Creamy Garlic Chicken with Spinach
⏱ 5 min prep · 🍳 15 min · 🍽 4
Creamy garlic chicken with spinach is a short-ingredient, short-cook skillet dinner: chicken breast, cream, garlic, spinach. No marinating, no oven to preheat — the chicken sears golden, the garlic gets a quick minute in the butter before the cream goes in, and the spinach wilts down in the last couple of minutes.
Put it on a night when you're already circling back through the kitchen more than once — while the sauce simmers, there's just enough time to set the table or glance at the rest of the week's meal plan. Double the chicken and you've got cold leftovers ready for a wrap or a lunchbox the next day, no extra cooking required.
It's also a decent test case for a family's actual garlic tolerance: start light, taste as you go, and you'll know by the second time whether the kids want it milder or you're free to add the third clove.
Ingredients
- 600.000 g kyllingbryst
- 3.000 stk hvitløk
- 150.000 g spinat
- 200.000 ml fløte
- 15.000 ml smør
- 15.000 ml olivenolje
- krydder (diverse)
- paprika
Instructions
Krydre kyllingfiletene med salt og pepper.
Stek kyllingen i olivenolje på middels høy varme i ca. 4 minutter per side til gjennomstekt, ta ut av panna og sett til side.
Fres hvitløk i smør i samme panne i ca. 1 minutt.
Tilsett spinat og la det falle sammen.
Hell over kremfløte og la koke inn til sausen tykner lett, ca. 3–4 minutter.
Legg kyllingfiletene tilbake i panna og varm gjennom.
Server med ris eller pasta.
This is a forgiving freezer-to-table dinner: pull the chicken breasts out the night before, let them thaw flat in the fridge, and the whole weeknight is basically pre-decided by the time you get home. The sauce runs on regular heavy cream and pantry garlic, so there's no special shopping trip riding on it, and the spinach swaps easily for whatever green is already going soft in the crisper drawer. Slot it in on a day with a short gap between pickup and dinner — everything happens in one skillet, which means you can stir with one hand and referee homework or hear about someone's day with the other. In the weekly plan, it earns its keep placed the day after a leftovers night, right when the freezer drawer of loose chicken portions needs thinning out, and a doubled batch means tomorrow's lunchbox is basically done tonight.
FAQ
Can I freeze the leftovers of creamy garlic chicken with spinach?
The sauce doesn't love the freezer — cream sauces tend to split as they thaw, so you'll get a slightly grainy texture even though the flavor holds up fine. If you're planning ahead, freeze the raw, seasoned chicken breasts instead and make the sauce fresh when you cook them. If you do freeze the finished dish, portion it the same night you cook it, then reheat low and slow and whisk in a splash of extra cream or milk to bring the sauce back together.
Can I use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast?
Yes, and thighs are actually a bit more forgiving if dinner gets delayed by ten minutes of everyone finding their shoes. They handle a longer cook time without drying out — add roughly 2-3 minutes per side since thigh meat runs thicker, and cut it into even pieces first so it cooks through at the same rate. Expect a slightly richer, more savory result than with breast.
How do I tone this down for kids who don't love a strong garlic flavor?
Cut back to 1-2 cloves instead of 3, and sauté the garlic briefly in the butter so it turns mild and sweet rather than sharp. It also helps to spoon out a portion of chicken and sauce for younger kids before adding the rest of the garlic to the pan for the grown-up portion. The paprika adds color, not heat, so you don't need to adjust that. Serving it over pasta or rice mellows the flavor further compared to eating the sauce on its own.
What can I substitute for spinach if I don't have any on hand?
Baby kale or arugula both work, though either needs a couple of minutes longer than spinach to wilt down into the sauce. Frozen spinach is a solid backup — just squeeze out the excess water before it goes in, or the sauce will thin out. You can also skip the greens in the sauce entirely and serve steamed broccoli or peas on the side instead. Whatever you use, aim for roughly 5 ounces (about 150g); that's the amount that keeps the sauce balanced rather than watery or overcrowded.
How long does this keep in the fridge, and what's the best way to reheat it?
It keeps 2-3 days in a sealed container in the fridge. Reheat gently in a skillet or saucepan over low heat with a splash of water or cream so the sauce doesn't split — a hard boil will dry out the chicken fast. The microwave works fine too; use a lower power setting and stir partway through so it heats evenly.
Can I prep this ahead for a genuinely busy weeknight?
Season the chicken breasts the night before and keep them covered in the fridge — that cuts the actual cooking down to about fifteen minutes when you walk in the door. Mince the garlic and measure out the cream at the same time so both are ready on the counter. The spinach needs zero prep beyond having the bag within reach. By the time you're home, all that's left is the skillet and the stove.