Quick & Easy Skillet Taco Chicken

September 10, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 3 Comments

Skip the tortilla, this skillet chicken is the taco night you never knew you needed. Chicken breast is seasoned with taco seasoning, cooked quick in the skillet with taco sauce & cheese, and topped with all of your favorite taco toppings for a quick and easy dinner! This Skillet Taco Chicken Breast Recipe will be on repeat in your house weekly!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Taco Chicken Breasts in a cast iron skillet with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and black olives

Skillet Taco Chicken Breast

Did taco night just become 100% easier? YES, yes it did with this quick and easy taco chicken breast done in the skillet.

Cook up taco seasoned chicken breasts quickly along with taco sauce and cheese in just minutes and dinner is on the table.

Skip the tortillas and top your skillet taco chicken with your favorite taco toppings and dinner is served.

Taco Chicken Bake

This is done in a similar style to all of my chicken bake recipes but this recipe is even more awesome because it is about 3 times faster when done on the stovetop in a skillet.

I chose to do this recipe on the skillet because with the coating of taco seasoning, having a sear on the breast is just so much more delicious!!!

I tried this recipe in both the oven and on the skillet. Skillet won hands down, it was extremely better for this dish!

Similar to my Easy Southwest Chicken recipe that uses a dry rub seasoning, it is easy to prep, cooks fast, and clean up is simple as well.

If you are looking for a chicken option in the oven instead check out my Supreme Pizza Chicken Bake, Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake, or my Chicken Cordon Bleu Chicken Bake.

ingredients need to make skillet taco chicken breast recipe

How to Make Healthy Chicken Taco Skillet

Start by preparing the chicken, I like to use close to proper portion sizes when I use chicken breast in my recipes. So that means you will want a chicken cutlet opposed to a full size chicken breast. Most chicken breasts are about double a proper proportion, so the best way to solve that problem is to turn one large chicken breast into 2 cutlets.

Make a cutlet by carefully cutting the chicken in half, resulting in 2 smaller cutlets. These cutlets will be close to 6-8 ounces depending on the starting size of your chicken breast. So for this recipe you will want two chicken breasts resulting in 4 chicken cutlets.

If all of this is confusing of course there is two things you can do. First you can buy chicken breasts that are pre-portioned to a proper portion. Or second just use the full chicken breasts but note that the cook time will change since the breast are probably larger, which in turn might change the outcome of the dish.

Once you have your cutlets you will prepare them by coating both sides with the taco seasoning until completely covered. If you are in need of an awesome taco seasoning, check out my Homemade Taco Seasoning.

chicken cutlet coated in taco seasoning before being placed on the skillet

Next prepare your skillet, add the oil to a large skillet and heat on the stovetop over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering and hot.

Add the seasoned chicken cutlets in a single layer in the skillet, try to avoid them overlapping and touching. Cover with a lid and cook for 4 minutes.

Now flip the chicken, recover, and cook 3 minutes.

After 3 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of taco sauce to the top of each of the chicken cutlets followed by 1/4 cup of cheese to the tops of each.

Recover and cook 1 more minute or until chicken has an internal temperature of 165º F and cheese is all melty!

warm taco sauce and melty cheese on top of a chicken breast in a skillet fresh out of the oven

Remove from heat and let chicken rest 3-5 minutes. Transfer to plates and top each taco chicken cutlet with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and black olives or whatever your favorite taco toppings are!

three taco chicken breasts in a skillet covered in lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and sour cream

Note for pictures I put the toppings on while the chicken was still in the skillet but for practically purposes it is easier to do once it is on the plate.

I also like the pre-cut my children’s chicken before putting the toppings on to make it easier to eat. Plus then as a parent you don’t have to try to cut the chicken that is covered in taco toppings!

What to serve with your Skillet Taco Chicken Breast?

I would recommend my super easy Slow Cooker Refried Beans
You can’t go wrong with Mexican Rice
Crispy Baby Potatoes or Frozen French Fries are also a delicious option
You can never go wrong with a healthy vegetable like my Oven Roasted Broccoli

overhead shot of a taco chicken breast in a cast iron pan

Yield: 4 servings

Skillet Taco Chicken

Name: Skillet Taco Chicken
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 8 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: shredded lettuce; diced tomatoes; sour cream (or greek yogurt); black olives; 4 chicken cutlets*; 1 tablespoon taco seasoning; 4 tablespoons taco sauce; 1 cup Mexican/taco blend shredded cheese; 1 tablespoon oil (any neutral oil)

Skip the tortilla, this skillet chicken is the taco night you never knew you needed. Chicken is seasoned with taco seasoning, cooked quick in the skillet, and topped with all of your favorite taco toppings for a quick and easy dinner!

Prep Time 7 minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

4 chicken cutlets*
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
4 tablespoons taco sauce
1 cup Mexican/taco blend shredded cheese
1 tablespoon oil (any neutral oil)

Toppings:

shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
sour cream (or greek yogurt)
black olives

Instructions

Prepare the chicken cutlets by coating both sides with the taco seasoning until completly covered.
Add oil to a large skillet and heat on the stovetop over medium-high heat until oil is shimmering and hot.
Add chicken cutlets in a single layer in the skillet, try to avoid them overlapping and touching. Cover with a lid and cook 4 minutes.
Flip chicken, recover and cook 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of taco sauce to the top of each of the chicken cutlets followed by 1/4 cup of cheese to the tops of each. Recover and cook 1 more minute or until chicken has an internal temperature of 165º F and cheese is melted.
Let chicken rest 3-5 minutes then transfer to serving plates. Top each taco chicken cutlet with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and black olives.

Notes

*2 large chicken breasts cut in half to create 4 proper proportions

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake in the Oven

September 5, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 10 Comments

This easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake recipe is healthy, easy, and baked in the oven to make the perfect weeknight version of this classic dish. Done casserole/open faced style so prep is easy but all the delicious flavors you still love. With just a few simple ingredients this Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake is ready to eat in just about 30 minutes, it’s everything you want in a lightened up comfort food dinner!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

We all know I love my chicken bakes here on The Schmidty Wife, I mean lets try to imagine a world without some of my most popular chicken bakes, my Supreme Pizza Chicken Bake or my Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake. So I was literally in the middle of telling a friend that I had hit a wall on what my next chicken bake should be when Chicken Cordon Bleu popped in my head, it was destiny.

So I changed the meal plan that very week and started development on this AMAZING Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake.

Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu

Just like my other chicken bakes I had requirements. This dish had to be

easy
healthy, or at least healthier than a traditional chicken cordon bleu
simple (and not too many) ingredients

So because chicken cordon bleu should be creamy I opted to to start with a simple yogurt sauce just like I had made for chicken before.

The sauce consists of 4 easy ingredients, and that is only 4 if you count salt & pepper as ingredients, so really only 2. Plain yogurt and dijon mustard.

The sauce goes over top the chicken and then is covered by slices of ham and Swiss cheese.

The bake is than topped with just enough breadcrumbs to give it that breaded crunch you want the dish to have. Tossed in the oven and dinner is done!

all the ingredients laid out for the chicken cordon bleu bake recipe

Is this Chicken Cordon Bleu Healthy?

This answer is so relative.

So I am going to say this dish is definitely healthier than traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu. Most traditional recipes are dripping with butter, flour, sometimes even preservative filled creamy soup bases, you won’t find that here.

So because this recipes leaves out flour & butter and subs in plain yogurt, uses minimum breadcrumbs, and minimal oils I would confidently call this recipe the lightened up version.

When looking at estimated calories this dish will be about half the amount of calories as a traditional cordon bleu and guess what Low-Carb too!

You could even swap out traditional breadcrumbs here for gluten-free variety to fit your diet if needed.

So overall I guess we are calling this Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake healthy!!

dish with some of the chicken cordon bleu left and a plate with a chicken cordon bleu and a salad

How to make Chicken Cordon Bleu in Oven

Start by preheating the oven to 400ºF.

First prep sauce for the bake. In a mixing bowl combine yogurt, mustard, and a dash of salt & pepper. Stir to combine.

a series of pictures showing how the sauce for the chicken is made

As far as the chicken goes a big thing I push in these chicken bakes is portion size. So you will want a chicken cutlet about 6-8 ounces in size, which yes can be hard to judge especially if you don’t really know what that means…

1 pound is 16 ounces. Half of 16 is 8 (if only my math teacher could see me now…), so you will want in total about 2 pounds of chicken to make 4 cutlets.

This doesn’t have to be exact but what I have noticed at the grocery stores is that one chicken breast is about one pound, not always but close. So grab a pack of two breasts and cut them in half vertically to make four cutlets for this dish.

Now that we have chicken math out of the way lets continue with the recipe.

In a 9×13 baking dish lay the chicken cutlets down in an even layer. Take the sauce and evenly distribute it between the pieces of chicken and spread the sauce over the tops of each of the cutlets.

steps 1 to 4 shown, sauce being put on the chicken and ham being topped on the chicken bake

On top of the sauce evenly lay the slices of the ham on each of the pieces of chicken, folding the slices of ham to fit the chicken as needed.

Do the same thing for the Swiss cheese.

I noticed that 2 slices of ham and 1 1/2 slices of Swiss cheese was the perfect amount to cover the chicken for the brands I used but the deli might do it differently where you are so adjust if needed.

With a spoon evenly distribute the bread crumbs on top of the cheese.

Now to make the breadcrumbs crunchy use a spray oil to lightly spray the tops of the breadcrumbs with oil. It doesn’t have to be very much at all but just enough to lightly cover the breadcrumbs. If you skip this step you won’t see a super crunchy breading in you finished dish. I like to use this PAM Spray Pump Avocado Oil Cooking Spray.

steps 5 to 8 shown in order, placing the cheese and bread crumbs and the fully baked dish

Transfer the dish to the oven and bake 25 minutes or until the thickest part of the chicken reads 165ºF on a meat thermometer. Let rest 3-5 minutes before serving.

What is Chicken Cordon Bleu Served With?

I find that anything with veggies is great with this Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake.

Salads are the perfect side. Try my Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad or my Roasted Pear & Pecan Salad
Roasted or steamed veggies. Try my Oven Roasted Broccoli or my Crispy Baby Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes or Mashed Cauliflower. Try my Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

a serving piece holding a baked chicken cordon bleu

a chicken cordon bleu chicken breast sitting on a teal plate with a side salad

3 chicken cordon bleu in a baking dish with a serving utensil

My family absolutely has devoured this every single time I have made it, even my little non-meat eater has emptied his plate!

As funny as it is, on its own kids might not be a huge fan of dijon mustard or Swiss cheese. But something about combining it all works some magic that has even this pickiest eaters gobbling this down!

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Yield: 4 servings

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

This easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake recipe is healthy, easy, and baked in the oven to make the perfect weeknight version of this classic dish. Done casserole/open faced style so prep is easy but all the delicious flavors you still love. With just a few simple ingredients this Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake is ready to eat in just about 30 minutes, it's everything you want in a lightened up comfort food dinner!

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

4 (6-8oz) chicken breast cutlets*
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
salt & pepper
8 slices deli ham
6 slices deli Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons plain breadcrumbs
spray oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Prep sauce for the bake, in a mixing bowl combine yogurt, mustard, and a dash of salt & pepper. Stir to combine.
In a 9x13 baking dish lay chicken cutlets down in an even layer. Take the sauce and evenly distribute it between the pieces of chicken and spread the sauce over the tops of each of the cutlets.
On top of the sauce evenly lay the slices of the ham on each of the pieces of chicken, followed by the cheese.
With a spoon evenly distribute the bread crumbs on top of the cheese. To make the breadcrumbs crunchy use a spray oil to lightly spray the tops of the breadcrumbs with oil.
Transfer to the oven and bake 25 minutes or until the thickest part of the chicken reads 165ºF on a meat thermometer. Let rest 3-5 minutes before serving.

Notes

*2 large chicken breasts cut in half to create 4 proper proportions

I found that 1 1/2 pieces of cheese & 2 slices of ham was the perfect amount to top each piece of chicken but sizes can range on cheese & meat slices so adjust if needed!

One Pan Baked Salmon & Broccoli Dinner

August 20, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 2 Comments

This Baked Salmon and Broccoli is the perfect easy and healthy weeknight dinner that the whole family will enjoy! Simple to prep with only 4 ingredients and ready in under 30 minutes this Sheet Pan Salmon Dinner will be the next meal added to your regular rotation.

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Forkful of baked salmon with broccoli on a sheet pan.

Sheet Pan Salmon

One of the simplest, easiest, and healthiest weeknight dinners you can make for your family! Baked Salmon and Broccoli is literally a lifesaver in my house. So simple to throw together with the easiest of ingredients and it is ready to eat in under 20 minutes.

You basically just need salmon and broccoli, plus a few flavors like butter and lemon and you are ready to rock.

One of the things I love about this recipe is that you actually want to put the food into a cold oven, which is prefect for when you are in a rush to get dinner on the table.

So get ready to learn how to make the BEST Sheet Pan Salmon Dinner and pretty soon it will be on the regular dinner rotation at your house.

What do I need for Baked Salmon and Broccoli

Foremost you need salmon. I prefer to get my salmon fresh caught from the grocery store and in one large fillet. While that is what I prefer, smaller individual fillets work just as well. You can also use frozen salmon that is thawed.

Broccoli, you can buy heads to cut up yourself or buy pre-cut florets. Either way you can’t tell the difference 😉

And a side note on the broccoli, a lot of times when I make this I make it the same way I make my Oven Roasted Broccoli Recipe. I give it a toss in nutrition yeast. This of course isn’t necessary but I thought I would point it out as an option.

Butter! I think butter tastes way better on fish but if you are in a pinch you can use a drizzle of olive oil. The butter works best in the recipe if it is in cold pieces to place on top of the salmon.

A lemon. In my opinion lemon pairs perfectly with salmon, so I slice one up and throw the slices on top of the fish, it gives the salmon that extra flavor without being over powering.

Along with salt and pepper as a final flavoring for the fish.

As far as kitchen tools you will need a Sheet Pan and an oven, SO SIMPLE!

ingredients needed for the sheet pan salmon dinner bake

How To Make Baked Salmon and Broccoli

The best thing about this recipe is that you don’t want to preheat the oven, which is perfect for those nights when you don’t have time for the oven to preheat. Putting the fish into a cold oven results in an even and juicy bake!

I will note for easier clean up you can use a piece of aluminum foil to cover the pan. OR if you have family members who don’t like food and flavors mixing, use a piece of foil for under the fish and gently fold up to create a little barrier between the broccoli.

So to start you will add broccoli florets to a sheet pan. Drizzle with enough olive oil to coat and toss. Spread broccoli to the outside of the pan to make room for the salmon.

Add salmon fillet(s) to the center of the sheet pan, surronded by the broccoli. Evenly add lemon slices and butter to the top of the salmon. Salt & pepper the whole pan to taste.

overhead view of raw broccoli and salmon on a sheet pan ready for the oven

Transfer the sheet pan to the cold oven. Heat oven to 400ºF. Bake 20 minutes until salmon is fully cooked or flakes easily apart with a fork, serve immediately.

before and after photos of the salmon and broccoli on a sheet pan with lemons and butter

Side Dishes for Sheet Pan Salmon

So the nice thing about this dinner it is essentially one pan but it often could use just one more simple side:

• I love a bagged salad with this meal because it is EASY

• Rice or other grains like quinoa make a good side

• Mashed or baked potatoes would also be lovely

raw salmon on a sheet pan ready to be put in the oven

salom and broccoli just baked on a single sheet pan with lemons

overhead image of sheet pan salmon dinner

bite of cooked salmon on a fork resting on a sheet pan of salmon and broccoli

You might also like:

Yield: 4 servings

Baked Salmon and Broccoli

an easy full salmon dinner in under 30 minutes, fresh and healthy for the whole family to enjoy

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 to 1.5 pounds salmon (skin on or off)
3 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
3-4 tablespoons butter, cold
3 teaspoons olive oil
1 lemon, sliced thin
salt & pepper

Instructions

Add broccoli florets to a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Spread broccoli to the outside of the pan to make room for the salmon.
Add salmon fillet(s) to the center of the sheet pan, surronded by the broccoli. Evenly add lemon slices and butter to the top of the salmon. Salt & pepper the whole pan to taste.
Transfer to a cold oven. Heat oven to 400ºF. Bake 20 minutes until salmon is fully cooked/flakes easily apart with a fork, serve immediately.

Notes

For easy clean up I like to cover my sheet pan in aluminum foil for this meal.

By using the sheet pan as a place to toss the broccoli in the oil it also lightly greases the pan to keep the fish from sticking.

Weeknight Personal Pizza Recipe The Family Will Love

August 15, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 3 Comments

Today’s post is sponsored by Barlean’s, Hamilton Beach, and Rhodes Bread as well as Crispy Green, and The Spice House. However, all opinions are my own. #ad #Back2School

This weeknight Personal Pizza Recipe is a breeze to make. With only 4 ingredients you can make homemade pizza in less time than it takes to cook a frozen pizza. This recipe for personal pizza is sure to delight the whole family on a weeknight, make your individual pizzas tonight!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Close up of individual pizza on a plate with vegetables perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Homemade Personal Pizza

Do I share too many pizza recipes? The correct answer is NO but I feel like between my How to Make Grilled Pizza and Supreme Pizza Chicken Bake that have been published lately maybe a third new pizza recipe is going overboard. But what the heck everyone wants an incredibly easy weeknight pizza recipe right!?

These Weeknight Individual Pizzas are a breeze to make thanks to Rhodes Bread Frozen Dinner Rolls. Turns out that frozen dough makes the best crust for a personal pizza recipe.

First thing first I think that probably everybody should always keep a bag of Rhodes Bread frozen dinner rolls in their freezer. Not only are they affordable, keep well, and taste amazing you can use them for endless possibilities. One of these possibilities being an amazing Personal Pizza Recipe.

So these pizzas are so easy to make they only take 4 ingredients and can be on the table in 20 minutes. The hardest part of this recipe is making sure that your dough has enough time to thaw out, luckily it is easy enough to do, it is the remembering that might be the problem 😉

So lets see how easy these are to make ~~and then don’t forget to enter the #back2school giveaway below the recipe!~~ Giveaway is now closed, thanks!

Recipe for Personal Pizza

First off the frozen dough must be thawed for pizzas to be made. Remove 8 rolls from the freezer and place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap. At room temperture let rolls thaw at least 3 hours OR in the fridge let rolls thaw 8-10 hours (aka take out in the morning and leave in the fridge). If thawing in the fridge they will work best if you give them 30 minutes to an hour before using to sit on the counter and come to room temperature but it isn’t necessary.

The other ingredients you will need are pizza sauce, like my 5 Minute Pizza Sauce. Sliced provolone or mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni! Simple right!?

the four ingredients needed to make the personal pizza recipe

Once your dough is ready preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly grease a sheet pan with spray oil.

Gently take 2 of the thawed slightly risen rolls and work together into a pizza crust, stretching out carefully with your hands to make a crust about 4-5 inches in diameter. Place on greased sheet pan. Continue the process until all 4 crusts are made and placed on the sheet pan.

Divide sauce over crust and spread out evenly. Top with a slice of cheese on each pizza followed by your pepperoni.

Transfer sheet pan to oven and let it cook 11-13 minutes until dough is slightly golden and cheese is bubbly. Let rest slightly before serving.

dough for pizzas being made with sauce and cheese

before and after of putting the personal pizza recipe in the oven

What to serve with Weeknight Personal Pizzas

My favorite thing to serve is cut up veggies with my Healthy Yogurt Ranch Dip
A simple side salad or bagged salad from the grocery
my Oven Roasted Broccoli would be delicious

Any way you serve it the family will love it! Trust me! My husband told me the worst thing about this recipe is that I only made him 1 pizza 😉

freshly baked pepperoni personal pizza on a sheet pan

pepperoni personal pizza on a plate with vegetables

kid hand reaching for a personal pizza off a plate

adult hand grabbing a personal pizza off of a white plate

Yield: 4 individual pizzas

Weeknight Personal Pizzas

easy homemade personal pizzas are a breeze to make using frozen dough and simple ingredients to get dinner on the table fast

Prep Time 9 minutes

Cook Time 11 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

8 Rhodes Frozen Dough Dinner Rolls*
1/4 cup pizza sauce
4 slices provolone or mozzarella cheese
16 slices pepperoni

Instructions

Frozen dough must be thawed for pizzas to be made. Remove 8 rolls from the freezer and place on a plate, cover with plastic wrap. At room temperture let rolls thaw at least 3 hours OR in the fridge let rolls thaw 8-10 hours (aka take out in the morning and leave in the fridge). If thawing in the fridge they will work best if you give them 30 minutes to an hour before using to sit on the counter and come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400º F. Lightly grease a sheet pan with spray oil.
Gently take 2 of the thawed slightly risen rolls and work together into a pizza crust, stretching out carefully with your hands to make a crust about 4-5 inches in diameter. Place on greased sheet pan. Continue the process until all 4 crusts are made and placed on the sheet pan.
Divide sauce over crust and spread out evenly. Top with a slice of cheese on each pizza followed by 4 pepperonis.
Transfer sheet pan to oven and let it cook 11-13 minutes until dough is slightly golden and cheese is bubbly. Let rest slightly before serving.

Notes

*As explained in the intro paragraph, you'll want to make sure the dough is fully thawed and if it possible slightly risen. So as easy as this recipe is you do need just a little forthought to make sure the dough is thawed at the proper time.

Recommended Products

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Rhodes Bread Dinner Rolls

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 300Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 720mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 2gSugar: 2gProtein: 14g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

#Back2School Recipe Inspiration

It’s hard to believe it’s already time to be talking about going back to school! It seems like summer just flew right by! To celebrate and help get you ready for this busy time, we’ve got loads of great back to school recipe ideas for you, along with an awesome giveaway.

For more amazing #Back2School recipes, please follow our #Back2School Pinterest board. Be sure to also check out my fellow bloggers participating all week long for more delicious dishes!

Blogghetti, Bowl Me Over, Cindy’s Recipes and Writings, Cheese Curd In Paradise, Cooking With Carlee, Doodlecraft, Everyday Eileen, Family Around the Table, Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks, Juggling Act Mama, Karen’s Kitchen Stories, Mandatory Mooch, Palatable Pasttime, The Schmidty Wife, and Wendy Polisi.

#Back2School Giveaway

The giveaway is now closed, thanks!

The giveaway includes the following prizes:

Omega Pal’s Prize Pack from Barleans
1 item (winner’s choice from featured products) from Hamilton Beach
Cookbook and coupons from Rhodes Bread
4 six-pack bags of Crispy Fruit snacks (mixed flavors) from Crispy Green
Best Sellers Collection Gift Box from The Spice House
Freezable Lunch Bag + Mod Lunch Bento from PackIt

Official Rules and Conditions: One (1) winner will be chosen. Prize must be claimed within 48 hours of announcement or a new winner will be drawn. Open to US residents 18+ only. All entries will be verified. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Rafflecopter, or any other entity unless otherwise specified. Giveaway ends 08/21/2019. Enter using the widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more weeknight recipes? Check out my 20 Minute Chicken Stir Fry or my Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake.

My Preschooler’s Favorite Dinners for Back to School Week + GIVEAWAYS!

August 12, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 19 Comments

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Pinterest Pin for A round up of dinners that preschooler's might like.

Today’s post is sponsored by Barlean’s, Hamilton Beach, and Rhodes Bread as well as Crispy Green, The Spice House, and PackIt. However, all opinions are my own. #ad #Back2School

This week we are celebrating #Back2School. Or in my case to school, for the first time… I will be sending my oldest, Archie off to preschool and this momma is a mess.

I am assuming it is a mom thing but I am completely broken that my little baby Archie is off to preschool, the next thing you know he is going to be driving, and then moving across country, having kids… you might as well call me grandma…

I tried to convince him to stay home with me, not kidding. This kid insisted that he was ready for school and has been asking if it is time for school every morning when he wakes up and talking about it non-stop. So who am I to hold him back from what he wants, even if it is slowly killing me.

I guess it is only preschool, and only 4 days of week, and only in the afternoon but still…

Seriously, I am having a hard time with it. Can you tell? So I have been trying to mentally prepare myself and physically prepare as well. I have been working in the kitchen and around the house to make this into a smooth transaction.

Since Archie is starting school for the first time I want to make the first week a little special for him so I am going to be making some of his favorite dinners from the blog and thought I would share those with you. They are all great weeknight options the whole family will love! Most are quick to prep and just as quick to cook, so hey maybe you should just copy these recipes for your first week back at school too. 😉

And after you check out his list don’t forget to scroll on below to read more about this weeks GIVEWAY!

Archie's Favorite Weeknight Dinners

Crockpot Bolognese

Bolognese is just a fancy word for meat sauce to serve over spaghetti. But this meat sauce is special beacuse it is incrediebly easy to make in the slow cooker plus FULL of extra vegetables! All you have to do is get some spaghetti noddles made once its time to eat and viola dinner. Plus this makes a large batch which is perfect because Archie loves the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls

Archie loves this recipe, ground turkey is flavored with a sweet yet savory korean inspired sauce and served over a bed of rice. The recipe takes about 15 minutes from start to finish which makes it a perfect weeknight meal the whole family will love.

Baked Chicken Nuggets with Hidden Quinoa

Archie is in preschool after all so what preschooler doesn't absoultely love chicken nuggets. And what parent doesn't love healthy quinoa hidden in thier kids easy to make homemade chicken nuggets? This is one of those recipes the whole family enjoys because we can each have out favorite sauce with it, mom loves buffalo, whicle archie loves his chicken nuggets with ketchup & honey.

Simple Vegetable Rice Soup

This is a simple and easy soup but so delicious and seriously everyone loves it! It is full with vegetables, delicious broth, and rice. Archie's favorite part is the carrots, he eats all of those out first and I think it is adorable!

Quick Easy Pork Fried Rice

Can you tell my kid is a big rice fan? Archie devours fried rice. This is quick to make with cheap cuts of pork and keeps great for lunches to next day if you have extras! 😉

And so in celebration of getting back to school I have teamed up with some other bloggers to celebrate the end of summer with a bang! Which means A TON of new recipes perfect for back to school and a GIVEAWAY! Thats right, we are giving away a great prize package, and you get to see these prizes in action throughout this week as we all share our recipes!

So check out the sponsors below and check out the giveaway!

I’ll be updating this post with my newest recipes all this week! Here:

• ~~Breakfast~~ Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

• ~~Snack Time~~ Tropical Energy Bites

• ~~Dinner~~ Weeknight Personal Pizzas

Meet the Recipe Sponsors

We are so thrilled to have Barlean’s, Hamilton Beach and Rhodes Bread sponsor our #Back2School week recipes! Read the info below and get to know them a little better.

Barlean’s

At Barlean’s, we believe people can make a difference in the world through ordinary purchases. We’re on a mission to make premium natural supplements and functional foods that feed the mind and body and using our profits to support outreach programs for people in need, both locally and around the world. We source high quality ingredients and treat everyone along our supply chain with care and respect – from the farmers who grow our ingredients, to our retailers and employees, to the people who use our products.

Hamilton Beach

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For more amazing #Back2School recipes, please follow our #Back2School Pinterest board. Be sure to also check out my fellow bloggers participating all week long for more delicious dishes!

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The giveaway includes the following prizes:

Omega Pal’s Prize Pack from Barleans
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If you enjoyed any of these recipes let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

21 Weeknight Dinner Ideas for the Family

July 25, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

Everyone with a family knows how important it can be to find a great weeknight dinner recipe! Here is a list of 21 of the best stovetop, oven, slow cooker, and pressure cooker weeknight dinner ideas for the family!

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21 of the best weeknight dinners for the family

The BEST Weeknight Dinner Ideas for the Family

Life can be busy but we still all want to eat generally healthy right? So I have rounded up 21 of the most fresh weeknight dinners that are perfect for the whole family.

For your convince I have divided the list into 4 sections; Stovetop, Oven, Slow Cooker, and Pressure Cooker. So no matter what your jam is you will find something on this list you’ll love! From chicken bakes, to Chinese fake-out, to weeknight ribs it is time to get your grub on!

Stovetop Recipes

Quick & easy skillet and stovetop dinner recipes.

20 Minute Chicken Stir Fry

In 20 minutes you will have a protien packed, veggie filled dinner to serve to the family! This chicken stir fry comes together quickly and is served over rice.

Sticky Orange Chicken Thighs

Turn a family pack of chicken thighs into a delicious dinner! A few simple ingredients make a delicious sticky orange sauce. Made in a cast iron these chicken thighs will be your new go-to dinner!

Photo Credit: www.acedarspoon.com

Mexican Pizza

Combine everyone's favorite foods, pizza and tacos with this super delicious Mexican Pizza. Made with simple ground beef and refried beans, this meal can be easily prepped ahead to get dinner on the table fast!

Photo Credit: www.beyondthechickencoop.com

Orange Chicken

Do you love Chinese take out but order it too much? No worries this easy Orange Chicken recipe will satisfy those Chinese food cravings, easy to throw together your family will ask for it again and again.

Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls

More Asian inspiration, these turkey & rice bowls come together fast. Ground turkey is browned on the skillet and flavored with a super simple but flavorful sauce and served over rice! This dish can be on the table in as little as 15 minutes!

Oven Recipes

Turn on the oven and let dinner bake!

Supreme Pizza Chicken Bake Recipe Low Carb

All the flavor of the pizza you love but in a low carb no added sugar version. Chicken topped with simple homemade sauce, and piled high with cheese and vegetables, you will be ditching the take out and making this Supreme Pizza Chicken Bake Recipe on a regular basis!

Oven Baked Shrimp Recipe

This easy Oven Baked Shrimp Recipe creates succulent and delicious shrimp in under 10 minutes. So whether you are looking to make shrimp for an appetizer, for tossing on salads, pastas, and so much more you have come to the right place! The perfect way to do that is learning how to bake shrimp in the oven!

Photo Credit: blessherheartyall.com

6-Ingredient Honey Mustard Chicken Bake

A simple flavorful chicken bake with an easy and healthy homeade sauce. This dinner comes together fast without a lot of work (or dishes).

Healthy Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake

All the flavor of Spinach Artichoke dip that you love but lightened up and made healthy on top of a lean protein packed chicken breast. This Spinach Artichoke Chicken Bake is made with fresh spinach low-fat yogurt making it the perfect healthy weeknight option for the entire family!

Photo Credit: thefitcookie.com

Sheet Pan Barbecue Chicken with Potatoes (Grain Free)

A barbecue rub makes this chicken tray bake super flavorful and guilt free. This whole sheet pan dinner comes together fast and bakes on a single sheet so getting dinner ready is easy and clean up is a breeze!

Baked Chicken Nuggets with Hidden Quinoa

Using 4 simple ingredients you can make the most delicious and easy homemade baked chicken nuggets with hidden quinoa. Whether you want the health benefits of quinoa or are trying to introduce quinoa to your child these oven baked chicken nuggets are easy to make and cook fast.

Slow Cooker

Set it and forget it, the best dump recipes to come home to!

Clean Eating BBQ Pulled Chicken made in the Slow Cooker

Throw out your sugary store bought BBQ sauce because this Healthy BBQ Pulled Chicken is going to blow your mind. An easy homemade sauce replaces that sugary store bought bbq sauce, mixed with chicken thighs and an onion it is cooked to perfection in the crockpot for a great BBQ pulled chicken!

Slow Cooker Black Bean Tortilla Soup

Slow Cooker Black Bean Tortilla Soup is a hearty and delicious vegetarian soup made in the crockpot using canned goods and fresh ingredients.

Photo Credit: myculturedpalate.com

Complete Chicken Dinner in Crockpot

Complete Chicken Dinner in Crockpot is a one dish meal that is delish! I love easy crockpot meals that require nothing else added, unless of course you just have a hankering for some bread or a salad.

Crockpot Bolognese

Simmered slowly in the crockpot this bolognese is made without standing over a stove for hours at a time. Just dump and have a delicious meal waiting when you get home!

Photo Credit: www.shugarysweets.com

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe - Freezer Meal Idea

Cilantro Lime Chicken made in the crockpot (slow cooker) or as a freezer meal is packed with flavor! You’re family is going to love this dinner, you’re going to love how easy it is to prepare!

Slow Cooker Chicken Shawarma

If you are looking for the best weeknight Chicken Shawarma look no further. This restaurant quality chicken shawarma is so easy to throw into the crockpot in the morning and have dinner ready to eat when you get home! With minimal ingredients and a finishing method to make the chicken really pop this Chicken Shawarma in the Slow Cooker will become a regular on your dinner rotation!

Pressure Cooker

Under Pressure, let those pressure cookers do all the work and get dinner on the table in a flash!

Photo Credit: mealplanaddict.com

Weeknight Ribs…. in Your Instant Pot

Have ribs on a weeknight! Ready to go in under an hour and you can prep these ribs ahead of time! Seasoned with a dry rub you will almost think these are better than doing them in a smoker.

Photo Credit: spicecravings.com

Instant Pot Goulash Recipe

A simple and delicious comfort food recipe with ground meat and pasta cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with paprika and other spices. This American-style Instant Pot Goulash comes together in one-pot in just 30 minutes! It is one of our favorite weeknight meals!

Photo Credit: thebellyrulesthemind.net

Instant Pot Vegetable Chow Mein

Chinese Chow Mein made in an instant pot in under 15 minutes. It is so easy that you don’t need to be an expert in cooking to get the kudos you deserve. Do you ever have one of those nights where you want just want everyone to sit at the table and happily eat dinner, no complaining? This Instant Pot Vegetable Chow Mein recipe is my go-to recipe for that night. When I make these noodles everyone gobbles them up. They are so easy to make in this instant pot!

Photo Credit: www.perrysplate.com

Easy Thai Chicken Curry for Instant Pot – Perry's Plate

Make this flavorful, kid-friendly Thai Chicken Curry in your Instant Pot! (Also includes stovetop and slow cooker instructions!) Swap out the vegetables, protein, or even make it vegetarian. Super easy and can be made low-carb/keto or Whole30 friendly.

So there you have it 21 perfect recipe for successful weeknight dinners! Which one are you going to try first??

and as always…

If you enjoyed this recipe or any of my others let me know by using #theschmidtywife on social media!

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook for all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for even more recipes? Check out my Shrimp Stir Fry or my Easy Southwest Chicken.

a collage of the best weeknight dinner recipes

Easy Roast Chicken with Vegetables Recipe

April 9, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt Leave a Comment

Don’t let the thought of cooking a whole chicken be intimidating, this post covers how to make an Easy Roast Chicken with Vegetables. With only a few minutes of prep you can roast chicken and vegetables in one pan making for an impressive yet simple family dinner.

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

whole roasted chicken on a bed of veggies on a white platter

Easy Roast Chicken

I think an Easy Roast Chicken is something that every home cook should know how to make. A roasted chicken dinner is the epitome of a classic Sunday supper. If you haven’t made one before it might be slightly intimidating but never fear this post will walk you though how to make the simplest whole roasted chicken over a bed of delicious classic vegetables.

ingredients for the vegetables, carrots, celery, and an onion

What do I need to make this Roast Chicken and Vegetables Recipe?

Let’s start with a chicken! You’ll want around a 5 pound chicken, depending on where you shop you will see most chickens range from 4 to 6 pounds.

Next you will need vegetables. Now I promised you a SIMPLE Easy Roast Chicken with Vegetables Recipe so we are just going to use carrots, celery, and onions. In my opinion the simplest of the vegetables.

Olive oil. When looking at whole chicken recipes you see a lot of butter BUT I have made A LOT of roast chickens and I seriously love the olive oil ones the best so that is why I use olive oil.

Good quality salt and pepper. Just table salt and pepper don’t quite cut it for this recipe. Because this is a simple recipe you rely on the simple ingredients that are used, so if you have better quality salt and pepper your bird is going to taste better. I recommend good sea salt or Himalayan salt and freshly cracked pepper for this dish.

Special tools needed are kitchen twine, meat thermometer, and a sheet pan. In order to keep the chicken cooking evenly you’ll want to truss the chicken together. In the most basic form, you’ll at least want to truss the legs together, or to put it more simply tie the legs together with the kitchen twine. As we dig into the method I’ll elaborate more on trussing. Meat thermometers aren’t required but are highly recommended, it is best to make sure your chicken is cooked to the proper temperature! You can use an instant read or a leave-in. And finally a sheet pan, no fancy roasting pan is needed to make a roast chicken, just a trusty sheet pan!

So how do you prepare the chicken for roasting?

To get the chicken ready to cook you’ll begin by removing the gizzards and rinsing the chicken in cold water. Using paper towels you will pat the chicken dry and place breast side up on a plate. If you aren’t sure which side is ‘breast side up’ you’ll want the legs and wings pointing upwards towards the ceiling (see pictures).

Now to truss, or tie up. Don’t let this step throw you off, it really is pretty simple. You’ll start with a piece of kitchen twine about 2 feet long. Place the middle of the twine near the neck opening of the chicken. Then bring the twine towards the back of the chicken ensuring the twine covers the wings and keeps them next the the body of the chicken. Bring the twine under the leg but above the thigh, cross the twine underneath the legs, then pushing the ends of the legs together and up wrap the twine around the ends of the legs and tie.

chicken trussed on a sheet pan over a bed of vegetables

The point of the truss is to bring the ends of the legs together to keep for an even bake, so you will at least want to ensure that you tie the legs together with kitchen twine. As for the wings I like to include them in the truss so as they don’t get over baked. Some methods of trussing and preparing chicken will have you bend the wings down and under but I have never found that to be easy or necessary.

Now that your bird is cleaned and trussed the hard part is over! After a good hand washing you’ll want to prepare the vegetables!

Lastly I do want to note, that this is a simple roast chicken so I have not added anything to the empty chicken cavity. Feel free to add herbs, garlic, vegetables, or lemons, I will note that stuffing the chicken does usually add to the cooking time. Stuffing a chicken can add a lot of extra flavor profiles, but it is not necessary to do to make a delicious dinner, sometimes basic is best!

How do I prepare the vegetables for cooking on the same pan as the chicken?

Now because the veggies will be in the oven for upwards of 2 hours (depending on the size of your chicken) you will want to leave the vegetables in bigger chunks!

For the carrots you will want them peeled, or washed well. I have found the best size to cut the carrots to is to half them in both directions. Half the long way and then cut them in half the short way.

For the celery you will want to remove all the leaves and cut the celery about the same length of the carrots, about 2-3 inches depending on the size of your carrots!

Lastly you will want to cut the onion sort of how you would slice an apple. Peel the skin and remove the root and slice into 6-8 wedges.

sheet pan filled with vegetables for step 1

Getting ready to cook the chicken

Add the cut vegetables to a sheet pan and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the vegetables, toss again. Spread out the vegetables to evenly cover the tray.

Place the chicken on the center of the sheet tray on top of the vegetables breast side up, making sure to keep the truss in place. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken, and gently rub the oil over the entire skin with your hands, add more oil if necessary.

(After you wash your hands) Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt, no need to skimp on the salt, cover the skin with a nice even layer. Add the pepper to taste.

sheet pan with vegetables and raw chicken

How long do you cook the chicken at 400º F?

You’ll want to preheat the oven to 400ºF. The nice thing about this recipe is you will be able to cook the chicken at 400º the whole time (some recipes call for a temp change). In a way this is somewhat of a set and forget recipe (or at least for an hour or so). So put the sheet pan chicken into the oven and bake about 1 hour and 45 minutes. In my oven I have found that is almost exactly that time every time but you will probably want to start checking the temp after 1 hour and 30 minutes.

So how will you know it is done? You will want to place a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken breast. You’ll want to measure the temperature from the side, so stick the thermometer next to where the neck was towards the thickest part of the breast. The chicken breast will read 175ºF when ready to come out of the oven. The chicken will continue to cook during the resting time, so by the time you are ready to carve the chicken the temp will be close to 180ºF.

So starting at 90 minutes of cooking start checking the temperature every 10 minutes or so until ready!

freshly cooked chicken on a sheet pan with vegetables

cooked chicken fresh out of the oven on a sheet pan

Rest time and serving!

It is important to note this isn’t a ‘serve immediately’ meal. You will need to let the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes. This gives the chicken time to finish cooking and retain the juices.

Once the chicken is rested and cool enough to handle, carve the chicken to serve. Separate the breasts, wings, thighs, and legs to eat. Serve with the cooked vegetables.

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Tips & Tricks

• I love serving this simple dinner with my Garlic Parmesan Mashed Cauliflower or a salad like my Two Bean Mediterranean Salad

• Turn this simple roast chicken into your own by adding herbs, garlic, lemons, and other flavorings as desired

• I like to keep all of the vegetable scraps, chicken scraps, and bones to make easy homemade broth

Yield: 6 servings

Easy Roast Chicken with Vegetables Recipe

simple roasted whole chicken on a bed of classic vegetables

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Rest Time 10 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound carrots (about 12 medium carrots)
1 bunch celery
1 large yellow onion
4 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt & fresh black pepper
~5 pound whole chicken*

Instructions

Prepare the Chicken: Begin by preheating the oven to 400ºF. Remove the gizzards and rinse the chicken in cold water. Pat the chicken dry and place breast side up on a plate. To truss, start with a piece of kitchen twine about 2 feet long. Place the middle of the twine near the neck opening of the chicken. Then bring the twine towards the back of the chicken ensuring the twine covers the wings and keeps them next the the body of the chicken. Bring the twine under the leg but above the thigh, cross the twine underneath the legs, then pushing the ends of the legs together and up wrap the twine around the ends of the legs and tie.

Prepare the Vegetables: peel the carrots and cut them half the long way and then cut them in half the short way, creating roughly 3 inch carrot sticks. For the celery you will want to remove all the leaves and cut the celery into pieces about the same length of the carrots. Lastly you will want to remove the peel and root and cut the onion into 6-8 wedges (think like slicing an apple).

Add the vegetables to a sheet pan and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the vegetables, toss again. Spread out the vegetables to evenly cover the tray.
Place the chicken on the center of the sheet tray on top of the vegetables breast side up, making sure to keep the truss in place. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the chicken, and gently rub the oil over the entire skin with your hands, add more oil if necessary.
Sprinkle the chicken generously with salt, no need to skimp on the salt, cover the skin with a nice even layer. Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
Transfer sheet pan to pre-heated oven and cook about 90-120 minutes. Using a meat thermometer you will want to to start checking the temperature for doneness every 10 minutes or so until the thickest part of the chicken breast has reached 175ºF**. The chicken will continue to cook during the resting time, so by the time you are ready to carve the chicken the temp will be close to 180ºF.
Once out of the oven let the chicken rest for 10 minutes. Carve the chicken to serve with the vegetables.

Notes

*any chicken between 4-6 pounds works well in this recipe, cook times will vary based on the chicken size

**You will want to place a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the chicken breast. You'll want to measure the temperature from the side, so stick the thermometer next to where the neck was towards the thickest part of the breast. The chicken breast will read 175ºF when ready to come out of the oven. The chicken will continue to cook during the resting time, so by the time you are ready to carve the chicken the temp will be close to 180ºF.

Ground Pork Stir Fry Recipe

March 26, 2019 by Lauren Schmidt 5 Comments

This super easy Ground Pork Stir Fry Recipe is perfect for a quick and easy Asian inspired weeknight meal. Full of vegetables and inexpensive ground pork this meal only takes 15 minutes to make!

This post may contain Affiliate Links.

Pork Stir Fry

What to make with ground pork? That is the question I asked myself not too long ago when I found myself with a pound of pork that need to be used. So I figured why not make an easy ground pork recipe for dinner. I decided I wanted to go with an Asian Inspiration, so I loosely based this recipe after one of my blogs top dinner recipes, Korean Ground Turkey & Rice Bowls.

For this Ground Pork Stir Fry Recipe I decided that I wanted to make it more of a stir fry over just a rice bowl by adding some vegetables! So after the first time I made this stir fry I instantly knew it was going to have to get up on the blog.

Ready in 15 minutes, this dish is super fast but also inexpensive, healthy, and absolutely delicious!

The Ingredients

Ground Pork. The most inexpensive out of all of the ground meats, at my local grocery you can find a pound of ground pork for nearly half the price of beef or turkey. So when you are on a budget, grab for that pork!

The Vegetables. I kept it simple with common vegetables to keep it inexpensive and easy. I use broccoli, carrots, and spinach. The best thing about using these ingredients is you can find them all at the store pre-prepped for you. If you are really short on time or just looking for ease you can get shredded carrots, broccoli florets, and pre-washed spinach at almost every grocery store. And even if you don’t get them pre-prepped, shredding a carrot and chopping broccoli into florets only takes a handful of minutes!

The flavorings. Again the name of the game with this recipe is simplicity so I only use a handful of ingredients to flavor the dish but the ingredients are selected because they all add of ton of flavor. You will use minced garlic, added to the vegetables. And then to make a quick stir fry sauce, soy sauce, ground ginger, and a little honey. So easy right!

And then to garnish, simple sesame seeds and some chopped green onions do the trick beautifully!

Lastly you will want to serve this stir fry over rice. You can choose what fits you and your family, I love classic white rice but brown rice would work too. Heck even cauliflower rice would probably be delicious here!

close up of ground pork stir fry on rice

The Method

First you will make the super easy stir fry sauce! Combine the soy sauce, ground ginger, and honey in a small bowl and whisk together.

Then in a large skillet over medium-high heat crumble and brown ground pork for 5 minutes. There will probably be quite a bit of grease so you’ll want to drain that before adding the vegetables.

Reduce heat to medium and add the carrots, broccoli, garlic, and stir fry sauce. Cook together stirring occasionally about 4-5 minutes until vegetables are starting to become tender.

Add the spinach to the skillet. It seems like a large amount, but it wilts so much! So stir the spinach into the stir fry until it becomes reduced and wilted, about 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, best served over rice and garnished with sesame seeds and green onions!

And make sure you note! Since this stir fry comes together so fast it probably is going to take longer to cook your rice depending on the method. So start your rice cooking before you start your stir fry!

overhead of two plates full of ground pork stir fry and two forks

fork with a bite of ground pork stir fry with rice

TIPS & TRICKS

• Feel free to play with the veggies, add more or add different ones, onions would go well in here, so would snow peas

• if you like things spicy I recommend adding a little sriracha to the sauce

Yield: 4 servings

Ground Pork Stir Fry Recipe

ground pork, broccoli, carrots, and spinach make up this easy 15 minute stir fry

Prep Time 3 minutes

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound ground pork
1 cup shredded carrots
1 cup broccoli florets
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons honey
2 cups packed spinach

Garnishes:

sesame seeds
green onions

Instructions

Make stir fry sauce by combining soy sauce, ground ginger, and honey in a small bowl and whisking together.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat crumble and brown ground pork for 5 minutes. Drain grease from the skillet.
Reduce heat to medium and add carrots, broccoli, garlic, and stir fry sauce. Cook together stirring occasionally about 4 minutes until vegetables are starting to become tender.
Add the spinach to the skillet and stir together until spinach becomes cooked and wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately, best served over rice and garnished with sesame seeds and green onions.

Notes

if making rice, chances are the rice will take longer to cook than the stir fry, so before starting the recipe, start cooking your rice

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 447Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 1338mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 6gSugar: 5gProtein: 36g

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

And make sure you are following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebookfor all the latest recipes!

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Looking for more recipes like my Ground Pork Stir Fry Recipe? Check out my Quick Easy Pork Fried Rice, 20 Minute Chicken Stir Fry, Shrimp Stir Fry or my Easy Southwest Chicken.

I will probably say this in the intro to every baked potato recipe I have but baked potatoes are one of my favorite meals. There are so many different ways top and stuff them, it seems like an endless combination of delicious meals! Well today’s Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Cheddar is just one of the most delicious was to top your potatoes.

So true story when I was pregnant with my oldest son Archie, I had pretty bad morning sickness for essentially the first half of my pregnancy and I basically hated all food, with very few exceptions. One of these exceptions was a baked potato from Wendy’s. For about a month it was almost the only thing I could tolerate. I recall one time my husband drove by a Wendy’s restaurant and did not stop and get me a baked potato, instant meltdown (pregnancy hormones…). So it is only fitting to this day that I still love bake potatoes and my son Archie loves baked potatoes.

These Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes are perhaps a tad healthier then the cheese smothered Wendy’s equivalent and probably easier to make than getting the family into the car and driving to the nearest Wendy’s.

The Ingredients

Baked Potatoes. In this recipe I use the oven to bake my potatoes but the beautiful thing about baked potatoes is there are more than one way to bake them, so if the oven doesn’t work for you bake them in the slow cooker, pressure cooker, or even in the microwave to make the time work best for you. Baked potatoes also have a ton of health benefits, they are an excellent source of vitamin C & B6, a good source of potassium (more than a banana!), plus they are fat-, sodium-, and cholesterol-free. Not to mention a medium sized potato is roughly 110 calories. So top your ‘taters with confidence knowing that you are feeding your family a healthy meal.

Mushrooms. I always refer to mushrooms as vegetables even though they aren’t, don’t you just kind of lump them in with veggies or is that just me? Either way I feel like they are one of those foods people aren’t indifferent about, they either like them or they don’t. Well I like them, hence why they are in this recipe. I like to buy the presliced one, because hello, so much easier for me when it comes time to cook dinner, although if you would like them to cook a little faster give them a quick chop just to make the pieces a bit smaller.

Onions, great flavor and really the only ‘work’ in this recipe because they have to be diced. Do you know how to correctly dice onions? I watched Gordon Ramsay do it in this video 3 years ago and it changed my life. It makes every onion 10,000% easier to dice once you get the hang of it. Do yourself a favor watch it, start practicing.

White Wine, yes this sauce benefits from oh so delicious white wine. You can use cooking wine or *cough cough* drinking wine, I use chardonnay because that is what I have in my house. If you don’t want to use wine or don’t have it on hand you could sub either vegetable or chicken broth but it will have a slightly different taste.

Garlic, for flavor. Again like the mushrooms I use pre-mined garlic, but if you are looking for maximum flavor and you have the time you can mince your own garlic.

Spinach, everyones favorite greens right? I use a full bag of 5 ounce baby spinach in this recipe. I always find it humorous that a full bag of spinach cooks down to what seems to be almost nothing. So when you add the full bag to the skillet, it might seem too much don’t worry its not, it will wilt down a lot.

Plain yogurt, just a touch to make the sauce slightly creamy. I prefer just plain low fat yogurt, greek yogurt could be used here but it will add a little more tanginess to the sauce versus creaminess.

And delicious Sharp Cheddar Cheese. This potato benefits form a nice extra sharp aged cheddar with an extra bite really compliments that mushroom spinach sauce. I personally believe the best sharp cheddar comes in blocks and not preshredded, so I recommend buying a block and grating it yourself. Sorry not everything in life comes better pre cut 😉

The Method

As mentioned before, bake the potatoes. In the recipe I give instructions to bake them in the oven. If you want to bake them in the microwave/slow cooker/instant pot go for it. You’ll still want the oven on if you want the cheese melted (you could probably even use the broiler if you don’t want to turn the full oven on) (or even melt the cheese in the microwave?). I prefer the oven method because it gives the potatoes a crispy outside and a fluffy inside.

Once the potatoes are baked you will give them a few minutes to cool before cutting open the top. You will want to make a single cut in the top leaving the ends intact. Nice the potatoes a squish together to open them up. Sprinkle with cheese and return to the oven for the cheese to melt.

The mushroom spinach sauce is super easy to make in the skillet while the potatoes are cooking. You’ll add a little oil and onions to the skillet and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until watery and softened. The garlic and white wine will then be added to simmer away and reduce. The spinach will then be added to and cooked down. As you turn off the heat you’ll add the yogurt.

Top your cheesy potatoes with the sauce and boom, dinner is served. Enjoy your Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes!

TIPS & TRICKS:

• Make the sauce as the potatoes are finishing cooking, the sauce comes together quick so you should be able to do that and get cheese on the potatoes at the same time

• If you don’t want to use wine or don’t have it on hand you could sub either vegetable or chicken broth but it will have a slightly different taste

Yield: 4 Servings

Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Cheddar

a baked potato stuffed with sharp cheddar cheese and a simple mushroom spinach sauce

Prep Time 5 minutes

Active Cook Time 25 minutes

Inactive Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

4 large russet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
8 oz sliced white mushrooms
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 5oz bag fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
crushed red pepper for garnish

Instructions

For the Potatoes:

Preheat oven to 400º F. Poke the potatoes all over with a fork. Using 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, rub each potato with the oil to lightly grease each one. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place on a sheet pan and bake for 60-70 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven to cool slightly. Cut open the potatoes, slice the top lengthwise and gently squeeze the potato to open up the middle of the potato revealing more of the fluffy white center. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of cheese inside each of the potatoes, place in oven and bake 5-6 minutes until cheese is nice and melty. Top with Spinach Mushrooms Sauce.

For the Mushroom Spinach Sauce:

With 5-10 minutes left of the potatoes baking: Heat remaining olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add onions and cook about 2 minutes until slightly translucent.
Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook 5-8 minutes stir occasionally until the mushrooms have released water and cooked down.
Add mined garlic and white wine to the skillet. Mix everything to combine, bring to boil, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 8-10 minutes until the sauce has slightly reduced.
Add spinach to the skillet, slowly mix everything together as the spinach begins to wilt. After the spinach has wilted, about 5-6 minutes turn off the heat and add the yogurt to the skillet. Stir to mix in the yogurt. Divide between your cheesy potatoes. Garnish with crushed red pepper to serve.

Notes

Nutritional data is automated, final nutritional information will depend on ingredients used and any changes made.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1 stuffed potato
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 483

Peace & Love

Lauren, The Schmidty Wife

P.S. Love potatoes like my Spinach Mushroom Stuffed Baked Potatoes? Check out my Crispy Oven Roasted Baby Yukon Potatoes or my Rueben Stuffed Baked Potatoes.

Please note that my links above may be affiliate links, and I will earn a commission if you purchase through these links. I recommend them because they are helpful, and are companies that I trust, not because of the commissions that I may earn from you using these products.

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