The Crunchy Vegetable You Should Be Stuffing Inside Chicken Breasts

When made right, a stuffed chicken breast is an explosion of creamy tender flavors that bring as much nutrition to your diet as it does delight. The most popular version of this dish we've seen is Stuffed Chicken Valentino which features a filling of cheese, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, herbs, and prosciutto — though it's also common to see a version without the prosciutto. But we're here to tell you to ditch the spinach and add a bolder, crunchier vegetable to your stuffed chicken: asparagus.

While spinach is world-famous for its nutritional value, asparagus carries its own nutritional weight. A member of the onion, leek, and garlic family, asparagus brings folate, iron, and fiber to your diet, which is excellent for digestive health. It's also a great source of vitamin C. And while the nutritional aspects are a huge plus, that's not why we're obsessed with adding asparagus; it's all about the texture for us. Properly roasted asparagus comes out crunchy, with a nice, firm bite which adds a little more depth and integrity to your tender, baked chicken.

When it comes to an asparagus-stuffed chicken dish, the world (or breast in this case) is your oyster. We are big fans of pairing parmesan and garlic with roasted asparagus and have no doubt that it would be a family favorite combo in this dish. Another cheese you might want to consider adding to this dish is mozzarella. While spinach cooks down and blends into a nice cohesive filling with whichever ingredients you choose, asparagus tends to keep its shape in the baking process — hence why we like it so much.

However, asparagus's fibrous body means it won't bind with the other ingredients as much as a more malleable filler like spinach would do. Adding a binding agent like mozzarella will help make sure your filling won't crumble into a big ol' mess as soon as you slice into your chicken. We highly recommend swapping out the spinach with asparagus in this Air-Fryer Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipe. One tip: Steam the asparagus first so it cooks down properly in the air fryer.