How many times have I made them and how many times did I not photograph the Spinach Chicken Cutlets over my 13 years as a food blogger? Do you have a number in mind? You can obviously write it in the comments, and I’ll tell you if you got anywhere near the reality. To make up for this huge mistake, I also recorded the video recipe of the Homemade Spinach Chicken Cutlets. Now I can’t say: did I publish that recipe? There will be videos and photos on social profiles to prove it!!!
So if you’ve ever wondered: how do you make spinach cutlets? spinach cutlets in a pan or in the oven? what meat is used for the spinach cutlets mix? Here in this text I’ve tried to answer all your questions to help you prepare the perfect homemade spinach chicken cutlet! Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside just the way we like them!!!
I actually decided late on, maybe I’ve been saying now now and then always postponing for years. I always thought: but they go out to buy the Spinach Cutlets from Aia, why would they care if you publish your homemade spinach cutlet?!? Two weeks ago, I then saw a video from a colleague, Davide from the blog Spadella la Padella who had published his recipe. So I thought: maybe there are still people interested in recipes like this that are easy, quick, and delicious! I bought frozen spinach, which is quicker, and we all have them in the freezer. Then I got chicken chunks from the butcher, breadcrumbs, and flour, which, like eggs, are never missing at home, I put on my nice apron, and off we go. Video and Recipe of Spinach Chicken Cutlets in a Pan here they are!
Many of you who follow me already know very well that I am on a diet, problems with slow metabolism as the years go by. So lately, I’m proposing alternatives to the classic meat burgers of beef or pork. In some cases, I’ve completely eliminated meat and created vegetable burgers, from chard alone to mixed vegetables to be baked. From potato burgers with smoked cheese to tuna burgers also to be baked because it’s so convenient.
I also leave you the alternative to the spinach cutlet, a chicken burger with zucchini and carrots grated and enriched with smoked cheese. All these recipes can be found in the blog of Le Ricette di Bea obviously or by clicking the blue links below, which will take you directly to the preparation that interests you.
Before finally moving on to the recipe for homemade spinach cutlets, I remind you that I am waiting for you every morning in the group and on the fan page on Facebook of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day and many other curiosities and content live from my kitchen!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Fall, Winter, and Spring
- Energy 249.15 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 31.59 (g) of which sugars 1.91 (g)
- Proteins 19.46 (g)
- Fat 5.70 (g) of which saturated 2.33 (g)of which unsaturated 2.96 (g)
- Fibers 4.51 (g)
- Sodium 359.48 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 84 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for 6 Homemade Spinach Chicken Cutlets
The doses indicated below and all the preparations to make this recipe are calculated to prepare 6 medium to large spinach chicken cutlets, which can weigh from 2.8 to 3.2 oz each.
For spinach, you can choose fresh spinach to clean, boil, and then drain. Or frozen spinach, always to be boiled and drained well. Keep in mind that when I decided to prepare this recipe, I cooked the spinach in the morning as soon as I woke up, then letting them drain of their water in the sink by placing them inside a large colander.
- 9 oz spinach (in my case frozen and then boiled early in the morning)
- 9 oz chicken breast (cut into chunks by the butcher)
- 2 tablespoons cheese (grated, whether it's parmesan or reggiano, it's up to you)
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
- 1 yolk
- 1 egg white (kept aside from the list of ingredients for the spinach cutlet mix)
- 1 egg
- as needed breadcrumbs
- as needed flour
If the indicated egg amounts are not enough, you can proceed with one whole egg at a time to create the double breading. The spinach cutlet mix is very soft, and the breadcrumbs and flour quickly and significantly absorb the eggs, so keep a second whole egg close by.
Tools for Homemade Spinach Chicken Cutlets in a Pan
Small premise: if you have a food processor with a nice big bowl, you can avoid dirtying a separate bowl (which is listed as a necessary tool to prepare these delicious and crispy spinach chicken cutlets), if you have a small chopper or processor, you’ll have to transfer the ingredients into a bowl.
My Kenwood Multipro still does its job after so many years together and has that nice roomy bowl I love. I don’t think the model I have is still available, it’s basically 15 years old, but you can purchase this model which is the updated version by clicking here.
Another small premise: the list below does not take into account the pot we will need to boil the spinach and the colander we will use to let them drain in the kitchen sink.
Tip not to miss, the hamburger press with films, too convenient, easy to use, and especially to clean. You can also purchase this similar product to mine and more recent version by clicking here.
Of course, if you watched the video recipe it is evident the ease of use of both and the little manual skill required to prepare these homemade spinach chicken cutlets. Easier than that!!!
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Mixer
- 3 Small Bowls
- 1 Knife
- 2 Spoons
- 1 Kitchen Spatula
- 1 Pan
- 1 Mold
- 6 Food Wrap
- 2 Plates
Steps for the Spinach Chicken Cutlet Recipe with Double Breading
Finally, the text where you can read the recipe, yes, I know it took a bit of time with tools and ingredients, but better to be clear sooner than later. Let’s start with the spinach, as previously mentioned, they must be already cold and drained otherwise they will need too much flour and too much breadcrumbs which will significantly dry our homemade spinach chicken cutlets.
If you have a mixer, continue reading here, otherwise for those who will knead by hand, move on to point 2.
So, let’s take the mixer or chopper and pour into the bowl: the well-drained spinach, the chicken chunks (in my case the butcher had already cut them, but you can easily do it yourself by purchasing classic chicken breast). Then add a generous tablespoon of flour, one of breadcrumbs, and the cheese of your choice. Break the egg and add only the yolk to the bowl, keeping aside the egg white for the breading we will do later. Sprinkle with salt and pepper; I had previously added just a pinch of salt to the spinach during their cooking in the pan. So, I didn’t overdo it with the saltiness.
Then, turn on the machine and let it knead everything; you will see the ingredients stop on one side of the bowl as soon as everything is well chopped. This will be the signal that we can proceed with the second phase of the recipe.
Point 2 – For those without a large chopper
Take a bowl and pour in the well-drained spinach, pass the chicken chunks through a meat grinder or food processor to make the meat workable like ground meat, then place it in the bowl. Of course, if you don’t have suitable tools, it’s easier to ask your trusted butcher to grind some chicken breast into ground meat for you, which you’ll work with much better.
Now it’s time for the tablespoons of flour, breadcrumbs, and cheese, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Break the egg, keeping aside the egg white in a small bowl, while the yolk is added to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Work everything with your hands to blend the ingredients, applying nice pressure so that they crumble further and bind together. Now we are ready to shape our homemade spinach chicken cutlets.
From here we will all work the dough in the exact same way to create the perfect spinach chicken cutlet!
Take two small plates and pour flour on one and breadcrumbs on the other. Then take a small bowl and break a whole egg into it for the breading and add the previously set aside egg white. These ingredients will be used for the breading of the spinach chicken cutlets.
Then place at least two flat plates in front of you; we will need them to rest the spinach chicken cutlets on as we prepare them before the respective cooking in the pan.
Now take the hamburger press, place the appropriate film inside it, take a spoonful of the well-worked green mixture. About 2.8 oz per spinach chicken cutlet to be sure, maybe you can weigh the first one to get an idea of the size of the subsequent ones. Place the sticky green ball in the mold, a light pressure, and the first spinach chicken cutlet is ready. Continue like this with the rest of the mixture at your disposal.
Don’t have the hamburger press? Excellent, we create burgers the old fashioned way! Take some food wrap and place a cut on a wood surface or a cutting board. This is a trick from my Mom Roberta, she always did it with fish burgers and I copied it from her. Once the film is laid out, take many green mixture balls and place them well apart from each other. Now take another cut of food wrap, cover the mixture, and apply light pressure with your hands on each ball. If you had created nice balls of ingredients, you will now have discs similar to burgers. Obviously, the pressure you should apply is not too much, otherwise, you will make thin slices, but in this case, you will already have all the spinach chicken cutlets ready and of similar thickness to each other.
Let’s bread! Double breading!!!
Take one spinach chicken cutlet at a time, pass it first in the beaten egg, then in the flour, then again in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Of course, carefully on both sides. Then place the spinach chicken cutlet on a plate and continue like this with all the others. As previously mentioned, an additional egg may be necessary for the breading, while the indicated amounts of flour and breadcrumbs should suffice. Maybe don’t put them away in the pantry until you have completed the breading.
What do you say, finally we move on to cooking? It’s easier to show you this recipe than to write it, I’m working up a sweat. For this reason, I recommend, and especially I made the video recipe, there are things that are better explained by watching them being done than by reading them.
Take a non-stick pan and place it on the stove with a medium-high flame. As you may have noticed from the list of ingredients, the use of oil or butter is not required for this recipe. In fact, we will cook the spinach chicken cutlets directly in the pan with a hot bottom without adding other fats. This temperature shock will already create a nice crispy browning on our spinach chicken cutlets, leaving the heart soft inside each one.
Cooking is about 5 minutes per side, turning them carefully with a kitchen spatula from time to time. This will help us not to blacken the surface of each spinach chicken cutlet and to check the uniform cooking. Then all that’s left is to serve our beautiful and crispy spinach chicken cutlets with chicken to our family or guests. Children go literally crazy for them, delicious and fragrant, you’ve never made them like this.
I wish you a good appetite and remind you that I’m here every day in my kitchen with many easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one!!!
If you are not yet bored of reading my recipes and you imagined yourself with mayonnaise and ketchup sitting on the couch biting into these delicious spinach and chicken cutlets think to the fries you didn’t prepare, or to the Greek sauce that would go perfectly. Did you look well at the photo? The sauce is already online among my recipes while for the fries, either choose precooked ones or you can prepare the rosemary roasted potatoes to bake.
Storage and Variations of the Recipe
Spinach Chicken Cutlets in the Pan
Storing homemade spinach chicken cutlets is very simple, once they are all cooked, we will let them cool to room temperature. Then we’ll take freezer bags if we want to freeze them, precooked like those we buy at the supermarket, to then defrost them whenever we want and heat them in a pan or oven easily and quickly. I recommend spacing one spinach chicken cutlet from another with a square of baking paper, this will prevent them from sticking together during the freezing process. Remember, though, to defrost them in time when you want to enjoy them.
Much simpler is storage in the refrigerator, we will always have to let the spinach chicken cutlets cool, then close them in a container with a lid and put them in the fridge. However, consider no more than two days, better to freeze them otherwise.
Much simpler is storage in the refrigerator, we will always have to let the spinach chicken cutlets cool, then close them in a container with a lid and put them in the fridge. However, consider no more than two days, better to freeze them otherwise.
Variations: a pinch of nutmeg? If you like it, I would add it willingly. And then varying the chicken meat to turkey could be another alternative, maybe because you already have some in the fridge.
Then, of course, we can choose fresh spinach as already indicated. And finally, vary the cooking itself, from the pan to the oven, turning them only once. I recommend oven in static mode at about 356°F for no more than ten minutes.
