Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken {Greek Chicken}

You guys! This chicken is SO good. And (relatively) so easy. And it is super impressive, so it's great for when you have company. Or for when you just want a healthy and delicious dinner. 

This chicken is stuffed with fresh spinach, black olives, mozzarella and feta, then covered in salt, pepper and paprika and baked. That's all there is to it! Well, sort of. You do have to butterfly the chicken in order to "stuff" it - and that can be a little tricky. But luckily, once it bakes, it really doesn't matter how good of a job you've done butterflying it. Really! I practically destroyed some of the breasts in the picture above, and you can hardly tell. So it's super forgiving. (Look closely and you can see the cheese oozing out the top of a few pieces - those were terribly butterflied but it didn't matter!) 

I like to pound out the chicken first to get them all to a uniform thickness, and then I usually cut them in half (what is it with gigantic chicken breasts?? I feel badly for those birds. ha!) and then butterfly them. If you've never done that before, you simply cut into the chicken breast the long way, "sawing" carefully, to create two thin sections. Then open it like a book, add the filling, and close it back up. Even if you have shreds for a top layer (which I did sometimes!) it will bake up just fine. 

This dish is lovely with a cucumber salad (not pictured here cause it runs all over the plate!) or with some roasted potatoes and sauteed green beans. I hope you love this as much as we do. And let me know how your butterflying goes! :)

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken

3 large or 6 small chicken breasts

8 oz. fresh baby spinach

1 tsp. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz. feta crumbles

1/3 cup sliced black olives

1 cup mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

paprika

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When it's hot, add the spinach and garlic, and cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes until the spinach is wilted.

Pound out the chicken breasts with a meat mallet to make them even thickness/ If you're using large chicken breasts, cut them in half. Carefully butterfly each piece to create a pocket. Place the chicken pieces on a large cookie sheet coated with nonstick spray.

Divide the spinach mixture between the chicken pieces. Then top with feta, olives and mozzarella. Carefully fold the "top" back over the chicken bottom, tucking in any loose filling as best you can. Season the tops of the chicken with salt, pepper and paprika.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.  Serves 6.