Pan seared chicken doused in a velvety cream sauce, chicken florentine is an Italian classic, for a reason! This dish is easy enough for a weeknight meal, but is so elegant it makes the perfect dinner party main. Here’s all you need to know.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get great new recipes from us every week!
What is a Florentine Sauce?
Florentine sauce is a classic Italian sauce made of spinach, cream, and a touch of cheese. It can be drizzled over chicken, salmon, or shrimp, and is delicious twirled into pasta.
Ingredients for Chicken Florentine
Here’s what you’ll need for this chicken florentine, plus a few swaps and adjustments you may be curious about:
- The chicken: We’ll use chicken breast pounded to 1/2″ thick, this balances the sauce-to-chicken ratio. Psst–you can use your favorite protein here as well, such as chicken thighs, shrimp, or salmon (ala Tuscan salmon), just know that cook times will vary.
- The veggies: Shallots and spinach. Feel free to saute and mix in your favorites, such as sauteed mushrooms, sauteed kale, sun dried tomatoes, diced artichoke hearts, or bell peppers ala chicken Marengo. 1/2 a finely chopped onion can be substituted for the shallot.
- The sauce: Chicken broth, heavy cream, Italian seasoning and parmesan. Feel free to taste and adjust to your liking.
How to Make Chicken Florentine
This spinach florentine sauce is incredibly easy to make, and the pan seared chicken is as simple as they come. Here’s how, plus a few shortcuts you can take(!):
- Pound chicken so it’s 1/2″ thick. Option to slice your breasts in half lengthwise instead, you’ll just need to sear your chicken in batches to accommodate the 8 pieces.
- Coat chicken in parmesan and flour.
- Sear the chicken in butter and oil on both sides until cooked through.
- Set cooked chicken aside and keep warm by tenting with foil.
- Saute the shallots.
- Deglaze the pan with chicken broth.
- Add all other sauce ingredients and simmer.
- Add the spinach and cook until wilted.
- Add the chicken, serve, and enjoy!
What to Serve with Chicken Florentine
This chicken florentine is incredible on its own for a low carb dinner, but can be served over your favorite grains or pasta to soak up the extra spinach florentine sauce. Here are some ideas for you:
- Pasta: Linguine, fettuccine, or spaghetti are great options. For a low carb swap, try zucchini noodles, almond flour pasta, or spaghetti squash.
- Vegetables: Roasted vegetables are another great way to soak up the sauce–roasted asparagus and roasted broccoli are great compliments.
- Bread: Crusty garlic bread for sopping up extra florentine sauce.
- Salad: A simple salad works best, such as a kale salad or arugula salad.
More Italian Classics
- Shrimp Caesar Salad
- Eggplant Rollatini
- Pesto Chicken Salad
- Tuscan Chicken Soup
- Chicken Caprese Salad
Chicken Florentine
Print Recipe Pin RecipeIngredients
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese grated, divided
- 1 tablespoon vegetable or avocado oil
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
- 1 medium shallot chopped (about 1/3 cup)
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 chicken breast boneless + skinless
- 4 cups fresh spinach Chopped
Instructions
- In a shallow, wide mouthed bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of parmesan and the flour. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, and dip in the parmesan/flour on both sides until well coated. Shake off the excess, and place coated chicken on a plate.
- In a large pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter along with the vegetable oil over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the chicken and sear on each side until golden and the internal temp of your chicken reaches 165 F. Place cooked chicken aside on a plate and loosely tent with foil. {Psst–if your chicken is really thick, try placing a lid on top after you've seared each side, and reducing the heat of your pan to low to cook the chicken through.}
- Add the remaining butter, once melted add the shallots and saute for 4 minutes, until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Quickly add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Use the back of your spoon to scrap up any brown bits from the bottom of your pan, and allow the broth to reduce by half.
- Add the heavy cream, remaining (1/4 cup) parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir together and allow the cheese to melt into the sauce. Simmer until the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Add the spinach, and cook until wilted.
- Drizzle sauce over the cooked chicken breast, and enjoy!
