Whenever I need an easy meal, I grab my favorite large skillet. Because I have any number of keto dinner recipes that are simple, straightforward, and utilize a single pan. And I love knowing I can get dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less, with minimal clean up at the end.
My family’s favorites include Keto Stuffed Pepper Skillet and Cauliflower Fried Rice with Shrimp. And my late husband absolutely adored this Spinach Feta Chicken. He could have eaten the entire pan on his own!
Really, how can you go wrong with pan seared chicken thighs in a creamy bacon and spinach sauce? The addition of feta was inspired, if I do say so myself. That tangy cheese hits just the right note in this easy skillet recipe.
Served over some zucchini noodles or a little cauliflower rice, it makes a satisfying low carb meal.
What readers are saying…
“The dish was AMAZING! My whole house consumed the entire pan! Easy and very delicious! Highly recommend it!” — Josh
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Quick and Easy: This one pan meal is ready in 30 minutes, start to finish!
- Basic ingredients: Nothing fancy here, you can find everything you need at your regular grocery store.
- Full of flavor: The combination of garlic, feta, bacon and parmesan makes this recipe shine.
- High protein: 33 grams of high quality protein in every serving.
- Low carb and gluten-free: With only 3 grams of carbs per serving, this is a satisfying low carb meal!
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: You can use boneless chicken breasts, but they are quite large and take longer to cook through. I recommend cutting them in into thinner cutlets by slicing through the middle.
- Bacon: I like to chop my bacon up before cooking, as it crisps up more evenly.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic will give this dish the best flavor.
- Heavy whipping cream: This gives the sauce its rich, creaminess.
- Spinach: I used fresh baby spinach, but you can also use frozen. Thaw it first and squeeze out the excess water before sautéing.
- Finely grated parmesan: I highly recommend a good Parmigiano Reggiano for the creamy sauce.
- Feta: Any brand or style of feta will work, but better quality will give you better flavor.
- Kitchen staples: Butter, salt, and pepper
How to Make Spinach Feta Chicken
- Cook the bacon: Cook the chopped bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain, reserving some of the grease in the pan.
- Brown the chicken: Season the chicken with salt and pepper and add to the pan. Brown each side until cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
- Sauté the spinach: Melt the butter then cook the garlic until fragrant. Add the spinach and sauté until wilted.
- Make the sauce: Stir in the heavy cream and the parmesan and cook until thickened. Add the bacon back into the sauce and stir to combine.
- Assemble: Add the chicken back into the pan and toss to coat. Sprinkle the pan with crumbled feta.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tips for Success
I like to chop the bacon prior to cooking it, as I find it crisps up more evenly. You can remove most of the grease after cooking, but leave one tablespoon for browning the chicken.
The chicken thighs will cook through faster and more evenly if you unfold them after removing the packaging.
There is no need for added thickeners in this recipe. The cream will reduce on its own, and the parmesan will help it thicken.
More Keto Chicken Recipes to Love!
Spinach Feta Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon, chopped
- 6 medium (678 g) chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp (14.2 g) butter
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 ounces (141.75 g) baby spinach
- 3/4 cup (177.44 ml) heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (50 g) grated Parmesan
- 1/2 cup (75 g) crumbled feta
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chopped bacon until crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain, reserving 1 tablespoon the bacon grease in the pan.
- Season the thighs with salt and pepper and add to the pan, laying them flat if they are folded up. Cook 4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove to a plate.
- Add the butter and let melt. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the spinach and sauté until wilted, 2 or 3 minutes.
- Stir in the heavy cream and the parmesan and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the bacon back into the sauce and stir to combine.
- Add the chicken back into the pan and toss to coat. Sprinkle the pan with crumbled feta.
- Serve over cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles.
Notes
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Crumbled feta cheese is a delicious addition to any chicken dish. It adds a uniquely Mediterranean tanginess to recipes like Greek Chicken Salad or Easy Souvlaki Chicken. You can add it right into the recipe or serve it on the side.
Store the leftovers in a covered container for up to 5 days. Then gently re-warm it in the oven or the microwave. I don’t recommend freezing this as the sauce might not be smooth and creamy when thawed.
This keto chicken recipe has 2.9 of carbs and 0.5 of fiber per serving. That comes to 2.4g net carbs per serving.
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Loved this! I am new to KETO and looking for something quick that my husband will also like. I made it with breasts (I don’t like dark meat) and I would increase the cream a bit, not enough to cover the chicken, but it could be I cooked it down too much. Thanks for a great recipe! (Love your cookbook “Easy Keto Dinners” where I found this recipe)
Thank You Janine for saying which of the cookbooks this recipe came from… I so often forget to check all Carolyn Ketchum’s cookbooks for recipes on the website and end up printing the recipe out, wasting paper… Knowing which cookbook it came from is very good… Thank You…
OMG!!!! This tastes fantastic!!!! Thank you sooooo much for all your amazing recipes!! Keep em comin!!
So good! This will be a repeater for me!
SOOOOO good! I’ve made it twice now, it’s a favorite!
Is there a good substitute for the cream? My tummy can handle the cheeses, but not the heavy dairy of the cream.
Sure, try full fat coconut milk. It probably won’t thicken quite as much.
I plan on trying this today, sounds delic!
I’m making this for dinner tonight. So Excited!!
Oh my!! We had this tonight. The only complaint was there wasn’t more! There might have been a bit of a fight scrapping the pan clean. A SERIOUS keeper for my fussy family.
Glad to hear it.
This is a fantastic Recipe. Made all of the gravy with half of the chicken (There are only 2 of us). We literally scraped the pan. Wow, so easy and so wonderful!
I am planning to try this soon. I was just curious what you considered a serving size? A cup, 8 oz total, etc?
It’s 6 chicken breasts, hence one per serving. The rest you need to eyeball.
I think I just tasted heaven! This was so good! I had it over zoodles, delish. Love your recipes, keep up the great work 🙂
So glad you liked it!
Goodness this was delish!!!! I was a little worried how this would taste with the cauliflower rice but it was so good! Liked it even better with the cauliflower rice than regular rice!
I made this tonight for my family. Delicious! I had it over zoodles and they had pasta. I also made your deep dish sausage pizza for my lunches this week. Thanks, Carolyn, for recipes that make eating healthy so tasty!
So glad everyone liked it!
I’m so happy I found your site- you have the best recipes! I just made this for dinner tonite and it was DEELISH! So yummy and everyone loved it 🙂 Had it w the zucchini noodles. I wanted bread too but was limited in my ingredients I had at home. I found your low carb pesto bread recipe and was able to modify it to what I had (not enough eggs or basil ~made half, mixed fresh basil, mozzarella, and sliced grape tomatoes into it, turned out pretty darn good!) ThankYou for making Keto easier!
Glad to hear it, Roselyn!
I have bone in thighs with the skin on. Could I just use those?
Sure! They take a bit longer to cook though, though.
I did mine with chicken breasts instead. Hubby doesn’t care for thighs. I also added some sun dried tomatoes. Delicious!