Crock Pot Chicken Florentine

When my husband and I got married a few years ago, we had Chicken Florentine served to our guests and it was just so good!  The spinach mixed with that creamy sauce served with chicken and pasta really hit the spot.  Since I hadn't used my crock pot in a little while and I was just at home getting caught up on laundry this weekend while my husband still had several hours left at work, I decided to find the right recipe to try out.



After looking at some different options, I spotted a pretty simple Crock Pot Chicken Florentine one I had to try, changing out a couple of ingredients to work with what I had available.


I started off by melting the butter in a saucepan then adding in garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, milk and shredded cheese.  The orginal recipe called for whole milk, however I used 2% since it was on hand, and I also went with mixed Italian cheese rather than cheddar.  I stirred it frequently and heated until the cheese was melted, creating a thick sauce.

Then I sprayed the crock pot with olive oil to prevent sticking, and added in the frozen spinach.  I poured about half of the sauce over the spinach, then layered the chicken breasts over it.  I finished by pouring in the remainder of the cheese sauce.

After covering the Chicken Florentine with the lid, I set the crock pot heat to low and let it cook for 5 hours, until the chicken was shredding easily with a spoon.  I stirred the mixture about halfway through cooking so that the spinach was evenly distributed.

I made some whole wheat penne pasta to go with it, then scooped some chicken and sauce over the top.  My husband came home from work just in time to eat and commented on how great it smelled.

The chicken was so tender that it just shredded apart and had absorbed some awesome flavor from the sauce.  The noodles went perfectly and the sauce tasted awesome!  It was a bit thin, so next time I may do as the original recipe notes say and add in some flour to thicken in, but that certainly didn't have any negative affect on the flavor.  The Italian cheese blend I used in the sauce went great, also, though I'll have to try tossing in some cheddar next time to see what a change it makes.  All in all this made for a great dinner, and we're still feeding off leftovers.  I hadn't had Chicken Florentine in a long time, and this was definitely a great version!

Crock Pot Chicken Florentine Recipe

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tablespoons mixed Italian seasoning
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup shredded mixed Italian cheese
1 package frozen spinach (9 ounces)

Instructions:

Cook butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted. Stir in the garlic, lemon juice, cream of mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, milk and shredded cheese and heat until cheese is melted. Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray, then add frozen spinach to the bottom. Pour half the cheese sauce over the spinach, then add chicken breasts over the top and pour the remaining sauce over it. Cook for 5 hours on low heat.