Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta
These chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, and wrapped with bacon are a sure-fire way to impress! Makes a beautiful plate!
These chicken breasts stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach, and wrapped with bacon are a sure-fire way to impress! Makes a beautiful plate!
This is delicious, but I put a metal riser sprayed with Pam in the bottom of the pan and the drippings catch underneath so that the chicken is not sittingi in all of the bacon grease.
Read MoreThis is delicious, but I put a metal riser sprayed with Pam in the bottom of the pan and the drippings catch underneath so that the chicken is not sittingi in all of the bacon grease.
This recipe was really good and fairly simple. I wrapped the bacon all the way around the chicken breast (unlike the picture above) and turned them over about 30 minutes into the baking time to cook the bacon evenly on both sides of the chicken. Next time I make this recipe I think I will cook the bacon briefly in a skillet before wrapping the chicken to get a crispier texture. I also had a little bit of the stuffing mix leftover and ate it with crackers as an appetizer and it was delicious!
This is something I make frequently but have switched it over a bit to make simpler. I simply slice a "pocket" in the breast instead of pounding it, and insert brie cheese with course grain mustard and veg. If I'm feeling really lazy I leave out the veg and just have cheese(veg on the side). I have used turkey bacon and it is great. A lot of my work mates make this and we advise each other on new variations. A good basic recipe that you can do a million ways to suit your tastes. Not to mention it impresses company. :)
I decided to cook this dish for 12 people who were all bacon lovers, thankfully, because the amount of bacon that the recipe called for created quite an excess amount of bacon grease that filled half the pan. It does not present that well to serve the chicken in a dish full of grease so I would recommend removing them to a separate dish before serving and perhaps using the "pat dry" method with a paper towel to remove the excess. I also added chopped pine nuts in the olive oil with the garlic to give the creamy filling some crunchy variation which turned out to be great. Overall a tasty dish but a bit heavy. We all know that anything cooked in bacon fat = delicious, but this is not a low calorie meal.
Very tasty, my picky husband loved it! Definitely rich but very good. I didn't have tooth picks so I just took the pieces of bacon and wrapped them entirely around the stuffed chicken and it worked quite well. It was actually a lot easier of a recipe to assemble than I initially thought and I will be making this again!
Great recipe! I did change a few things though. I did not wrap the chicken breasts with bacon or roll the breasts, instead I made a more traditional stuffed chicken breast seasoned with some salt and pepper. For the filling mixture added cooked italian sausage, a little more parmesan cheese and some freshly grated romano cheese to the filling mixture. Everyone loved the filling! Thanks for the recipe!
I combined this recipe with the chicken cordon bleu recipe II from this website. Tore up bacon and put on the inside with spinach and ricotta, dipped outside in flour/paprika mixture, browned in melted butter, and put in oven for 30. Used leftover juices from when I browned, added 1/2 dry white wine, half chicken bullion cube. Let simmer added 1 cup cream mixed with one tablespoon corn starch to make awesome sauce. Served with rice and asparagus, extra sauce on asparagus! Nummy!
Absolutely Fabulous! This recipe is extremely easy to prepare and tastes wonderful! After reading the reviews, I did add onions and some Italian seasonings to the spinach mix.....one word of caution, when I did turn my oven up to 500 degrees to brown the bacon...after about 4 minutes I had some smoke starting to build in the oven......opened a few windows and enjoyed my dinner!
The Best! Excellent. A little work stuffing the chicken, but well worth it. Will definitely make this often.
It was delicious I altered it a bit by putting small pieces of pancetta into the stuffing mixture and instead of wrapping it in bacon I used prociutto, it still has the salty flavor but less fat!!
This recipe was easier than I anticipated. Of course I added fresh sliced mushrooms in the pan with the spinach and garlic. I add mushrooms whenever I can! The chicken came out slighty dry but still good. Looked amazing when plated,too hungry to take a pic.
Made a few changes but hubby was very very happy. I marinated the chicken in low fat italian dressing prior to stuffing it with cheese. I also used Broccoli instead of spinach and it was delicious. I sauteed the broccoli with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil as suggested but added about 4 cloves of minced garlic. I also used Turkey Bacon instead of the regular bacon! This was delicious thanks for sharing your recipe!!!!! :)
Perfect every time! This is a great dish to make, always a hit and for non-bacon eaters use turkey bacon it's just as good!
This was WONDERFUL! I did change it a tiny bit though. Another reviewer suggested adding roasted red peppers (which are a staple in our house!) and bread crumbs (I used Panko), which I did. My husband is already asking when I'll be making this again, and we just finished dinner!!
I sauteed some yellow onion with the spinach. Turned out great! Loved them :)
I made a couple of changes suggested by others. I added fresh sliced mushrooms sauteed in oilive oil and a small bag of slivered almonds for a little crunch, otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. The chicken was a little dry, but the filling made up for that. Easy to make and a delight to the eye and the palate.
I don't think I followed the recipe to an absolute T, but OH MY GOSH these are AMAZING! I got my husband to eat spinach, which is a vegetable, AND GREEN! Happy dance!
Family loved it.. Increased servings to 6 and grilled them...(awesome),however only used half of the spinach ricotta stuffing....but will use the rest for grilled stuffed portabella mushrooms...will def be making again...
Everyone in my family loved this. Another good way to get some greens that they actually enjoy!
so amazing!! great flavors. I didn't have the time to cook it that long in the oven so I created a skillet dish out of it. I browned the bacon, drained out half the fat, browned the chicken. I then added the sgarlic and seasonings and then the spinach until wilted. At the end I added the cheese mixture and heated until warm. Great alternative!!
excellent dinner. I marinaded the chicken before filling. Sooo tasty!
I didn't have the ricotta cheese on hand, so I substituted feta cheese and OMG...so delish!
This recipe is not only easy to make, it is delicious. After reading all the other reviews that it is heavy and greasy from the bacon, I used turkey bacon, which is not very fatty at all. I found that it was lighter than it would have been with regular pork bacon. I also made 2 cutlets with broccoli rather than spinach (my guy doesn't eat spinach) he loved it also!
My 4-yr old is a picky eater, and she loved it! It's simple to prepare, and the taste is out of this world.
Excellent! I substituted ricotta with some cream and cheddar cheeses.
I make this with thawed frozen spinach, squeezed of excess moisture,mushrooms, 2-3 slices of wheat bread, parmesian cheese,onion(or scallions) and spices to taste,in food processor with cut blade, mixing it together. I cut a pocket in a chicken breast, stuff it with mixture and wrap with a half slice of bacon. secured with wooden pick. This seems enough bacon to add flavor without too much fat.I cook as above recipe, and my family loves it!!!
I really liked this recipe. I did make a few changes as suggested. I pan-seared the breasts before baking, although if you do this, you should really stick to about 20 mins. of remaining cooking time. The 1 hour or more makes for drier/well done chicken. I also used the prosciutto instead of bacon. This was good, but it is very lean and does dry up quickly upon baking. To avoid this, I would put prosciutto on the last 5 mins. of cooking time. Next time, I think I'll try turkey bacon. Everything else stays the same and definitely good flavor. I would also suggest some water in the pan surrounding the breasts. Keeps them moist. Thanks for sharing!
LOVE this! The one thing I change is add (hot) italian sausage to the mix, super tasty and easy! Thank you!
So good! I used ricotta cheese and spinach inside with some shredded parmesean cheese, and a slice of provalone and salt and pepper.
This recipe turned out amazing! This was my first time cooking for my boyfriend since he usually does all of the cooking but since it was his birthday I decided to give it a try. He couldn't believe I could make something so good. I followed the recipe almost exactly except I added a little more seasoning and also seasoned the chicken a bit first. Will definitely make it again, the only thing I would change is to cook the bacon some before wrapping the chicken because it didn't quite crisp up. Otherwise, delicious!
Just like all the others I like to find a recipe that has potential and make it my own. So for this one I liked the idea but sounded like it needed some tweaking for my families complete disregard for caloric intake. :) My "stuffing" went like this, sauteed 1/2 onion with 2 cloves of minced garlic in olive oil, once the onions were translucent I tossed in the washed and dried thawed spinach, then set it aside. Next I fried 3 strips of bacon - pulled them out to cool and tossed the spinach mixture in the bacon drippings, crumbled the 3 pieces of bacon and tossed in the mixture and set aside again. Next I added almost half a container of ricotta, and half a brick of cream cheese and about 1/2 cup of parmesean cheese, and 1/2 cup bread crumbs. About a tsp of season salt, and black pepper and called it done on the stuffing. Fried 8 pieces of bacon until the fat was clear and the edges were just starting to crisp, and Pounded out 4 rather large butterflied boneless chicken breasts and spread out 1/4 of the mixture leaving about a 1/2 inch edge around. Rolled it up and then wrapped two pieces of bacon around each one (secured with tooth picks) Placed each portion in a 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled the top of the chicken with season salt. I added about 2 tbs of butter to the baking dish and threw em in the oven at 350 for 35-40 min then turned the broiler on low for about 10 min to finish crisping up the bacon. My guy LOVED them, so thanks for the inspiration!
WOW! What a wonderful dish! My 4 yr. old son enjoyed helping me "pound" out the chicken...which is always key, when he gets to help he's more likely to eat it! He also was my "toothpick holder"... since wrapping the bacon all the way around seemed the way to go! Then just tucked the sides up and in w/ a toothpick. A little bit messy, but well worth it! Beautiful presentation!!! Loved it!
EXCELLENT recipe.Hubby usually has some suggestion on everything I make to improve it. He was speechless about this. Easy prep.
This was absolutely delicious and very easy to make. Will definately make this recipe again!
Hi, I used goats cheese instead of the ricotta, and also made up my own spices, all of which worked fine. it tasted like fine restaurant dining! As for the bacon, it didn't crisp up- don't know what to do about that, but it sure added flavor.
I tried this exactly as written, The chicken was juicy and moist but the mixture of cheese and spinach, not good at all. Next time I will try different cheese's maybe cottage cheese instead of ricotta.
Wonderful! I had a blast making this one. I added red pepper flakes in the cheese stuffing. I also sprinkled sliced garlic on top before baking. Everyone loved this. Will make again and again. I also like that I can premake this, freeze and defrost when I need it.
Excellent....made a few changes including baby potabellas and spicy turkey sausage to the mix. Not sure how they got theirs to roll like a buritto...toothpicks worked great and were easy to remove! I did top with a homemade (spicy!) marinara sauce which really complimented the flavors. PS I do not eat pork-so no bacon-no problem!
this is a good recipe on some levels, but for our tastes, i made a few changes. I left the bacon off. i thought it was too overpowering combined with the flavors of the filling. i added more ricotta and some feta to the filling. tried just stuffing the breasts traditionally and coating in flour and it turned out a lot better. nice recipe as is for bacon lovers, but it was a little rich for us that way!
this was average at best. I followed everything to the letter, except I added a little more minced garlic. The dish took the full hour in the oven, but that wasn't a big deal. I took the pan out part-way through and drained the grease, so there wasn't much in the pan at the end. I made this to use up ricotta and spinach I had, but even with the spices and cheeses it was pretty bland. I wouldn't make it again - for the taste, not worth the time/effort/price.
Excellent! I substituted the ricotta cheese with low fat cottage cheese and one eggads well as 4 slices of turkey bacon for the 2 thick bacon slices per piece. Delicious! Definitely one recipe that will be repeated again in this household.
My friends loved this recipe when I made it for them and heckled me until I gave it up! Perfect as is, my only recommendations would be to add a little more salt & butter in the stuffing and I prefer it wrapped in prosciutto as its a little lighter than bacon.
I don't think I needed as much filling as the recipe called for, but it was tasty. The bacon was a little soggy on the bottom, I think I'll try to BBQ it next time so the bacon stays crispy on both sides.
I made this for a special dinner when my son came home from college, which he hardly ever does, so I wanted something special for him. It was a HUGE hit, we both loved it and he deemed it a keeper! (Even though he winced at the spinach)
Good basic dish, sauteed some chopped bacon first then sauteed onions in drippings and added garlic and spinach. rolled it all up and even the kids ate it but it needed more flavor in my opinion. next time I might cover with some marinara...
Dynamite! My 2-year even ate this and I have a hard time getting him to eat chicken. I didn't wrap in bacon (trying to make it somewhat good for you!) but that didn't matter. It was so yummy. Thank you for a great recipe.
Oh my goodness. This was marvelous. My mother loved this sooooo much. It was very satisfying. The only thing that I would do differnt next time is use slotted pan to put over the other pan so the chicken doesnt sit in the fat and get fatting. This recipe will definatley be put into my recipe rotation.
I gave this 3 stars because it required a lot of tweaking... once I got it right, it was really good though! First of all, the amount of stuffing this makes is plenty for double the amount of meat. You could use 4 whole chicken breasts and there's plenty to go around! Also, two pieces of bacon wrapped around the chicken is overkill. you really can use just one and cut it in half to make two pieces. Also, I would recommend using a little less seasoning. I did about 1 1/2 instead of 2 and it worked out a lot better. After those changes, this tasted great!
Very bland and too much oregano. I would recommend cutting back on the oregano and adding some extra spices to give it a kick. Also I would baste the chicken may be three times while cooking with the juices at the bottom of the pan to give it a nice taste and crisp layer.
This came out one soggy mess! The chicken released far too much juice and when coupled with the cheese, it just wasn't that good. The taste, also, was not that great.
Thank you! Finally a chicken recipe my chicken-hating hubby liked! I did almost all of the tips that inlovewithmysoldier suggested. i did split the chicken, though. I used my rack and tray from my toaster oven to get the bacon more evenly done and turned the broiler on at the end to crisp it up a little. Thanks again!
I loved this recipe! I did change it a little. First I sliced the chicken to make the "book" and then a marinated the already cut chicken in a pepper pesto sauce (3 pepper pesto from this site). Then I followed the rest of the recipe exactly. It came out amazing!
This was really good, but I think that next time I will not use so much garlic in the spinich/cheese mixture! I will be making this again!
THIS WAS AWESOME! VERY FLAVORFUL AND I LOVE BACON SO THIS WAS PERFECT!
This was definitely missing something--it was quite bland. It was also very dry even though it was cooking in a ton of bacon grease. I had to broil both sides for a few minutes to brown the bacon. Maybe a different cheese besides ricotta would add some flavor.
Let me just say that this was my first time preparing a meal such as this. I typically leave the pounding/stuffing recipes to my husband. Despite the fact that it did not look perfect, I was pleased with the taste. Be careful adding salt since the bacon is very salty already. I am glad I gave this recipe a try! I must admit that it looked a little gross coming out of the oven. There was a lot of liquid, but it tasted good so I quickly got over that.
Turned out great. We sauteed onions w/ garlic and EVOO and skipped the spinach because we didn't have any on hand and this was still great! We baked at 400F for 45 min and then broiled at 450F for about 10 minutes. Bacon was crisp, chicken was moist and full of flavor.
Very good and easy! I didn't have any spinach so I omitted that and replaced the ricotta with mozzarella and the Italian seasoning with Italian breadcrumbs. Also bumped the heat up to 400 but had to kick it down to around 375 and it cooked for about 45 minutes. Covered it loosely for the first 30 minutes then took the cover off.
My family loved this chicken! I brought bacon to room temp and stretched it around the chicken to thin it out and create a crispier outside. Was a hit!
Really great!! I did what others did and cooked the bacon ahead of time...made all the difference! Loved it and will use this recipe again!
I made this recipe with one important change - I realized I didn't have ricotta cheese when preparing dinner. I substituted 1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, omitted the Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. It was out of this world. My husband doesn't care for chicken dishes, but he ate it and said to do it again. I loved it and so did my daughter.
Really good! Skipped the bacon wrapping and just stuffed the chicken with the spinach mixture. Added a little olive oil to the baking dish, and squeezed a couple lemons over the top before baking - otherwise followed the recipe. Does take some time to prepared, so not great for weeknights, but well worth the time and effort
Exellent recipe! Very balanced, the bacon is not overpowering at all. One of my new favourites!
OMIGOSH!!! 10 STARS!!! This is absolutely the best chicken recipe I've ever had. Will admit I used boneless/skinless thighs instead of breasts but otherwise followed the recipe exactly! Hubby (who doesn't care for chicken) told me to NOT freeze the leftovers...that he wanted them in a couple of days and that I could make this recipe any time I wanted. I did turn the broiler on for a couple of minutes after cooking was done to crisp up the bacon...this is a recipe that could win blue ribbons in any cooking contest!!! Many thanks, Jenifer, for submitting a FABULOUS recipe!!!
Good recipe, but I made modifications. Used froz spinach, thawed and squeezed to remove water. Used 1/2 ricotta and 1/2 cream cheese for richer flavor (but used part skim ricotta and reduced fat cream cheese). Instead of garlic and onion powder, sauteed some fresh minced of each. Added a couple pinches of Emeril Essence, which really kicks the flavor up too. One strip of low fat bacon on each. Delicious.
We tried this recipe for the first time the other evening. I found the falvor of the spinach & cheese filling to be very bland. It seemed to be missing something. Maybe the amount of spinach was overpowering the herbs and spices in the cheese. I am not certain, but probably will not cook this again.
None of my family members cared for this unfortunately. The bacon was especially disappointing; it never got crispy and was a real turn-off. I used thick bacon as instructed, but perhaps a thinner bacon would have crisped up better.
This was good, but a bit on the rich side. I've made it twice, the firt time with the bacon and the second time without. Obviously, the bacon added more flavor but it was still good without. I will make it again.
Easy, mixed some cheeses in the mixture, definately brown the bacon and use a rack in the oven. The whole family loved it, served it with baked asparagus
This wasn't bad. However, I made it the same week that I made "Stuffed and Wrapped Chicken Breast" from this site, which had cream cheese instead of ricotta, and my husband and I preferred the cream cheese taste.
I liked this pretty well. I made it as the directions called for and the stuffing had good flavor. I would recommend seasoning the chicken breast to meld better with the stuffing. Also, just a tip...to avoid the extra bacon grease, cook the bacon in the microwave until about 2/3's cooked. It is still able to be wrapped around the chicken, the bacon grease is minimized and it also crisps up much better. I also placed it on a wire rack to allow the remaining bacon grease to drip though.
FOLLOWED THE RECIPE TO A T..... PERFECT AND DELICIOUS. I DID PRE COOK THE BACON 1/2 WAY SO I WOULDN'T OVERCOOK THE CHICKEN. Do Not skip the pounding of the chick. breasts, it makes all the difference in the tenderness. YUM! Will make again!
I used fresh chopped onion and more garlic. While good it still lacked a little flavor - next time I will add a jar of tomato sauce to enhance it and to try and keep the chicken from drying out too much.
So we scaled this recipe back for two people, and it it came out wonderfully! The stuffing was flavorful and the chicken and bacon came out perfectly. We over yielded on the stuffing, so we ended up using it to make a salmon version of the recipe the next night. It also came out great!
Great dish and easy to make! This was a hit with the whole family.
This was very tasty!! My boyfriend made a creamy asiago sauce to go with this recipe, but it really didn't need anything. Will definitely make again.
Instead of Italian seasoning I used an Italian-Romano blend from a local spice merchant, and used low-fat ricotta. This was amazing! The bacon held the rolls together so I didn't need to use toothpicks. I'm always on the lookout for low carb, tasty meals, and this definitely fits the bill.
It was ok - I didn't cremate the bacon before I put it in, and I really think you have to do the bacon VERY well done or else it's bouncy, and I can't stand that texture. Also, the brothy sauce that happens in the baking dish isn't really for me. Not my thing.
My husband couldn't say enough about this chicken. He's not a big chicken fan, but said this was the best. I like chicken and make lots of chicken dishes but he said this one was the best that I ever made.
In theory, this recipe is good. But, I made this to a T and you REALLY need a riser so the bacon fat can drip away from the chicken. I even flipped the recipe 1/2 way through, and the bacon was still soggy. I would probably like to do a cheddar and broccoli filling instead of ricotta and spinach. Also, I would finish the chicken off in a pan on the stove, just to give the bacon extra crispiness.
Made it for my husband, mother-in-law and her sister last night and they Loved It! I didn't have thick cut bacon, so I folded the strips in half and wrapped them 'round. Probably better with the thick cut, but it worked for me. :)
98% sure I won't make this again. Baking chicken in bacon grease, made it taste weird.
This recipe was a great idea!! Next time I make it, I am going to top with spaghetti sauce and mozzerella cheese and serve with angel hair pasta. YUM!!
I thought this meal was really good and certainly looked great on a plate ~ a really crowd pleaser. I followered the recipe exactly. It did take a little time to prepare but that is expected when you are stuffing meat isn't it?! The only reason I only rated it 4 stars is because the filling was a little bland to me. I would have liked a little richer flavor but that can easily be tweaked in the future. Over all, thanks for the great recipe that will be made again in my kitchen!
Very tasty, Made this dish for dinner last night and we really enjoyed the various flavors that were blended together. I actually made the recipe as stated with the exception of using garlic power instead of garlic salt and onion flakes instead of powder. Other than these two minor changes, kept the recipe as written. Will go in my rotation file.
This was a great recipe. My husband was still complementing me on it the next morning. Will be making this again!
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