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This 3-ingredient Chicken Florentine Casserole is Creamy, comforting, and easy enough for busy nights. Chicken bakes over spinach and condensed cream of chicken soup for a warm, cozy dinner with almost no prep. You’re going to love how simple it is.
Why You’ll Love It
- Just three main ingredients — chicken, frozen spinach, and condensed cream of chicken soup.
- Easy built-in sauce — the soup turns into a creamy sauce right in the baking dish.
- Tender, cozy chicken — baking under foil keeps the chicken moist while the spinach softens into the sauce.
- Flexible for serving — spoon it over rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes for a fuller meal.
Ingredient Notes
The frozen chopped spinach needs to be thawed and drained really, really well. This is the one thing I will fuss about. Spinach holds onto water like it has a personal grudge, and if you don’t squeeze it out, your casserole can get thin and watery. I put it in a clean kitchen towel and wring it out over the sink. Yes, it looks a little dramatic. No, I do not care.
Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If yours are the enormous kind that look like they came from a chicken that had a gym membership, slice them horizontally or pound them to an even thickness before baking. They’ll cook more evenly that way. I prefer smaller breasts when I can find them, though I’m not above working with what’s on sale.
For the condensed cream of chicken soup, I use the familiar red-and-white can most of the time. There are store brands that work just fine too. This is not the moment to get precious. Don’t dilute it with water or milk; it goes into the dish straight from the can, thick and gloopy and exactly right for this particular job.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, preferably not wildly uneven in thickness
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and very well drained—I mean squeeze it like you mean it
- 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a medium casserole dish or a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Spread the thawed, thoroughly drained chopped spinach evenly over the bottom of the dish. Try to break up any big clumps with your fingers or a fork. Then spoon the condensed cream of chicken soup over the spinach and gently spread it around so most of the spinach is covered. It does not have to look perfect. It’s going in the oven, not posing for a catalog.
Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer over the spinach and soup mixture. Press each one down just slightly so it settles into the sauce. Very thick chicken breasts can take longer in the center while the edges get a little more done than you want.
Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. The foil is important because it keeps the chicken from drying out while everything gets going. Use foil that actually reaches the edges, too—not a loose little hat perched on top.
Remove the foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is bubbling around the edges. The top should have a little color, though this is not going to turn into a deeply browned, crispy-topped casserole on its own. It’s creamy and soft and unapologetically comforting.
Let the casserole sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. This gives the sauce a chance to settle down instead of running all over the plate. Spoon the creamy spinach alongside each chicken breast. If you have rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes, put them underneath and let that sauce do what it was born to do.
Variations
If you don’t mind stretching the three-ingredient idea a bit—and I usually don’t, because rules are rules until cheese enters the conversation—you can scatter shredded mozzarella or Parmesan over the top during the last 10 minutes of baking. It gives you a prettier golden finish and a little more richness. Parmesan is especially nice if you have the kind in the refrigerator, though the shelf-stable stuff has saved many a busy supper around here.
Chop the cooked chicken into bite-size pieces before serving, especially when kids are around. It makes the spinach less “suspicious.” Still, chopping it all together does make every bite creamy and easy to scoop over noodles.
I tried using fresh spinach once, a whole giant bag of it, thinking I was being very wholesome and modern. It cooked down to practically nothing, released more moisture than I expected, and left me irritated at a vegetable. Frozen chopped spinach is better here. There, I said it.
For a fuller meal, serve the casserole over rice or buttered egg noodles from the beginning. Green beans, roasted carrots, or a simple salad are nice on the side. Warm rolls are even nicer, especially for cleaning every last bit of sauce from the plate.
Storage & Reheating
Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for about three days, covered tightly. I usually store the chicken and sauce together in a shallow container, because separating them feels like the kind of extra task I am not taking on after dinner.
To reheat, cover a portion loosely and warm it in the microwave until hot, stopping once or twice if you remember to stir the spinach sauce around the chicken. The microwave does not make it glamorous, but it makes it lunch, and lunch is a noble purpose. You can also reheat it covered in a 350°F oven until warmed through, especially if you have several servings left.
The sauce may look a little looser after chilling, which is normal. Stir it around and serve it over rice or noodles. Frankly, leftover chicken Florentine tucked into a bowl of noodles is sometimes better the next day. I said sometimes. I’m not starting a fight with freshly baked casserole.
Final Notes
There is something comforting about a recipe that doesn’t demand a lot from you. There are enough things demanding a lot—insurance forms, group texts, the mysterious annual appearance of ants near the laundry room, and trying to remember whether you already told that story about the cashier at the hardware store.
This casserole is not fancy. It isn’t supposed to be. It’s the kind of food that belongs on a table when the day has been long and everybody is a little tired and somebody says they’re starving five minutes before dinner is ready.
Make it when you need an easy supper. Make it when spinach is lurking in the freezer. Make it with noodles and a roll and maybe a salad if the mood strikes. Or don’t. The world will keep spinning either way, and there will still be a warm, creamy spoonful of spinach sauce waiting in the bottom of the dish…
Oven Baked 3-Ingredient Chicken Florentine Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts preferably not wildly uneven in thickness
- 1 package frozen chopped spinach 10 ounces, thawed and very well drained
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup 10 3/4 ounces, undiluted
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a medium casserole dish or a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- Spread the thawed, thoroughly drained chopped spinach evenly over the bottom of the dish, breaking up any big clumps with your fingers or a fork, then spoon the condensed cream of chicken soup over the spinach and gently spread it so most of the spinach is covered.
- Arrange the chicken breasts in a single layer over the spinach and soup mixture, pressing each one down slightly so it settles into the sauce.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes so the chicken stays moist while everything begins cooking.
- Remove the foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is bubbling around the edges.
- Let the casserole sit for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, then spoon the creamy spinach alongside each chicken breast and serve over rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes if desired.