Creole Chicken Florentine is simple to prepare but elegant to serve. Chicken breasts with traditional creole seasonings simmered in a creamy spinach florentine sauce fortified with tomatoes. Serve with rice or pasta and a hint of parmesan cheese and you have a simple but elegant company-worthy dish.
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What Makes this Dish So Good?
Florentine dishes typically describe dishes with a creamy spinach sauce made with wine, cream, and butter. Chicken Florentine originates in classic French cuisine, as do many Creole and Cajun dishes. As the name implies, there is an interesting Italian element in that aristocrat Catherine de Medici of Florence, Italy married into French royalty in the 1500s, bringing along spinach seeds and her chefs when she relocated to France.
This Creole Chicken Florentine recipe adds tomatoes and Creole Seasonings to a typical Florentine sauce, meshing French, Italian, and Spanish elements. Fusing various cuisines while using locally available ingredients is the foundation of Creole cuisine.
Here’s What You Need
A complete list of ingredients, with quantities, can be found in the Recipe Card below.
Ingredient Notes
Chicken: I use boneless skinless breasts in this recipe. Boneless skinless thighs also work, as do chicken tenderloins. You can also substitute store-bought rotisserie chicken or packaged, cooked chicken breast meat. Check out the Hints and Tips section below for changes to the cooking method with pre-cooked chicken.
Tomatoes: This recipe was developed using fresh Roma tomatoes. Any variety of tomatoes will work, as long as they are ripe. You can substitute canned diced or whole tomatoes if you prefer. Drain the canned tomatoes before adding, making sure to reserve the liquid in case it's needed later.
Shallots: Onions provide a background flavor to the sauce. Shallots have a mild onion/garlicky flavor, but you can substitute Yellow, white, or Purple onions in place of the shallots.
Spinach: I developed this recipe using fresh spinach. You can substitute frozen spinach. Defrost and squeeze any water out of the frozen spinach before adding. Use about 2 cups of frozen spinach.
Dry White Wine: Use a dry white wine like Savonoin Blanc, Chardonnay, or Dry Vermouth. If you don't want to use wine, substitute a little chicken or vegetable stock or, if nothing else is available you can use water. If you don’t use wine, add an additional teaspoon of lemon juice, white vinegar, or apple cider vinegar to replace the acid from the wine.
Lemon: A small amount of lemon juice along with the lemon zest (not to mention the tomatoes) provides a slightly acidic balance to the fat from the heavy cream and butter.
Parmesan Cheese: Substituting Romano cheese is an option. I like to use freshly grated cheese, but pre-grated will work fine.
Salt: I use salt-free Le Bon Papa Creole Seasoning. If you use a seasoning containing salt, hold off on adding salt until you taste it. Other sources of salt in this recipe are the parmesan cheese and the butter. Substituting chicken or vegetable stock may also add salt. Taste before adding any salt!
Equipment
No special equipment is needed for this recipe. You can throw it all together in a 12” non-stick skillet. If you decide to mix cooked pasta into the Creole Chicken Florentine, make sure to use a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients.
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Hints and Tips (FAQ)
Leftover Creole Chicken Florentine should be cooled to room temperature before refrigerating in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days. Leftovers can be warmed on the stovetop or the microwave. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Defrost before reheating.
Food for thought: I never have liked freezing cream sauces or cooked pasta. The cream sauce can separate and the pasta can get mushy. I think the tomatoes help a bit, but it never seems to be as good as freshly made. Proceed with care!
If you want to do this a day or two in advance, do it in stages. Saute the chicken, then cool it. Place the chicken in an airtight container and refrigerate. Use the saute pan to make the sauce through the step when cream is added. Let the sauce cool, then refrigerate that in an airtight container. When you are ready to serve the meal, put the sauce back in the saute pan, and continue at the step of adding the chicken. Add the parmesan cheese just before serving.
Yes, store-bought rotisserie or even store-bought grilled chicken breast will work fine. You will lose out on the flavor of sauteeing the chicken in the pan, but you’ll make up for it with significant time savings. Pull the meat off the bones, season with the Chicken Seasoning, and chop as desired. Add the seasoned chicken to the sauce in the same step you add the sauteed chicken at the end. Since it's already fully cooked, you only have to warm it through, so that's another time saver.
Use a pasta that will grab the sauce. Penne pasta with ridges is good, but so is linguine, fettuccini, rotinni, and fanfatel. Whichever pasta you choose, make sure to cook it to al denté.
Here’s What You Do
First…you have a beer. The key to an enjoyable cooking experience is to be prepared. That includes the ingredients and yourself. Get in the right frame of mind by relaxing with a beer while you read the recipe all the way through. You’ll learn what you need and what you will do with each ingredient. Then, gather your ingredients and perform your mise en place. You will be ready to go and the process will be enjoyable and no-angst.
Mise en Place
Each ingredient should be prepared before you start to cook. That way, most of the work will be done and all you have to do is execute the recipe.
To Prepare the Chicken:
Trim any excess fat from the boneless skinless chicken breasts. You have some options for cutting the chicken:
- slice the breasts into bite-size pieces
- slice the breasts into strips
- slice the breasts in half lengthwise horizontally and pound them into approximately ¼ inch pieces. (You can further cut larger pieces into smaller pieces if you desire).
Remaining Ingredients:
- Zest a lemon and squeeze the lemon juice.
- In a small prep bowl, combine the ingredients for the Herb and Spice Blend (dry thyme, dry oregano, kosher salt, and white pepper) and the Chicken Seasoning (zest of lemon, Creole seasoning, kosher salt, and white pepper).
- Apply the Chicken Seasoning liberally to the chicken and set aside to marinate while you prepare the other ingredients.
- Peel, de-seed, and rough chop the fresh tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to drain. If you’re not sure how to peel fresh tomatoes, check out my article How to Peel Fresh Tomatoes.
- If you are using canned tomatoes, drain them in a strainer and reserve the liquid.
- Cut the stems off the spinach leaves. This is an optional step, but one that I think makes the final dish more appealing and enjoyable to eat.
- Remove the stems from the fresh basil, stack, roll, and chop the leaves. Set aside in a small prep bowl.
- Finely chop the shallots and garlic. Place them in separate bowls.
- Grate the cheese (if necessary) and measure the remaining ingredients.
Step 1: Brown the Chicken and Saute the Aromatics
What happens in this step? This will be our first layer of flavor. By browning the chicken and then sauting the aromatics in that pan, we lay a foundation for the sauce. This step goes pretty quickly because we are not trying to brown anything.
- Place a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the seasoned chicken until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove the chicken and reserve.
- Adjust the heat to medium under the same pan and add the butter. When the butter is bubbly, add the shallots and saute for about 1 minute.
Lagniappe Tip: These 4 steps must go fast. Make sure your heat is right, all your ingredients are prepared, and stay with the pan until the aromatics are ready for the tomatoes.
- Add the garlic, dry thyme, dry oregano, kosher salt, and white pepper.
- Once all the ingredients are mixed, saute for about 2 minutes.
Step 2: Create the Sauce
What happens in this step? Now that we have built flavor in our pan, we will build our cream sauce, starting with the vegetables and wine, before finishing with the cream.
- Maintaining a medium heat, add the chopped tomatoes. Reserve any juice that has accumulated in case you need more liquid later. Stir well and saute for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the white wine. Once the wine starts to simmer, reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half which will take only about 5 minutes.
- Add the fresh basil, then add the spinach a couple of handfuls at a time. Mix to combine and saute, stirring often until the spinach is wilted. Continue to add more spinach in this fashion until it is all added to the sauce. This should take only about 5 minutes.
- Next, increase the heat again to medium-high. Stir or whisk in the heavy cream. When it reaches a simmer, reduce the heat to medium and maintain the simmer for about 5 minutes. The sauce should begin to thicken slightly.
Lagniappe Tip:
- It looks like a ton of spinach while you are adding it, but the fresh spinach will wilt and shrink quite a bit when cooked.
- Resist the urge to reduce the cream too much; simmer for only 5 minutes then add the chicken.
Step 3: Finish With the Chicken and Parmesan
What happens in this step? The chicken finishes cooking in the sauce before rounding out the flavor with parmesan.
- Continuing over medium heat, add the browned chicken to the cream sauce and mix well. Simmer for about 10 minutes while the chicken finishes cooking.
- Turn off the heat. Add the Parmesan cheese and toss together. Let it sit for a few minutes before serving.
Lagniappe Tip: If you have substituted store-bought precooked chicken, just cook long enough to warm through, no more than 5 minutes.
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Serving Suggestions
This super flavorful Main Dish can be served alongside pasta or rice but can also be mixed into pasta. Check out the Hints and Tips (FAQ) Section for suggestions on types of pasta that work well with Creole Chicken Florentine. Whichever way you go, have some crispy French bread and grated parmesan cheese for serving.
This dish is best when it's served immediately. If you are not able to serve it immediately, turn off the heat after simmering the cream for 5 minutes and let the pan sit. About 15 or 20 minutes before you are ready to serve, start to cook the pasta (or rice). Add the reserved chicken to the cream sauce and bring the pan to a low simmer. Everything will be ready to go at the same time and the chicken will not be overcooked.
To serve, place a layer of sauce with lots of spinach on a plate. Place some of the chicken pieces over the sauce and some pasta (or rice) on the side. Spoon some sauce over the chicken and the pasta.
Alternatively, add the pasta directly to the pan with the Creole Chicken Florentine. Add a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water and mix well. Thoroughly mix in the parmesan cheese and plate the dish immediately.
However you serve it, grate some additional parmesan on top!
Side Dishes for Creole Chicken Florentine
A crisp green salad with Creole Vinaigrette or a Sensation Salad will round out the meal with any of these great sides:
Other Great Chicken Dishes
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Recipe
Creole Chicken Florentine
Here's What You Need
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ pound Chicken Breasts Boneless Skinless-See Notes
- 1 cup finely chopped shallots
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 cups roma tomatoes peeled and chopped
- 1 cup Dry White Wine
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 8 cups fresh baby spinach
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
Herb and Spice Blend
- 1 tablespoon dry oregano
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
Chicken Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
Here's What You Do
- Combine ingredients for the Herb and Spice Blend and the Chicken Seasoning in separate bowls.
- Slice chicken breasts into bite-size pieces. Apply the Chicken Seasoning liberally to the chicken and set aside
- Peel, de-seed, and roughly chop the tomatoes. De-stem the spinach. Prepare the remaining ingredients. See Notes.
- Place a saute pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Saute the seasoned chicken pieces until browned on all sides; about 5 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside. This may be done in batches.
- To the same saute pan, add the butter and reduce the heat to medium. Once the butter is bubbly, add the shallots and saute for about 1 minute. Add the garlic and the Herb and Spice Blend. Continue to saute for another 2 minutes. Make sure to scrape any brown bits off the bottom.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for about 5 minutes. If needed, use a splash of the white wine to deglaze the pan.
- Add the dry white wine. When it starts to simmer, lower the heat to medium and simmer until reduced by about half. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Add the fresh spinach and fresh basil. Mix well to combine and simmer until the spinach is wilted. Add the spinach in batches, letting it wilt before adding more. This will take around 5 minutes.
- Increase the heat to medium-high and add the heavy cream. As soon as it starts to simmer, reduce the heat and maintain a very low simmer for about 5 minutes. The cream should thicken slightly.
- To the cream sauce, add browned chicken with any juice that has accumulated. Mix well and maintain a slight simmer for about 10 minutes while the chicken finishes cooking. See Notes.
- Add the Parmesan cheese and toss it all together. Let the pan sit for about 5 minutes, then serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Estimate
I originally published this recipe in 2018 under the name Chicken Penne. That recipe was good but did not work the way I thought it should. Here I am publishing a revision to the original recipe, with adjustments to some ingredients and the addition of heavy cream. I have also added an article with step-by-step instructions with pictures and some helpful Hints and Tips.
It's Me!
Louisiana is a wonderful place where the rich cultural heritage enriches and entertains. I'm Dave Howson, aka Sweet Daddy D. I'm glad you found my website and I look forward to exploring the cultural mosaic of Louisiana with you…
read the "It's Me" page to find out more about me and this website…
Sisbow Jackson
Just got home from the MardiGras parade in Opelousas and the after party! Wish this was waiting for us! I have all the ingredients except spinach...going to the store in the am! 💚💜💛
Sweet Daddy D
I did some Mardi Gras-ing myself yesterday. It was great to see your comment, I appreciate you giving my recipe a try. I hope you like it!