Italian Chicken Saltimbocca recipe with spinach, prosciutto, and fontina cheese. This is a classy meal that is great for a dinner party.
Cookbook Feature Recipe: Chicken Saltimbocca
This week I want to highlight this chicken saltimbocca recipe because it is one of the 80 recipes featured in the new cookbook! The cookbook is filled with NEW recipes, but I included one-or-two of my favorites recipes from the blog in the cookbook.
This chicken recipe is extra special to me because it was the first recipe I cooked for my parents, about 23 years ago! I’ll give you more of the details below.
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The first time I made this dish I was around sixteen years old and decided I wanted to make a fancy meal for my parents. Searching around the house I found one of my mom’s cookbooks. It was one of those that basically shows you how to prepare everything. I think it was 400 pages, or at least that is how I remember it.
So there I went, looking through the pages of this book, very intimidated by most of the recipes. Then I came across chicken saltimbocca. I remember eating this dish at a wedding one time and decided I was going to cook it, no matter how difficult it was.
I gathered all the ingredients together and went for it. The chicken turned out pretty good. However, I over cooked the prosciutto and turned it into jerky. The spinach turned out soggy, but I melted the cheese to perfection. I served the chicken saltimbocca to my parents anyway and they were polite and said they enjoyed it.
Over the years I continued to make chicken saltimbocca and would often serve it when I wanted to impress someone. The recipe is really not that difficult, it just requires some extra attention to detail.
I hope you enjoyed my walk down memory lane. Good luck and Invent Your Perfect Chicken Saltimbocca recipe. I am sure it will turn out great!
NOTE
Before beginning the recipe remember to read the “Invent Your Recipe” section below for additional suggestions, recipe combinations, or ingredient alternatives.
How to Make Chicken Saltimbocca
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Preparing the Chicken
- Begin by cleaning and trimming the fat from the chicken breasts.
- Next, slice the whole chicken breast in half lengthwise to form thinner cutlets. You should have 8 chicken cutlets when this step is done.
- In a mixing bowl add the flour, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and mix well. Next, dredge each cutlet into the seasoned flour until both sides are coated.
Cooking the Chicken
- In a large skillet add the canola oil and bring to a high heat. Next, add the chicken cutlets to the skillet and fry on both sides until golden in color, about 2 minutes a side, while ensuring not to crowd the skillet.
- Remove the chicken cutlets from the skillet and set aside. Repeat this process until all the chicken cutlets are cooked. Then, pour off the remaining oil and return the skillet to high heat.
- Next, add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Lower to a medium heat and return the chicken cutlets to the pan.
- Simmer the chicken for 4 minutes, turning the chicken over after 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place onto a baking sheet.
Cooking the Spinach
- Return the skillet, including the remaining liquid, to medium heat. Next, add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Reduce to low heat and add in half of the spinach. Mix occasionally until the spinach leaves reduce by half.
- Next, add in the remaining spinach and mix well to combine. Cook until the spinach is reduced by half again, about 1 minute, then remove the skillet from the heat.
Bringing Everything Together
- Spoon enough spinach to cover each chicken cutlet, then place one slice of prosciutto on top of the spinach, and one slice of Fontina cheese on top of the prosciutto. Repeat this process until all chicken cutlets are layered with spinach, prosciutto, and Fontina cheese.
- Place any remaining spinach around the chicken cutlets on the baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese melts and is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
How to Serve Chicken Saltimbocca
- Place the chicken saltimbocca with spinach on a large serving dish.
More Chicken Recipes
Spinach and Artichoke Chicken
Spinach and Artichoke Chicken. Chicken bites sautéed with garlic, diced tomatoes, artichokes and spinach.
Chicken with Green Beans
Chicken with Green Beans and Cannellini Beans. Chicken bites sautéed with green beans, garlic, tomatoes, and cannellini beans.
Chicken with Mixed Vegetables
Chicken with Mixed Vegetables. Boneless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces and sautéed in a stir fry sauce with mixed vegetables.
Chicken Salsa with Peppers and Onions
Chicken Salsa with Peppers and Onions. Boneless chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces and sautéed with peppers, onions, and salsa and served over a bed of brown rice.
The Recipe
Chicken Saltimbocca
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 8 thin slices of prosciutto
- 1 cup chicken broth or stock
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- ½ cup flour
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- 16 oz. fresh baby spinach
- 8 slices of Fontina cheese
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
Preparing the Chicken
- Begin by cleaning and trimming the fat from the chicken breasts.
- Next, slice the whole chicken breast in half lengthwise to form thinner cutlets. You should have 8 chicken cutlets when this step is done.
- In a mixing bowl add the flour, salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder and mix well. Next, dredge each cutlet into the seasoned flour until both sides are coated.
Cooking the Chicken
- In a large skillet add the canola oil and bring to a high heat. Next, add the chicken cutlets to the skillet and fry on both sides until golden in color, about 2 minutes a side, while ensuring not to crowd the skillet.
- Remove the chicken cutlets from the skillet and set aside. Repeat this process until all the chicken cutlets are cooked. Then, pour off the remaining oil and return the skillet to high heat.
- Next, add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Lower to a medium heat and return the chicken cutlets to the pan.
- Simmer the chicken for 4 minutes, turning the chicken over after 2 minutes. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place onto a baking sheet.
Cooking the Spinach
- Return the skillet, including the remaining liquid, to medium heat. Next, add the garlic and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Reduce to low heat and add in half of the spinach. Mix occasionally until the spinach leaves reduce by half.
- Next, add in the remaining spinach and mix well to combine. Cook until the spinach is reduced by half again, about 1 minute, then remove the skillet from the heat.
Bringing Everything Together
- Spoon enough spinach to cover each chicken cutlet, then place one slice of prosciutto on top of the spinach, and one slice of Fontina cheese on top of the prosciutto. Repeat this process until all chicken cutlets are layered with spinach, prosciutto, and Fontina cheese.
- Place any remaining spinach around the chicken cutlets on the baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese melts and is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
To Serve
- Place the chicken saltimbocca with spinach on a large serving dish.
Invent Your Recipe
Nutrition
Invent Your Recipe
If you are not a fan of prosciutto, try the recipe with ham, salami, or pepperoni. Those substitutes are all savory and salty and will balance the dish similar to the prosciutto.
Chicken saltimbocca recipes can call for the use of sage. I am not a fan of sage so I did not use it in this recipe. If you like sage try adding it in to the recipe. If you do, you will want to use it at the step when you are adding in the chicken broth.
I am sure you will have fun and invent your version of this flavorful chicken recipe that you can use for years to come.
If you like to impress your dinner guests check out another one of our featured chicken posts at this link.
I started cooking at between 9 and 10 yo, with my Mother’s 3 Good Housekeeping Cookbook, 1 from 1898 to the early 20th century ( my Grandmother’s), 1 from the Depression and Wartime years (my Mother’s) and an early 70’s version I bought for myself and my Mother, when I was still in High School. I learned to cook anything my Mother didn’t teach me (cooking without a cookbook), each had about 400 recipes too. They were very simply step by step recipes (we didn’t have video recipes and I still don’t like the,) There were several sections on how to prepare, meats, vegetables, eggs, and basic cooking and baking methods, very meticulous glossaries and guides on what pans to use for what purpose as well as how to care for them. They literally were an entire 2 years worth of cooking education. I’ve given many Good Housekeeping Cookbooks to brides who didn’t know much of anything about cooking. I also gave them as house warming gifts to friends male and female, who were single, now out on there own, with no idea of how to make a decent meal for themselves or for their friends. When I got married, I taught my husband how to cook using 6hem, Now he can make things, with or without a recipe, no problem. I had to put meals on the table frequently from the age of 10, since my Mother was often not home before meals needed to be on the table (5PM on the dot). While I’ve never made Chicken Saltimbocca, I have recipes in those cookbooks and many others I’ve collected since. Your recipe has reminded me of it, so now I’ll have to give it a try. Good Housekeeping cookbooks were ahead of their time, offering sections on Appetizers and canapés, etc, plus Entertainment meals and menus. They had a beginners section on planning balanced meals, healthy budget meals and even on meal planning, long before it became fashionable. Life for the household cook has always been hectic, budgets only stretched so far, and many family’s were paid
only monthly, so planning and budgeting were essential needs to know. There were single working Moms and 2 salary households even back to the late 30’s and 40’s and even to this current age. There was no childcare outside of family members then, and today childcare it brutally expensive too. I really enjoyed your article with the viewpoint of learning to cook and make meals from a cookbook. Most internet recipes need a knowledge of cooking to make them.We were lucky to have cookbooks we could learn how to cook and bake well, with that one book at hand.BTW your copious add notes, including ingredient substitutions are really valuable.
MaryAnn, what a lovely comment. I really enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing your story, those cookbooks really are treasures and like you said, great gifts. The information in those cookbooks are becoming a lost art.
What an amazing responsibility to make meals at the age of 10 for the family. And then teaching your husband to cook. You have so much valuable experience.
Again, thank you for the thoughtful comment. I hope you enjoy the chicken saltimbocca. Happy cooking!