Super Easy Chicken Florentine

This is one of my easiest recipes. The family likes it so much that I make it every week. It can be served with egg noodles, rice, or linguine. It is SO EASY to make!

Super Easy Chicken Florentine
serves 6-8

Chicken breasts, boned, skinned, and cubed
2 cans Alfredo sauce
1 28oz. can spinach -or- three handfuls of raw baby leaf spinach
Parmesan cheese
Paprika

optional: shredded mozzarella cheese

The chicken can either be cubed into chunks or left whole in the casserole dish. I vary from week to week, depending on if I am feeling lazy or not. One of the many great things about having teenagers is that you can sit down and just EAT DINNER. You don’t have to go around, plate to plate, cutting everyone’s meat. But sometimes I pre-cube the chicken, sometimes I throw the whole breasts in the dish and let the family hack it out. Whatever floats yer boat.

One tip: cut the chicken while it’s slightly frozen. Completely thawed chicken is jiggly and squirmy. I pull my chicken out of the freezer and thaw it on the countertop for about two hours before slicing. I know “they” say you aren’t supposed to thaw meat on the counter!! I live dangerously, I guess.

So, put your chicken in the dish. Open the can of spinach and drain it thoroughly. I do the canned spinach in the winter, and the raw spinach in the summer (from my garden). If the raw spinach has large leaves, shred them up by hand into smaller pieces. Lay them on top of the chicken.

Open up the Alfredo sauce jars and pour both on top of the spinach.

This is where it gets fun: mix with your hands!

Yum! OK, if you are squeamish, go ahead and use a spoon. Fraidy cat. I grew up in an Italian home, where we loved to dig into the mixture. My kids think I’m weird, but…. it’s kind of fun.

After you’ve mixed it, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese to the top. Not too much! Just enough to give the sauce a little kick. At this point you can add a little mozzarella cheese if you wish. Don’t add too much, because the dish will become too cheesy. Just a small handful of shredded cheese will do. I prefer to make the dish without the cheese, but some of the kids like the cheesy taste. Sprinkle paprika for color.

Place the dish into your oven, 350 degrees for an hour. If you are using whole chicken breasts, make the time about an hour and a half. You’ll know it’s all ready when the sauce is bubbling and the top of the mix is golden brown. I almost always check one of the breasts, to make sure it’s thoroughly done inside.

Like I said, you can serve this with rice, egg noodles, pasta. It’s delicious! You can serve this with a side dish of steamed broccoli florets or small pre-cooked carrot slices. Yummy!