Rating: 4.5 stars
8 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 6
  • 4 star values: 1
  • 3 star values: 1
  • 2 star values: 0
  • 1 star values: 0

This simple, ultra-quick chicken dinner—packed with spinach and peppers—is delicious on its own or served over brown rice or your favorite pasta.

EatingWell.com, February 2020; updated October 2022

Gallery

Credit: Diana Chistruga

Recipe Summary

active:
25 mins
total:
25 mins
Servings:
4
Advertisement

Can I Use Chicken Breast Instead of Thighs?

Yes! Chicken breast or chicken tenderloins can be used in place of the chicken thighs. So long as they are cut into bite-sized pieces, the cooking time remains the same.

What Can I Serve with Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach?

This one-skillet meal is perfect served over whole-wheat pasta or brown rice. For a low-carb dinner, you can serve it over cooked spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. To keep things ultra-fast and simple, serve this easy chicken and spinach recipe with a piece of crusty bread to soak up all the leftover sauce.

Tips for the Best Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach

This recipe is easy to master and takes only 25 minutes from start to finish. Keep these things in mind when you're making this chicken and spinach dish for the first time:

Add the Spinach in Batches

This recipe calls for 10 cups of spinach, which is a lot! In order for it to all fit in the pan, add the spinach in batches (by the handful) letting the first batch wilt before you add another.

Serve It Right Away

The lemon and white wine in this recipe are both acidic and can turn the spinach brown if it sits too long. The taste will remain unchanged, but this dish will be most presentable right after it leaves the stove, so plan on serving it right away.

Additional reporting by Hilary Meyer 

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

Directions

Instructions Checklist
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, bell pepper, salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is just cooked through, 7 to 9 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Whisk wine and cornstarch together in a measuring cup. Add to the pan along with the lemon juice and zest; stir to coat, then bring to a simmer. Add spinach by the handful; cook, stirring, until wilted, about 2 minutes more. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

    Advertisement

Nutrition Facts

1 cup
317 calories; protein 25.9g; carbohydrates 11.1g; dietary fiber 4.3g; sugars 2.1g; fat 16.1g; saturated fat 3.7g; cholesterol 78.4mg; vitamin a iu 10420IU; vitamin c 93.2mg; folate 26mcg; calcium 183.9mg; iron 6.1mg; magnesium 128.1mg; potassium 287.4mg; sodium 525.9mg.
Advertisement