Italian Sausage Stuffed Chicken Bake
This delicious Italian Sausage Stuffed Chicken Bake uses just a few ingredients to make a satisfying high protein, low carb dinner! This main course is easy to prep and then slide into the oven to bake. Each chicken breast is stuffed with spicy Italian sausage, chopped fresh spinach, and melty Mozzarella cheese, and then smothered in pasta sauce and topped with more cheese! I found this dish to be super filling, and it was also a big hit with my husband and daughter. The chicken pairs well with a side of salad, pasta, roasted vegetables, or roasted potatoes. Plus, each piece of this Italians Sausage Stuffed Chicken Bake is just 387 calories, 55 grams of protein, and 8 grams of carbs, or 6 WW Points on Weight Watchers (nutrition info may vary some based on the pasta sauce used). To view and track this recipe in the WW app, click here!
Recipe Notes
- Chicken Breasts: Since chicken breasts are often huge these days, it may be difficult to find some that come as a six ounce breast. I often buy a big pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the store and then use kitchen shears to trim them down to make 5-6 oz cutlets to use in recipes. Everything I cut off to make the cutlets gets cut into chunks to make chicken bites, such as my Nashville Hot Chicken Bites, Lemon Pepper Chicken Bites, or Blackened Chicken Bites. It’s easy to weigh out 1 lb or 1.5 lb of chicken chunks and some 5-6 oz cutlets and freeze them for later in quart size freezer bags. That way, I always have some cutlets and some chicken bites on hand! Buying the bulk packs of chicken breasts is cost-effective, and cutting them into cutlets and bites ensured I have what I need on hand when I go to make a recipe. I find that kitchen shears make this task go quicker and easier than using a knife, so I highly recommend using shears like these(affiliate link).
- Poultry Sausage: I usually use the Hot Italian Poultry Sausage from Wegmans in my recipes, but you can definitely use either chicken or turkey sausage, as long as it comes uncooked. I like to use the spicy variety, but if you prefer sweet Italian sausage, feel free to use that instead! If the sausage you use is in links rather than in patties or sold in bulk like ground meat, you’ll want to remove the casings from each link before cooking.
- Mozzarella Cheese: I used shredded Mozzarella made with 2% milk because it’s easy to find and lower in fat than standard Mozzarella. You could also use an Italian cheese blend or provolone if that’s what you have on hand.
- Pasta Sauce: Feel free to use your favorite! If you’re comparing nutrition information between brands, you can try to choose one with less sugar and carbs. Any red pasta sauce of your choosing will work!
More Tasty Lightened Up Chicken Recipes
Looking for more ways to make your chicken breasts delicious? Try my Crispy Garlic Parmesan Chicken, Chori Pollo, Cheesy Bacon Ranch Baked Chicken, Blackened Chicken with Avocado Corn Topping, Mushroom and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken, Ricotta Stuffed Chicken Bake, Cream Cheese Stuffed Everything Chicken, Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Mediterranean Topped Grilled Chicken, Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken, Cream Cheese and Herb Stuffed Chicken, Tuscan Olive Chicken and many, many more in the Chicken section of my recipe index!
Italian Sausage Stuffed Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 8 oz uncooked Italian poultry sausage, casings removed (chicken or turkey sausage)
- 1 cup chopped or torn spinach leaves
- 1 cup shredded 2% mozzarella cheese, divided
- 4 (6 oz each) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, (24 oz total)
- salt and black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup marinara/red pasta sauce
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375. Lightly mist a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Mist a skillet with cooking spray and bring over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat into small chunks with a cooking spoon or spatula, for about 5 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through. Add the chopped spinach to the pan and stir together with the meat. Cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is wilted. Transfer the contents of the pan to a mixing bowl and stir in ½ cup of the shredded Mozzarella cheese.
- Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, black pepper, and the Italian seasoning. Using a sharp knife, slice the breasts from the side (creating a top and bottom) almost all the way through. Open each breast at the slit. Divide the sausage mixture evenly amongst the four breasts (about ½ cup of filling each) and spread across the surface of one side (leaving the other half empty to fold over the filling). When all four breasts are topped on one side, fold the empty half over the filling to make a stuffed breast.
- Transfer each stuffed breast to a single layer in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the pasta sauce over the chicken and around the dish. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chicken with the remaining ½ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese. Return the dish to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked.
Notes
387 calories, 8 g carbs, 4 g sugars, 13 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 55 g protein, 2 g fiber, 567 mg sodium (from myfitnesspal.com) Weight Watchers Points Plus:
9 per serving (PP calculated using a Weight Watchers PointsPlus calculator and the nutrition info)
Dinner tonight—Delicious!