Family and friends will think you spent hours making these fancy Hasselback chicken breasts with savory Italian seasoning, panko breadcrumbs, spinach, and salty parmesan cheese.
My stepdad used to say I could eat chicken morning, noon, or night, and he wasn't far off the mark. I have a large collection of chicken recipes and have dubbed these Hasselback chicken breasts my all-time favorite.
If you aren't familiar with the food term "Hasselback," I wasn't either and being the food geek that I am, I looked it up. The term was originated by the Hasselback restaurant in Stockholm where they served a Hasselback potato. A thinly sliced potato that when roasted resembles a fan.
As I contemplated my next chicken dish, I decided I could do the same thing with chicken breasts. Of course, I'm not the first to decide to turn Hasselback potatoes into Hasselback chicken breasts. You'll find a more than a few creative versions of this popular dish, so I'm in good company.
It truthfully doesn't get any easier than cutting slits into chicken breasts, tossing spinach with olive oil, lemon, garlic, and Italian seasonings, then stuffing the spinach into the chicken. After a quick roll in panko bread crumbs, the chicken is ready for a roast in the oven.
This is a healthy plate if I ever saw one! Though your family and friends won't care whether these Hasselback chicken breasts are healthy or not because they're completely delicious topped with a shred of parmesan cheese!
I'm going to try this same dish with extra thick pork chops. You could easily swap the spinach for baby kale or chard (don't use baby spinach in this recipe, it wilts too quickly and turns to mush).
I hope you'll give my version of Hasselback chicken breasts a try. I guarantee you'll be a fan, after all, Mr. Mike dubbed these "blog worthy" so it doesn't get better than that!
20 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
50 minTotal Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, 4 thick fillets
- 4 cups spinach, loose packed (not baby spinach)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ½ tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic, large, crushed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ? teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ cup green onion, sliced
- 8 tablespoons parmesan cheese , shaved
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a nonstick skillet with olive oil cooking spray.
- Pat chicken fillets dry and cut slits in each fillet about 1/2" thick leaving the bottom intact.
- Toss spinach with lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil,1/2 tablespoon seasoning blend, and garlic.
- Combine salt, pepper, and panic bread crumbs on a plate.
- Stuff spinach in the slits you made in the chicken, then gently roll in panko mixture.
- Place on the cookie sheet and spray with olive oil cooking spray.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, checking after 20 minutes for doneness. Chicken should no longer be pink when cooked, but if you overcook it will be dry.
- If panko isn't nicely browned, turn the oven to broil. Watch carefully and remove as soon as panko browns to keep chicken from overcooking.
Notes
http://motherrimmy.com/baked-italian-hasselback-chicken-breasts-recipe/ If you're a Pinterest fan, be sure to pin this recipe for the future!