Chicken Florentine

Chicken Florentine, made with tender chicken in a rich and creamy spinach cream sauce is an impressive, yet easy chicken dinner recipe.

This Creamy Chicken Florentine, just like my recipes for Creamy Chicken Marsala and Marry Me Chicken, delivers restaurant-quality results with minimal effort in under 30 minutes.

What is Chicken Florentine?

The term Florentine refers to recipes that feature spinach and are prepared in the style of cooking often showcased in the Italian region of Florence. 

Chicken Florentine, just like my recipe for Florentine Pizza, is made with fresh spinach and a creamy, garlic sauce that is full of flavor! 

While it feels fancy and is suitable for a date-night dinner at home, Chicken Florentine happens to be incredibly easy to make. Even easy enough for a busy weeknight.

Notes On Ingredients

• Chicken: You will need 4 thin chicken cutlets for this chicken florentine recipe. While you can purchase thin chicken cutlets at any grocery store, it is more affordable to use boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them into cutlets yourself, following the instructions I have provided.
• Shallot: Instead of using an onion which can overwhelm the florentine sauce.
• Spinach: It is best to use fresh baby spinach. It will wilt down easily into the sauce, without the need to chop or trim off the stems prior to cooking. 
• White Wine: To add an acidic burst of flavor that helps to balance out the richness of the creamy florentine sauce, I love using a dry white wine, like Pinot Grigrio, Chardonnay, or Reisling. If you don't cook with alcohol, replace the wine with additional chicken stock. 
• Chicken Stock: Use low-sodium storebought or homemade chicken stock. This will help you stay in control of the level of sodium in the dish. 
• Heavy Cream: To make the creamy florentine sauce, heavy cream is a must. I don't recommend any substitutions. 
• Parmesan: For the best flavor, I recommend using freshly grated parmesan rather than parmesan cheese from a canister.
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes: Adding a bit of crushed red pepper helps to wake the dish up with subtle spice. If you are sensitive to spice, you can omit it completely.

How to Make Chicken Florentine

Do not be overwhelmed by the number of steps. The chicken and creamy spinach sauce come together quite quickly, with very minimal effort. 

Step One: Prepare the Chicken Cutlets

It is more economical to start this recipe using boneless, skinless chicken breasts rather than purchase prepared thinly sliced chicken cutlets. 

• Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so you have 4 thinner pieces. 
• Place the cutlets between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until the cutlets are even in thickness.

Step Two: Pan-Fry Chicken

• In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, kosher salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  You want to season your flour mixture so that your chicken itself is well seasoned. 
• Pat each chicken cutlet with a paper towel. This will help the flour adhere to the chicken. 
• Dredge each chicken cutlet in the flour mixture to coat, shaking off excess flour.
• Once the chicken has been coated in flour, heat the oil and butter together in a large skillet. Using butter will add a rich flavor to the spinach sauce while the olive oil will help prevent the butter from burning. 
• Once the butter has fully melted, add the chicken to the pan, working in batches if needed to prevent overcrowding your skillet. We want to brown our chicken, not steam it. 
• Cook the chicken cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown on each side and nearly cooked through.
• Transfer chicken to a clean plate, tent with foil, and set aside while you prepare the florentine sauce.
  

Step Three: Prepare Florentine Sauce

• Saute the shallot in the pan drippings until just fragrant. You don't want to burn the shallot, which just like garlic, shallots can burn quickly.
• Add the wine and chicken broth to the pan, and gently scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Those browned bits will add flavor to the spinach sauce. 
• Season the wine mixture by adding in oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.

• Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture reduces by half. 
• Once the liquid has reduced, add in the cream, turn up the heat, and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring often. 
• Once the sauce is simmering, lower the heat to low and whisk in the parmesan until melted. the grated parmesan cheese, until smooth.
• Add in the spinach and cook on low, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, to let the spinach gently wilt into the sauce. 

Step Four: Simmer Chicken with Sauce

• Add the seared chicken back to the skillet.
• Turn the chicken to coat in the sauce, or spoon the sauce over the chicken, and simmer for just a few minutes, to just warm through and finish cooking.

Serving Suggestions

Chicken Florentine is a filling, flavorful quick recipe. You can serve it with a Caesar Salad or Roasted Asparagus and be completely satisfied. Or you can opt to serve it with a side of rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes, to soak up the delicious florentine sauce. 

More Quick and Easy Chicken Recipes

• Honey Lemon Chicken Skillet
• Tex-Mex Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet
• Chicken Piccata
• Instant Pot Lemon Chicken
• Easy Orange Chicken
• Chicken Katsu

If you tried this recipe for Chicken with Florentine Sauce, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.

Chicken Florentine

Ready in less than 30 minutes, Chicken Florentine, made with tender pan-fried chicken coated in a rich and creamy spinach cream sauce, makes an easy, impressive chicken dinner.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 485kcal

Author: Kristen Chidsey

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts or 4 thin chicken cutlets
• ▢ ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1-½ teaspoon kosher salt divided
• ▢ 1 teaspoon pepper divided
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
• ▢ 1 shallot minced
• ▢ ½ cup dry white wine or additional broth
• ▢ 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
• ▢ 1 cup heavy cream
• ▢ 2 cups loosely packed fresh baby spinach
• ▢ ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ▢ parsley for serving optional

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Instructions

• Cut the chicken breasts in half lengthwise so you have 4 thinner pieces. Place the cutlets between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until the cutlets are even in thickness. Pay dry.
• In a shallow dish, whisk together the flour, garlic powder, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, and ½ teaspoon of black pepper.
• Dredge each chicken cutlet in the flour mixture to coat, shaking off excess flour.
• In a large skillet, heat the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Once melted, add the chicken to the pan, working in batches to prevent overcrowding your skillet.
• Cook the chicken cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown on each side and nearly cooked through.
• Transfer chicken to a clean plate, tent with foil, and set aside.
• Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet to melt. Once melted, add in the shallot and saute, over medium heat for 30 seconds until just fragrant.
• Add in the wine and chicken broth and deglaze the pan scraping any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
• Season the broth and wine mixture by adding in oregano, red pepper flakes, and ½ teaspoon each of pepper and kosher salt, and bring the mixture to a simmer, continuing to cook over medium heat. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, or until the mixture reduces by half.
• Add the cream, turn the heat to medium-high, and bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring often.
• Once the sauce is simmering, lower the heat to low and whisk in the parmesan until melted. the grated parmesan cheese, until smooth.
• Add in the spinach and cook on low, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes, to let the spinach gently wilt into the sauce.
• Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the sauce. Turn the chicken to coat in the sauce, or spoon the sauce over the chicken, and simmer for 3-4 minutes just to warm through the chicken and to ensure it reaches 165 degrees F.
• Serve warm with fresh minced parsley and additional parmesan cheese if desired.

Notes

White Wine: Select a dry white wine, like Pinot Grigrio, Chardonnay, or Reisling. If you don't cook with alcohol, replace the wine with additional chicken stock. 

Spinach: If you use mature spinach, be sure to remove stems and chop in half, so that it will wilt into the Florentine Sauce.

Gluten-Free: Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose flour.

Low-Carb: Omit the flour and reduce the chicken broth to ½ cup. You may need to simmer the florentine sauce a bit longer to reduce the sauce, as there will be no flour coating on the chicken which helps thicken the sauce quickly.

Add Mushrooms: Add up to 1 cup of sliced button, Baby Bella, or shitake mushrooms, along with the shallots. 

Storage: Store leftover Chicken Florentine in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat the chicken and cream sauce in a dry skillet until just warmed through. I don't recommend freezing, as the cream can separate when thawed. W

Nutrition

Calories: 485kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 129mg | Sodium: 627mg | Potassium: 498mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 2623IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 183mg | Iron: 2mg

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