Fast Answer
Chicken thighs, not breasts, are why this dish holds up in the sauce — they can sit and simmer for the last few minutes without drying out. If you swap in breasts, pull them at 155–160°F and add them back to the sauce only at the very end.
How a Hurricane, a Full Fridge, and One Neglected Bag of Spinach Became Our Go-To Dinner
Meg built this on a Tuesday in August 2020, when Hurricane Isaias knocked out the good weather and left us all wanting something that felt like effort without being effort.
She pulled it from a recipe we already loved — chicken thighs with mushrooms and artichoke hearts — and swapped in a bag of spinach that had been sitting in the crisper too long. It’s been the same recipe since. I’ve never had a reason to change it.
Start Here
- Pan matters: Use a skillet wide enough to hold all six thigh pieces without crowding — you'll sear the chicken, then the mushrooms, then build the sauce in the same pan, so size it for the busiest step.
- Prep before you turn on the heat: Mince the garlic, slice the mushrooms, and measure the cream and broth before the chicken hits the pan — this moves fast once the sauce starts.
- Don't skip the rest: Let the seared chicken sit under foil while the mushrooms and sauce come together — it finishes cooking gently in the sauce later, so it doesn't need to be fully done when it comes out of the pan.
What Most Cooks Get Wrong
- Problem: Dumping the whole 10-ounce package of mushrooms into the pan at once to save a step.
- What happens: The pan temperature drops, the mushrooms release their water before they can brown, and you end up steaming them instead of searing them — gray and rubbery instead of golden.
- Fix: Give them a single layer and leave them alone for the first few minutes. If your pan's too small to fit them in one layer, do it in two batches instead.
Why This Works
- Browning builds the base: Searing the chicken and mushrooms first leaves fond in the pan — that's what the broth and cream pick up when you deglaze, so the sauce has depth before the cheese ever goes in.
- The roux does the real work: A tablespoon of flour whisked into the garlic and fat thickens the sauce without cornstarch's glossy, starchy texture — it stays silky instead of gluey.
- The cheese is the mac-and-cheese instinct: Meg borrowed that idea on purpose — Romano melted into a broth-and-cream base gives you the comfort of a cheese sauce without the weight of a full béchamel.
Quick Fixes and Tips
- Sauce looks grainy: That's the cheese seizing from too much heat, not too little flour — drop to low and stir it back together rather than adding more flour.
- Using chicken breast instead of thighs: Pull it earlier and don't let it linger in the simmering sauce — breast overcooks fast, thighs are far more forgiving.
- Half & half vs. heavy cream: Half & half is what we usually have on hand, but it breaks more easily under high heat — heavy cream is the safer swap if you're distracted or cooking on a hot stove.
- Leftovers, reinvented: Extra rice and a spoonful of the spinach sauce with a poached egg on top is a genuinely good breakfast — that's not a stretch, we've done it more than once.
Chicken Mushrooms and Spinach Recipe
Equipment
- large skillet
Ingredients
- 6 chicken thighs skinless, boneless
- 10 ounces button mushrooms cleaned and sliced
- 2 cups fresh spinach cleaned
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup half & half or cream
- ½ cup romano cheese grated, parmesan works too
- salt and pepper to taste or try a favorite seasoning
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry, cut each piece in half, and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon each of butter and oil. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the chicken.
- Cook 4–5 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reads 165°F for a fully cooked piece — a little under is fine here, since it finishes in the sauce later. Remove, cover with foil, and set aside.
- Cook 4–5 minutes per side, until the internal temperature reads 165°F for a fully cooked piece — a little under is fine here, since it finishes in the sauce later. Remove, cover with foil, and set aside.
- Add another tablespoon each of butter and oil to the same pan. When melted, add the mushrooms in a single layer — don't stir them right away. Let them sit over medium heat for 5 minutes, until browned on one side, then toss to finish. Remove and set aside.
- Add the remaining butter and oil (2 tablespoons each) to the pan. Sauté the garlic over medium-low for about 2 minutes, until just light brown — watch it closely, since it goes from golden to bitter fast.
- Sprinkle in the flour and whisk constantly for a few seconds, just until it disappears into the butter and garlic — that's the roux. Drizzle in the chicken broth and half & half, whisking as you go, and bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, stir in the grated cheese until it melts into the sauce, then season with salt and pepper. The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and holds a clean line if you run a finger through it.
- Add the spinach and stir until it wilts into the sauce — this takes less than a minute.
- Return the mushrooms to the pan, then nestle the chicken pieces into the sauce along with any juices they released. Simmer another 3 minutes over medium-low heat until the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Plate the chicken and spoon the sauce over everything.
Notes
When the Weather’s Bad, Cook Comfort Food
By Meg Jones – mother, professional, contributor.
We were lucky to have both of our daughters home this week, and as always, the most time we spent together was in the kitchen and at the dinner table. Tuesday was a miserable day weather-wise since the residuals of Hurricane Isaias were upon us, so everyone was in the mood for “healthy” comfort food. How about chicken, mushrooms, and spinach?
When I think of comfort food, I think of dishes like macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie, or stew. And because of the nasty weather, I wanted to make do with what we had on hand, starting with the giant bag of fresh spinach that had been sorely neglected.
I decided to draw on one of my favorites, Chicken Thighs with Mushrooms and Artichoke Hearts, substituting spinach for the artichokes. I also wanted to borrow from the mac & cheese concept and incorporate a creamy, cheesy sauce…. but not TOO heavy since it’s August and “healthy.”
I started rooting around in my freezer and fridge to see what we had available. I defrosted a package of six boneless, skinless chicken thighs plus a quart of homemade chicken stock. I pulled a package of mushrooms out along with the spinach and started to cook.
I cut the thighs in half to make the sizes more manageable, dried them with paper towels, and gave them a dash of salt and pepper. Once the chicken was seared and set aside, I sautéed the mushrooms — I like to let them sit without much fuss, so there’s minimal stirring. Then I built the sauce: five cloves of garlic, because we like a lot of garlic, a roux, chicken broth, half & half, half a cup of grated Romano for that comfort-food feel, and my favorite, Morton’s Nature’s Seasons Seasoning Blend, to taste.
Then, onto the spinach. I grabbed two handfuls from the bag and dropped them into the sauce, stirring to help the wilting. I returned the mushrooms to the sauce, stirred it, and finally nestled the chicken pieces back in, along with their juices. Another three or four minutes of simmering and the dish was complete.
I could have served it as is, but I decided to make rice since I had three cups of broth defrosted from my original quart. I combined 1½ cups of brown rice with the 3 cups of broth in a rice steamer, and voilà — rich and creamy, and it enhanced the “comfort” of the dish.
We put a scoop of rice in each of the four dinner bowls, topped it with the chicken pieces doled out relatively equitably, and spooned the sauce over everything. It was a massive hit with the fam, and we even had rice left over for a breakfast favorite — rice and spinach with a poached egg.
So give it a try with whatever you have on hand, and I promise you will not be disappointed.
What to Serve With This
- Rice: What we usually make it with — it soaks up the sauce and doubles as next-morning breakfast.
- Egg noodles: The original pairing suggestion, and readers have confirmed it works.
- Crusty bread: If you'd rather not commit to a starch, bread does the job of getting the sauce off the plate.
- A sharp green salad: Arugula with a lemony vinaigrette cuts through the cream instead of adding more richness.
- Wine: A dry Sauvignon Blanc or unoaked Chardonnay matches the cream sauce; if you want red, keep it light — a Pinot Noir won't fight the dish.
Storage and Make-Ahead
- Fridge: Keeps 3–4 days in an airtight container.
- Reheating: Do it low and slow on the stovetop, or in the microwave at half power — full-power microwave heat is the fastest way to break a cream sauce.
- Freezing: Not recommended — the cream sauce separates on thawing.
- Getting ahead of it: Sear the chicken and mushrooms earlier in the day and hold them covered in the fridge; build the sauce fresh right before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs? Yes — a reader made it that way, and it worked. Pull the breast earlier, closer to 155–160°F, since it overcooks faster than thighs during the final simmer.
What can I serve with chicken, mushroom, and spinach? Rice or egg noodles are the go-tos here — both soak up the sauce, and rice doubles as a next-morning breakfast with a poached egg.
What sauce goes well with chicken and spinach? A light roux-based cream sauce, like this one — broth and half & half thickened with a small amount of flour, then finished with cheese for body without heaviness.
Is it okay to eat chicken and mushroom together? Yes — there’s no conflict between them, and the combination is common precisely because the mushrooms’ savoriness backs up the chicken instead of competing with it.
Can I use frozen spinach instead of fresh? Yes, but thaw and squeeze it dry first — frozen spinach holds a lot of water, and skipping this step will thin out the sauce.
Why did my sauce turn grainy? The cheese seized from too much heat. Drop to low heat and stir it back together rather than adding more flour or cheese.
Can I make this ahead of time? Partially — sear the chicken and mushrooms ahead and refrigerate, but build the sauce fresh, since it doesn’t hold or reheat as well once the cheese is in.
What can I substitute for half and half? Heavy cream is the safest swap and is less likely to break under heat; whole milk works in a pinch but will give you a thinner sauce.
Can I freeze this dish? Not recommended — the cream sauce separates once thawed and won’t come back together the same way.
What mushrooms work best? Button mushrooms are what the recipe was built on, but cremini or a mix will work just as well — just don’t cut the pieces smaller, or they’ll overcook before they brown.
- This recipe started as a swap on our chicken thighs with mushrooms and artichoke hearts — worth trying if you want the original version Meg adapted from.
- The mushroom-browning step is the one people rush most — how to cook mushrooms perfectly breaks down why crowding the pan is the real culprit.
- If you're not sure the chicken is actually done, when is chicken done covers the temperatures that actually work instead of guessing by color.
- Spinach shows up in a lot of our recipes — our spinach guide covers how to store, prep, and cook it so it doesn't turn watery.
- If you like the mushroom-and-cream-sauce combination, our chicken Marsala recipe uses a similar pan-sauce technique with wine instead of broth.
- Want a side that isn't rice or noodles? carrot purée gives you something a little more restaurant-style on the plate.
8 Responses
Made it and we loved it, only boneless chicken breast
Hi Liz, thanks for letting me know.
I made this tonight after the blizzard of 26 here in NE. Yum!!!!!
HI Kara, thanks for letting me know. Crazy storm. Stay warm.
Excellent!! This is delicious and tastes great over noodles.Thanks for the yummy recipe!
Hi Gail, glad you enjoyed this one-pan-meal.
Absolutely delicious!! Paired it with some risotto and it was wonderful. Excellent for pasta as well (next time).
Thanks, Edna, for letting me know.