Recipes, Home Cooking

Chicken Philly Toasties: A Crispy, Easy Dinner Made With Real Ingredients

Some weeks are busier than others, and that's usually when takeout starts sounding really good.

But cooking at home doesn't have to mean making an elaborate dinner.

These Chicken Philly Toasties are exactly the kind of meal I love making for Chip and me: simple ingredients, plenty of flavor, and something we actually look forward to eating.

I make mine with seasoned pasture-raised chicken thighs, onions, fresh spinach, provolone cheese, and homemade tortillas, then grill them until the outside is golden and crispy and the cheese is melted.

They're somewhere between a chicken Philly, a quesadilla, and a grilled sandwich—and honestly, I don't know what category they belong in.

So we're calling them Chicken Philly Toasties. 😂

Why I Like This Kind of Meal

I'm not interested in making "diet food."

I want to make real food that tastes good while being thoughtful about the ingredients I'm using.

For this recipe, I usually choose pasture-raised chicken thighs. I prefer the richer flavor, they stay juicy when cooked, and I like the nutrient profile of dark meat. If you prefer white meat, chicken breast works just fine too.

The onions add flavor, and the fresh spinach gets tossed in at the very end—just long enough to wilt.

Then there's provolone because, well...a Chicken Philly Toastie needs some good melted cheese. 😂

And instead of reaching for a packaged wrap, I like making homemade tortillas when I have time.

That's really the philosophy behind a lot of what you'll see from my kitchen.

Healthy eating doesn't have to mean eating perfectly or following somebody else's rules. It's about becoming more intentional about the ingredients you choose, learning how to cook with them, and making food you genuinely enjoy.

Cindy's Chicken Philly Toasties

Makes: About 4 toasties
Prep Time: About 15 minutes
Cook Time: About 20 minutes

Estimated Nutrition Per Toastie: Approximately 675 calories • 58 g protein • 37 g fat • 28 g carbohydrate
Nutrition is an estimate and will vary based on tortilla brand, cheese, oil, and ingredient amounts.

Ingredients

• 1–1½ pounds pasture-raised boneless, skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced

• 2 generous handfuls fresh spinach

• 4 slices provolone cheese. (Healthy swap is fresh made hummus in place of cheese)

• 4 homemade tortillas or packaged

• Olive oil or avocado oil, as needed

• Sea salt, to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Smoked paprika, to taste

• Garlic powder, to taste

• Onion powder, to taste

Prefer white meat? Substitute chicken breast for the thighs. Use what works for you and your family.

Directions

1. Cook the Chicken and Onion

Heat a skillet (I use cast iron) over medium heat with a small amount of olive or avocado oil.

Add the sliced chicken thighs and onion to the skillet and season with sea salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, and onion powder.

Cook the chicken and onion together, stirring and turning as needed, until the chicken is completely cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Once cooked through I use the spatula to break it into bite sized pieces.

2. Wilt the Spinach

Once the chicken has cooked through, add the fresh spinach.

Toss the spinach through the hot chicken-and-onion mixture just until it wilts.

You don't need to cook it for long. The residual heat from the mixture will do most of the work.

Remove the skillet from the heat.

3. Prepare the Tortilla

Lay one tortilla flat on a cutting board.

Using a knife or kitchen scissors, make one straight cut from the center of the tortilla out to the edge.

This creates the starting point that allows you to fold the tortilla over itself into a layered triangle.

4. Add the Cheese and Filling

Place the provolone on the top half of the tortilla, then add the warm chicken, onion, and wilted spinach mixture.

Don't get carried away with the filling.

I know it's tempting. 😂

Leaving a little room makes the tortilla much easier to fold and helps keep everything tucked inside.

5. Fold the Toastie

Starting at the cut, take the first section of tortilla and fold it up.

Then fold that section over onto the next section.

Fold it over once more to close the toastie, creating a compact, layered triangle.See image below for more guidance.

6. Grill Until Golden and Crispy

Place the folded toastie into a skillet over medium to medium-low heat.

Grill until the first side is golden and crispy.

Carefully flip and grill the other side until the tortilla is crisp and the provolone inside is warm and melted.

7. Serve

Let your toastie rest for a minute before eating—it'll be hot inside.

Then dig in.

Cindy's Kitchen Tip: Use What You Have

This might be my favorite kitchen rule:

Don't skip cooking dinner because you're missing one ingredient.

No chicken thighs? Use chicken breast.

No spinach? Use another green you enjoy or simply leave it out.

Different cheese in the refrigerator? Try it. Or skip it, I promise you won't miss it!

Already have leftover cooked chicken? Dinner just got even easier.

Recipes can give us a starting point, but cooking at home gets a whole lot easier when we stop believing everything has to be followed perfectly.

Learn the basics. Get comfortable in your kitchen. Use good ingredients when you can.

Then use what you have and make it yours.

Food Is More Than Nutrients

Nutrition matters to me, but there's another reason I keep coming back to cooking.

The table matters too. Togetherness matters.

Somewhere along the way, a lot of us became so busy that eating became another task to squeeze into the day.

I'd love to help change that.

Cook something.

Sit down.

Put the phones away for a little while.

Talk to each other.

Enjoy your food.

It doesn't need to be fancy to be meaningful.

Sometimes it's just a crispy Chicken Philly Toastie on a Wednesday night with someone you love.

And that's pretty darn good. ❤️

From Cindy's Kitchen

I'm Cindy Paul, co-founder of Neighborly Wellness and TrueMedX. I love helping people think about food and nutrition in a way that works in real life.

In my kitchen, you'll find real ingredients, homemade meals, plenty of experimentation, Chip nearby, and usually four dachshunds hoping something hits the floor. 😂

I'm sharing more of what I actually cook at home, along with practical food education and simple ideas for getting people cooking—and gathering around the table—again.

Follow Neighborly Wellness for more from Cindy's Kitchen.