Monterey Chicken Braid recipe – we are obsessed with this quick chicken braid. Pizza dough stuffed with chicken, Monterey jack cheese, spinach, garlic, and french fried onions. SO easy to make! A great way to use up leftover chicken or even holiday turkey. We make this at least once a month. We love this for lunch, dinner, and as a party appetizer.
Roll out pizza dough vertically on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Mix chicken, sour cream, 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, spinach, garlic powder, and 1/2 cup french fried onions. Spread chicken mixture down center of pizza dough.
Cut 12 strips on each side of the dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center. Continue alternating strips to form a braid.
Bake for 18-20 minutes - until lightly browned.
Remove braid from the oven. Top with remaining ¼ cup of cheese and fried onions.
Bake an additional 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
Notes:
I use rotisserie chicken in this recipe. You can use any cooked chicken that you have on hand. Boneless chicken breast, chicken tenders, chicken thighs all work great.
I used a can of refrigerated pizza dough for this recipe. You can substitute a can of crescent dough. If using crescent rolls, do not separate the rolls and seal perforations and seams.
Make sure to get as much of the water out of the frozen spinach as possible. I drain it in a colander and then squeeze it with a towel or paper towels until it is almost dry.
Feel to add some more veggies to the chicken mixture. Red bell pepper and sundried tomatoes are delicious.
Can Monterey Dollar Chicken Braid be made in advance? Yes! You can assemble the braid and refrigerate it overnight before baking.
Can Monterey Chicken Braid be frozen? Yes! Bake the braid and let it cool completely. Wrap the braid in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze. When ready to eat, thaw and reheat in the microwave or covered in the oven.