir, stir!
- After the flour has cooked for a minute, add the white wine. Simmer that until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Now, add the milk until the sauce is even thicker before adding the Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
- Next, add the spinach and cook until just wilted. Then add the mushrooms back to the sauce and give that all a stir.
- Then all you need to do is add the chicken back to the pan and cover everything in cream sauce!
If you wanted to make this recipe with fish, I recommend making the fish last instead of first. You could also bake your fish in the oven for super crispy skin. Then transfer it to the saucepan once the sauce is ready. Cod, salmon, or even shrimp would be a perfect swap here!
What to Serve with Chicken Florentine
This dish is basically a one-pan dinner. What more do you need?
Keep the night light with this Italian Chop Salad. It’s the perfect salad for anyone who loves olives, cured meats, and cheese — the Italian trifecta!
Chicken Florentine can be served with a side of pasta to soak up all the tasty sauce. I prefer pasta salad for a little acidity! Put a twist on your pasta with this Pesto Pasta Salad.
Love hummus? You’ll LOVE this Italian Ceci Bean Salad. This simple chickpea salad is my grandmother’s recipe and so super simple!
End the night with this delicious Tiramisu! There’s no better dessert than coffee-soaked ladyfingers with creamy mascarpone cheese filling.
Other Delicious Italian Dishes
- Italian Sausage and Gnocchi Soup
- Slow Cooker Italian Chicken Dinner
- One-Pan Baked Italian Chicken and Tomatoes
- Instant Pot Tortellini and Italian Sausage Soup
- Crockpot Lemon Chicken with Capers
- More MAIN DISH recipes…
Tools used to make this Creamy Chicken Florentine recipe
Skillet: A great pan with high sides is required for this one-pot dinner.
Garlic Press: You can mince garlic by hand, but I prefer to press mine. It saves time!
Creamy Chicken Florentine
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup button mushrooms sliced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ½ cup dry white wine (pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc)
- 2 cups whole milk (or heavy cream)
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese fresh grated
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil together. Cook chicken for 5 minutes per side until golden brown and no longer pink.
- Remove chicken from pan, transfer to a plate, and cover to keep warm.
- To the same pan, add mushrooms and a pinch of salt and saute until tender. Remove from pan. Wipe out the pan.
- Return skillet to heat. Melt remaining butter and garlic. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute until fragrant. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute to remove the raw flour taste.
- Add wine to the skillet to deglaze and simmer for 3 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.
- Add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens. Add Parmesan cheese. Continue to stir until cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add spinach to the sauce and cook until wilted Add mushrooms back in and stir into sauce.
- Return chicken to pan. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serve warm.
Quick and wonderful! Highly recommend. I added cherry tomatoes because why not.