Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Remember a week or two ago I had that dinner party where I made a complicated, yet deliciously worth it, chicken lasagna? Well, I made spinach and artichoke dip too. Unfortunately, since the meal was so amazing, it's only natural for the guests to neglect the appetizer a bit (or at least, that's what I like to believe).However, that just meant that I was left with a ton of leftovers. So. What to do now?Sometimes my drives home from work are more inspirational than any other time of the day and that's when I came up with the idea of making stuffed chicken breasts and filling them with spinach and artichoke dip. I was secretly hoping it'd work out, but to be honest, I had no clue whether it would or not.

Ingredients

• Boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
• Spinach and artichoke dip
• Some very basic seasonings: salt, pepper, chili powder, garlic powder

Process

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
2. While the oven gets all warm and cozy, take a paring knife and slowly split the chicken breast down the middle to make a pocket-like thing (like in the picture).

   

3. Now stuff that pocket with the spinach and artichoke dip.

   

   Now this is where I made my first mistake. My spinach and artichoke dip was extremely cheesy. So when I put it in the chicken, it was cold and seemed like it would be fine. However, when I stuck it in the oven later, it all melted out. I would suggest microwaving the spinach and artichoke dip before putting it in the chicken and mixing a spoonful of flour into the dip.

4. Next, season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, some freshly ground black pepper, chili powder, and garlic powder. Instead of garlic powder, I used a chicken garlic herb mix. Feel free spice it however you'd like.

   

5. Skipping this following step was my second mistake. What you need to do here is take about three or four toothpicks per chicken breast and stab the chicken breasts to kind of close the gap so the stuffing at least tries to stay inside.
6. When that's done, stick it in the oven for 35 minutes. Around the 25 min mark, I went in and flipped it over. And when I took it out of the oven, I just sprinkled some Parmesan cheese on top and let it melt.
7. If, like me, when you make this all the dip leaks out….it's ok. I just sorta scooped it all into a spoon and re-stuffed the chicken. Still tasted really amazing.

   

   I ate it with some green beans and it was super delicious. Hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did!