Sautéed Chicken with Spinach and Red Onions
on May 23, 2018, Updated Dec 15, 2023
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A delicious weeknight warrior dinner.
I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who could not use a few more quick and easy dinner recipes under his or her belt – myself included.
My darlings, I have looked at that package of chicken breasts with the same static-ey blend of fatigue and frustration as you. I know what it’s like to try and mentally will the raw cutlets to cook themselves in an interesting way and put themselves on the table.
And this is what I made when I had just such an evening recently. Defrosted thin sliced chicken breasts. Big box of baby spinach. Some onions, some shallots. Thank god some leftover mashed potatoes from a big holiday meal, otherwise it would definitely have been rice or simply roasted potatoes ….or tortilla chips – that’s a side dish, right?
Anyway, really easy. I didn’t even make a pan sauce for the chicken, which I could have, but I thought the spinach-onion thing was pretty flavorful and serving as a cross between a side dish and sort of a topping for the chicken, so that was that.
Have your ingredients prepared before the chicken hits the pan. In fact, do yourself a big solid and prep them a day or two ahead of time. If you’ve zested and juiced the lemon, sliced up the shallots and onion, then you are so good to go it’s not funny.
Have any side starch also ready, whether you’ve made it ahead and are reheating it, or making it that night – this recipe goes quickly once the chicken hits the pan. Mashed potatoes are clearly a good partner (and when is that not true?), as are Crispy Sauteed Potatoes.
More Stovetop Chicken Recipes:
- Stir Fried Chicken with Scallions
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Chicken Paprikash
- Chicken Piccata
- Chicken Marsala
Sautéed Chicken with Spinach and Red Onions
Ingredients
- 8 thin sliced chicken cutlets about 1 ½ pounds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 2 shallots sliced
- 1 red onion halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 10 ounces baby spinach or chopped regular spinach leaves
- Juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and when melted ad the chicken cutlets, in batches if necessary, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Remove the cooked chicken to a plate, and tent with foil.
- Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the remaining tablespoon butter. Add the shallots and onions, and sauté for about 5 minutes until softened, and maybe slightly golden. Stir in the mustard then add the spinach (you will want to do this in batches, and let it cook down slightly in between additions) and cook, stirring often, for about 3 minutes until the spinach is just wilted. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the lemon juice and zest.
- Divide the chicken and spinach evenly between 4 plates. Add whatever other side dish you like, and serve hot.
