Chicken Florentine

Chicken Florentine
Yunhee Kim for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Megan Hedgpeth.
Total Time
About 45 minutes
Rating
4(522)
Comments
Read comments

With a little practice and a little added flavor, a humble chicken breast can be anything you want.

Featured in: Simple Chicken Recipes

  • or to save this recipe.

  • Subscriber benefit: give recipes to anyone
    As a subscriber, you have 10 gift recipes to give each month. Anyone can view them - even nonsubscribers. Learn more.
    Subscribe
  • Print Options


Advertisement


Ingredients

  • Chicken breasts
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Butter
  • Flour
  • Spinach
  • White wine
  • Heavy cream, sour cream or yogurt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Cooking Newsletter illustration

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Opt out or contact us anytime. See our Privacy Policy.

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put a large skillet over medium-high heat for 2 or 3 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet and swirl it around

  3. Step 3

    Put about .25 cup of flour on a plate. When the butter foam subsides, dredge the chicken in flour, shaking to remove the excess.

  4. Step 4

    Add the breasts to the skillet and cook so there is a constant sizzle but no burning.

  5. Step 5

    Cook, turning once, until the chicken is browned on both sides and nearly cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

  6. Step 6

    Transfer the chicken to a plate and cover loosely with foil to keep warm.

  7. Step 7

    Add 1 pound spinach to the skillet and cook, undisturbed, until the liquid from the spinach evaporates completely.

  8. Step 8

    With the heat still on medium-high, add .5 cup of white wine to the skillet and let it bubble, stirring, until it is reduced by half, about 2 minutes.

  9. Step 9

    Wait 30 seconds, then stir in .5 cup heavy or sour cream (yogurt is fine if you keep the heat low). Turn heat to low, stirring, until slightly thickened.

  10. Step 10

    Return the chicken to the skillet, turn in the sauce and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
522 user ratings
Your rating

or to rate this recipe.

Have you cooked this?

or to mark this recipe as cooked.

Private Notes

Leave a Private Comment on this recipe and see it here.

Comments

I appreciate the simplicity of this recipe, but it cries out for shallot and garlic and a smidge of red pepper, added to skillet after chicken and before spinach finished with a squeeze of lemon. Frozen spinach works well. Delish!

It would be very helpful to know the amount of chicken he suggests. After a lot of reading, I found it calls for four chicken breasts, about 1.5 pounds. Hope that’s helpful.

Quick and easy -- a great midweek meal. A clove of garlic minced and tossed in with the spinach goes a log way, along with a little salt and pepper. With a scoop of rice to soak up the sauce, it's not exciting, but it's perfect comfort food for a rainy night at home.

Is there a way to make this a day ahead of time? I was thinking of doing the chicken the night before. Doing the sauce the day of. Putting spinach and chicken in a baking dish. Pour sauce over and pop in the over for 20 minutes.

Took suggestions and used lemon juice, nutmeg, garlic, and hot pepper flakes. Yummm! Definitely on my rotation. And yes, you really do need a pound of spinach. I used baby spinach, but if you’re using regular, you’ll probably need two pounds, allowing for stems.

Add garlic, onion, paprika, lemon juice, and - most importantly - Dijon mustard.

Private comments are only visible to you.

Advertisement

or to save this recipe.