Anna’s 3 Cheese Italian Chicken

Plan Z Phase: This is a Z3 (ZReboot) recipe.

Dieter Anna sent this fantastic recipe in to us that we would love to share with you! Thank you Anna!

Anna’s comments on this recipe:

My husband and 4 year old daughter love this dish – they both go back for seconds when I make it. The ricotta cheese gives it that “lasagna” flavor and you don’t even miss the noodles.

You can add more or less spinach and mushrooms according to your family’s preferences. I add plenty of mushrooms and spinach to bulk up this meal.

Servings: Serves 6-8

Serving size is 1-1/2 cups

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of chicken breast, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 Tbl Italian seasoning
  • 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce (Newman’s Own brand works, and has no added sugar, but feel free to look for others as well)
  • 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, shredded
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • 14 oz. ricotta cheese, whole milk
  • 3 cups fresh spinach, chopped
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
  • fresh basil, optional 

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Thinly slice the chicken breasts, place on a heated grill pan and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.

Cook until juices run clear. Let the chicken rest five minutes so the juices don’t run out when you slice it. After chicken has rested, chop it in to 1″ pieces.

Pour a little of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan. Place your previously chopped chicken in the pan, then spoon ricotta cheese on top and spread it out over the chicken. Then create an even layer of spinach leaves on top. My family doesn’t like big spinach leaves so I tear them in to smaller pieces- you can buy baby spinach if you prefer.

If you have button mushrooms, go ahead and roughly chop and distribute them evenly over the top of the spinach. If you have sliced mushrooms, just skip the chopping step and layer them on the spinach.

Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese evenly across the pan and add fresh basil leaves on top. I grow my own basil so I usually pick the medium sized leaves from my plant. You can chop the basil if you want, I leave mine whole.

Pour the remaining spaghetti sauce on top of everything, making sure to spread it out so that it covers the entire pan of ingredients. Finish by topping with shredded mozzarella.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes, then broil for 4-5 minutes on high to brown the top of your cheese.