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Chicken Florentine has lightly fried chicken breasts smothered in a cheesy white Mornay sauce with spinach and shallots.
What is Chicken Florentine?
Our recipe today is a class Chicken Florentine – no canned soups or short cuts involved. But – even though this sounds like fancy French cuisine – this meal really isn’t that difficult to prepare.
Any dish prepared à la Florentine – a classic French culinary term – refers to dishes that include a base of cooked spinach, a protein (in our case, chicken) and Mornay sauce.
As mentioned in our post from earlier this week, Mornay sauce is a roux-based* cream sauce with cheese added.
Decadent and delicious comfort food!
To make Chicken Florentine, you’ll lightly fry chicken breasts that have been butterflied, so they cook quickly and evenly. You’ll also make a thick and creamy cheese sauce with cooked spinach and shallots added. Simply spoon the sauce over the chicken – and you’re ready to serve this incredible meal.
What is a Roux? (And a cooking tip!)
- A *roux is a mixture of melted butter and flour. It is typically cooked “as-is” for a few minutes to remove any raw flour taste in the mixture.
- Then, the roux can be mixed with milk to create a white cream sauce (called a Bechamel) or added to other liquids, soups, and sauces to thicken.
- My husband Jack often cooks up a skillet of the roux, then cools it a bit. Next – he bags it in small zipper seal food storage bags and stores it in the refrigerator. This allows him to always have some roux on hand to quickly and easily thicken up a sauce or soup at moment’s notice.
Why you’ll love Chicken Florentine
- Simply put – it’s decadent and delicious comfort food!
- You can vary this recipe with other meats or seafood – that Mornay cheese sauce goes with so many different entrees!
- Although this dish is best freshly prepared, you can do some of the prep ahead of time – then cook up the chicken when your dinner guests arrive and reheat the sauce to spoon on top.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken – Choose plump, boneless, skinless chicken breasts about 6 to 8 ounces each.
- All-Purpose Flour – Used to coat the chicken and to create a roux for the sauce.
- Salt and Pepper
- Butter – Choose unsalted butter for this recipe. It is used in the sauce as well as to cook the chicken breasts.
- Shallots – Sliced shallots are added to the cheese sauce to lend a savory flavor that balances the richness of the sauce.
- White wine – Used to deglaze the pan. You can use chicken stock if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
- Spinach – We used fresh baby spinach, but you could also use fresh, fully-grown spinach – just remove the leaves from the tougher stems. Frozen, chopped spinach is also an option but you’ll want to completely thaw and squeeze out all the water before adding to the sauce. (Two 10-ounce packages of frozen spinach should equal the fresh quantity listed in the ingredients list.)
- Mornay Sauce – The sauce is made with whole milk, Gruyere cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, white pepper, dry mustard, and freshly grated nutmeg – plus more of the butter and all-purpose flour.
Special Tools Needed
- Shallow bowl or pie plate – For the flour dredge
- Medium saucepan – To heat the milk
- Large, deep skillet – To cook the chicken and make the sauce
- Cutting board and sharp knife
- Various measuring cups and spoons
- Tongs – To flip the chicken (never use a fork to pierce the meat when cooking)
- Wooden Spoon
- Platter – To hold the cooked chicken
- Bowl – To hold the cooked vegetables
How do I make Chicken Florentine?
- Butterfly the chicken, then dredge in seasoned flour.
- Heat milk but do not allow it to boil.
- Cook the chicken, then remove to a platter and cover with foil.
- Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel.
- Cook the shallots, then add spinach to wilt. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Pour the contents into a bowl.
- Prepare the cheese sauce.
- Add cooked spinach/shallot mixture to the sauce.
- Spoon sauce over cooked chicken to serve.
Cooking Tips
- For this recipe, butterfly the chicken breasts rather than pounding them thin with a meat tenderizer. Butterflying will yield an even thickness for cooking, while yielding a nice juicy bite of chicken when eating.
- Easily adjust the final thickness of the cheese sauce for serving. Add more cheese to make it thicker; add more milk to make it thinner.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make Chicken Florentine ahead of time? This recipe really is the best when cooked and served at once. But, you can butterfly the chicken ahead of time, then fry it up just before serving. The Mornay sauce can also be prepared ahead of time and reheated – but it is best when freshly made. (Note that you will likely need to thin the sauce with some additional milk if made ahead of time.)
- How do I store leftovers? Store refrigerated for up to three days.
- How do I reheat leftovers? We find that a gentle reheat in the microwave is the best.
- Can I freeze? The cooked chicken can be frozen, but the sauce will separate once thawed and reheated.
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Chicken Florentine
Chicken Florentine has lightly fried chicken breasts smothered in a cheesy white Mornay sauce with spinach and shallots.
Ingredients
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (four 6-to-8-ounce breasts)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 quart whole milk, plus more as needed for a thinner sauce
10 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup shallots, sliced
12 ounces fresh baby spinach, any large stems removed
1/3 cup white wine
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded, plus more as needed for a thicker sauce
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Butterfly the chicken breasts so that they are an even thickness (approximately 1/2″ thick).
- In a bowl or pie plate, mix one cup of flour with one teaspoon of salt and the black pepper.
- Dredge the chicken in the seasoned flour on both sides.
- Heat whole milk in a saucepan but do not boil.
- In a large deep skillet, melt four tablespoons of butter over medium to medium low heat and cook chicken on both sides until internal temperature reaches 155 degree F., about 10-15 minutes. If you can not fit all four pieces in at once, cook in two batches with two tablespoons of butter each. Remove chicken to a platter and loosely cover with foil.
- Wipe pan out and heat two more tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Once melted, add shallots, and cook for three minutes.
- Add spinach to wilt, about two minutes, then add wine to deglaze the pan. Cook until most of the wine has evaporated, about 2-3 more minutes. Remove the shallot and spinach mixture to a bowl.
- Reheat the pan over medium heat and add the remaining four tablespoons of butter.
- Once melted, add the remaining quarter cup of flour, and cook and stir for three minutes.
- While whisking, add one ladle full of milk at a time to form the white sauce. It will start out very thick and continue to smooth out as you continue to add milk. Whisk vigorously as you add each ladle full.
- Add the Gruyere cheese, Parmesan cheese, the last teaspoon of kosher salt, the white pepper, mustard powder and nutmeg and whisk and cook until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce smooth. Do not let the mixture boil, keep the heat adjusted so that it is hot but not bubbling.
- Before adding the shallot and spinach mixture, this is your opportunity to make the sauce thicker or thinner per your taste. To make it thicker, add more Gruyere Swiss. To make it thinner, add more milk (Milk added at this stage does not need to be heated first)
- Once the sauce is where you like it, add the cooked spinach and shallot mixture and heat just to serving temperature.
- Pour the finished sauce over the chicken for serving. If the chicken has cooled down, you could nestle the pieces into the finished sauce to reheat, then serve.
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Awesome!
Thanks Elizabeth!
sounds wonderful like you would get in a 5 star restaurant in Paris – France. Just wish it was simpler to make. I am on my way to buy the gruyere cheese the baby spinach (organic) and additional whole milk. WOW! what a winner. Thank you
Thanks Jacqueline – I hope you’ll find it’s not overly difficult to make! Enjoy.