Spinach Chicken Casserole with Cream Cheese & Mozzarella

I am a picky eater & I don't have a wide taste palette. My household loves to eat & I don't cook a lot because I feel like why make a dish that they only get to eat & I know I won't like. During this quarantine I've been into making new dishes so I just looked up recipes for picky eaters that everyone will love. Let me tell you this dish changed my life. As a picky eater I can make a dish where on my pieces of food I only put the ingredients I want on it. One dish that will make all of us happy. Taste so good with juicy pieces of chicken that is just cheesy. Perfect for Italian night at home. Easy to make. I hope you try & enjoy this recipe!!

*Ingredients*

1. 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut horizontally
2. 8 oz cream cheese, softened
3. 2 cup spinach, rinsed
4. 1 tablespoon olive oil
5. 4 oz Mozzarella cheese, shredded

The marinade :

*Directions*

1. To prepare the spinach chicken casserole: Add olive oil, garlic, Italian seasoning, & red peppers flakes into a Ziplock bag along with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Seal the bag and shake until mixed. Add the chicken breasts, seal, & massage so the chicken breasts are covered in the marinade, set aside for 10 - 15 minutes on the counter while you prep the remaining ingredients. Position a rack in the center of the oven & preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Quickly wilt the spinach in a skillet with 1 tablespoon olive oil and set aside.

3. Arrange chicken breasts drained from the marinade in a baking dish. Spread the softened cream cheese oven the chicken breasts and lay spinach on top of the cream cheese. Finally, sprinkle mozzarella over the top.

4. Bake the spinach chicken casserole for 20 - 30 minutes. Chicken casserole is done when cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).

ENJOY!!

*Tips*

Serve the spinach chicken casserole warm with a side of cauliflower rice, or baked veggies, or garlic bread.

I am a picky eater but everyone in my household isn't. So it wasn't a big deal to leave out the red peppers flacks & pepper. You can always put it in separate bags when marinading & bake in separate pans so you don't get confused.

Also, if your children don't like spinach. You can't taste the spinach in the dish or choose to leave it off that's fine too. Either way you choose the amount of spinach that goes on each piece of chicken.

If you don’t know what minced garlic is it’s garlic cut into little tiny pieces. I chopped my garlic very fine. You can also get a cheese grater using the side with little tiny hole. The garlic will be perfectly minced.

My dad isn't a big fan of white meat chicken so there was no change switching to dark meat chicken breasts. If you aren't to sure what the differences is between dark & white meat it's that white meat tends to be drier. Dark meat is more juicer. My favorite meat is white. To me with this recipe the white meat doesn't taste to dry because all the spice & taste with the marinade it takes away from the dryness.

When I was looking for a recipe like this it's good for picky eaters, hungry husbands, & if you are into keto it is a keto recipe.