SPINACH & GOAT CHEESE STUFFED CHICKEN WRAPPED IN BACON W/ BALSAMIC GLAZE
This Spinach & Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken is the perfect dinner: it looks complicated and beautiful, but it is SUPER easy. That is the best kind of meal if you ask me. Everyone who eats it loves it and never needs to know how simple and easy it is. Last year I made a variation of this dinner. I had just started the blog. I barely knew how to take photos. But it was immediately Steve’s favorite dinner. It was probably the goat cheese, or the bacon, or the balsamic glaze, but he loved it. And that meant everything! So I took dark, not that attractive photos and I typed up a weirdly written recipe, and I posted it on here.. to no one.
It was a start. That’s all that matters. No matter what you’re feeling, just start. Take a step. So a year later the blog is not a secret, and I kind of know what I am doing (a little more) so I am gifting you the perfected version of this recipe. A weeknight favorite, an easy meal prep, a Goat Cheese stuffed chicken breast wrapped in bacon, drizzled in balsamic glaze and sprinkled with basil.
Crispy bacon is the next key to the magic of this dish. My favorite way to cook the chicken is placing it on a wire rack inside a foil wrapped baking sheet. That way, the bacon & chicken juices drip to the foil instead of keeping the sheet wet. Your bacon will get nice and crispy! If it isn’t crispy enough after 35-40 minutes, hit them with the broiler for a few minutes to top them off. Drizzle with balsamic glaze, sprinkle basil on top, discover the best combination of food ever. Oh, and, if you’re nervous about a new beginning, just do it. You never know where it will lead – if you’re lucky it will be a land with a lot of bacon & goat cheese.
- 1lb Chicken Breast
- Salt & Pepper
- 6oz Goat Cheese
- 2 Cups Spinach
- 8 slices bacon
- 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 3tbs honey
- 1/4 cup chopped basil
- Preheat the oven to 400.° Set wire wrack in foil covered baking sheet.
- Cut the chicken. 4 smaller chicken breasts is best, but if you get a pack with those 2 super big ones, you have to slice it twice. Slice the breast in half horizontal leaving a small edge connected so that you can easily stuff it. It’s okay if you are messy, we are wrapping it in bacon to hide all of our mistakes!
- Lightly salt & pepper the chicken.
- Mix goat cheese and spinach in a bowl. Get in there with your hands to get the goat cheese easily moldable with the spinach and combine into one big mixture.
- Now to stuff the chicken: place 1/4 of the goat cheese spinach mixture onto the part of the chicken that is not the “flap.” Cover it with the top part of the chicken and do your best to close it up.
- Lay out two strips of bacon, horizontal about an inch apart. Place your stuffed chicken breast onto the edges of the bacon slices.
- Wrap the top piece around tight, like a spiral. It will end up almost at the middle where the second piece of bacon is. Wrap the second piece!
- Put your wrapped chicken breasts onto the wire wrack. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.
- When the chicken is finished, turn the broiler on for a few minutes (2-3) to make the bacon extra crisp! You can skip this step if your bacon is crispy.
- Lay the chicken on a paper towel for a minute or two to soak up any of the juices on the bottom.
- Drizzle balsamic glaze over the chicken and sprinkle with lots of basil.
- While the chicken is baking, make the balsamic glaze.
- In a small sauce pan, pour the honey and the balsamic vinegar. On medium heat, simmer the mixture for about 10 minutes (until thickened).
- When it coats the back of a spoon, it is finished! While the mixture cools, it will thicken even more. If you over simmer, it will be more candy-like, so be sure to check with the spoon every few minutes.