Chicken with Cherry Pan Sauce
plus Loaded Mashed Potatoes, Cheesy Spinach Dip & Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Milk
- Eggs
- Soy
This Mother’s Day, serve up a three-course celebratory dinner that will surprise and delight the most important lady in your life (and everyone else at the table). The evening starts with a creamy homemade spinach dip with carrot sticks and tortilla chips, perfect for pairing with mom’s fave beverage while you cook. For the main event: juicy seared chicken with a rich cherry pan sauce, tender roasted asparagus, and mashed potatoes loaded with sour cream, Parmesan, scallions, and crisp, smoky bacon. We hope mom’s a chocolate-lover, because after dinner, it’s rich, fudgy lava cake time! You get the flowers, we’ve got the rest. Ready? Go!
Ingredients
6 tablespoon
Sour Cream
(Contains: Milk)
1 unit
Cherry Jam
4 ounce
Bacon
12 ounce
Potatoes
6 ounce
Carrot
5 ounce
Spinach
1.5 ounce
Blue Corn Tortilla Chips
2 unit
Chocolate Lava Cake
(Contains: Eggs, Milk, Soy)
6 ounce
Asparagus
1 unit
Chicken Stock Concentrate
4 ounce
Cream Sauce Base
(Contains: Milk)
9 tablespoon
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains: Milk)
10 ounce
Chicken Cutlets
1 ounce
Cheese Roux Concentrate
(Contains: Milk)
2 unit
Scallions
1 teaspoon
Garlic Powder
Not included in your delivery
teaspoon (tsp)
Salt
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Cooking Oil
1 tablespoon (tbsp)
Butter
(Contains: Milk)
teaspoon (tsp)
Black Pepper
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
• Adjust racks to top and middle positions and preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry produce. • Dice potatoes into ½-inch pieces. Place in a medium pot with enough salted water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, 15-20 minutes. Reserve ½ cup potato cooking liquid, then drain. • Return potatoes to pot and mash until smooth and creamy, adding splashes of reserved potato cooking liquid as needed. Cover to keep warm. (You’ll finish the potatoes in Step 6.)
• While potatoes cook, place spinach and 1 TBSP water (2 TBSP for 4 servings) in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave until wilted, 2-4 minutes. Carefully remove plastic and transfer spinach to a paper-towel-lined plate; let cool. TIP: No microwave? No problem! Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted, 3-4 minutes. • Place bacon* on a baking sheet; roast on top rack until crispy, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board. Once cool enough to handle, roughly chop.
• Meanwhile, trim, peel, and cut carrots into sticks (like fries; ours were 4 inches long and ½ inch thick). Trim and discard bottom 1 inch from asparagus. Trim and thinly slice scallions, separating whites from greens. • Once spinach is cool enough to handle, place in the center of a clean kitchen towel. Gather into a tight bundle and squeeze over the sink to remove as much moisture as possible. Finely chop spinach.
• Whisk cream sauce base, cheese roux, and garlic powder in a small pot until combined, then set over medium-high heat; cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, 1-2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in two packets of sour cream and two packets of Parmesan (four packets of sour cream and four packets of Parmesan for 4 servings) until melted and combined, 1 minute. (TIP: It may take time for Parm to fully melt—just keep stirring!) Stir in chopped spinach and season with salt and pepper. (If mixture seems too thick, stir in a splash of water.) • Transfer dip to a bowl and serve with carrot sticks and tortilla chips along with Mom’s favorite beverage while you prepare the rest of the meal. TIP: Prefer to serve the dip with the main course? Reheat over medium-low heat right before serving!
• Pat chicken* dry with paper towels; season all over with salt and pepper. • Heat a drizzle of oil in a large pan over high heat. Add chicken and sear until golden brown, 2 minutes per side. Turn off heat; transfer chicken to one side of a second baking sheet. Wipe out pan and let cool slightly. • Toss asparagus on empty side of sheet with a drizzle of oil, salt, and pepper. Roast on middle rack until chicken is cooked through and asparagus is tender and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes.
• Stir remaining Parmesan and one packet of sour cream (two packets for 4 servings) into mashed potatoes until cheese has melted, 1 minute. Fold in half the bacon and half the scallion greens. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm. TIP: If bacon isn’t finished yet, stir in right before serving. • Heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for chicken over medium heat. Add scallion whites and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in ¼ cup water (1⁄3 cup for 4), jam, and stock concentrate. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining sour cream and 1 TBSP butter (2 TBSP for 4). Season with salt and pepper.
• Slice chicken crosswise. • Divide chicken, asparagus, and mashed potatoes between plates. Spoon sauce over chicken and sprinkle potatoes with remaining bacon and remaining scallion greens. Serve. • For dessert, preheat oven to 350 degrees; unwrap thawed lava cakes and place on a third baking sheet. Heat on middle rack until center is warm and gooey, 10-14 minutes (or microwave for 30-45 seconds).
Chicken is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 165°.
Bacon is fully cooked when internal temperature reaches 145°.
Customer reviews
Review summary
Updated on Dec 2025- Flavor: Many loved the cherry pan sauce, calling it "heavenly" and "over the hill with flavor." The spinach dip was a hit too! 🍲
- Ease of prep: Some found it time-consuming with many steps, but others felt the effort was worth it for a special occasion meal.
- Suggestions: Consider adding whole cherries to the sauce and more spinach to the dip for extra flavor and texture.
- Portions: A few mentioned needing more carrots or chips for the dip, and some wanted more scallions and bacon for the potatoes.
- Cooking tips: Try using bacon fat instead of oil for added flavor, and finish the chicken in the oven to avoid burning.
Reviews from our home cooks
This needs 5 stars! This wonderful Mother's Day spread was well received. The spinach dip appetizer almost stole the show. Almost. Then, when the plates were set, the aroma of the cherry pan sauce ushered in a new level of amazing. Mom isn't fond of bacon (I know, she's a heretic, lol), but she liked that it didn't overpower the rest of the meal. We usually work together for meals, but I enjoyed working alone on this. Simply superb.
This was pretty lengthy to prepare on a holiday, particularly preparing the mashed potatoes and the pan sauce and slicing the chicken, all trying to stay warm for serving. The spinach dip was tasty but many more carrots or a second dipping veggie were needed (chips plus dip was too salty).
There was a sauce included with the kit that was not on the instructions. I believe it was supposed to go in the cherry glaze, but I put it in the potatoes! It was still very good. I believe it was a cheese sauce base.
Very tasty. Loved the lava cake. However, we both thought it was a bit overload on cheese. I wound up cutting the amount of cheese called for in half by the time I got to the potatoes.
A bit more labor intensive, but worth it. Loved the spinach dip and the chicken. Always love asparagus.
Was super good. Potatoes could have used more flavor but I added the dip to it and it was perfect. Would have added parmesan to the asparagus.
This was so good! Nice Mother's Day dinner. I used the bacon fat instead of oil. It added so much more flavor!
This was amazing. I don't like asparagus. But the sauce was heavenly as was the spinach dip, which I never eat.
This meal was fantastic! Loved the cherry sauce without a balsamic vinegar in it.
Complicated to cook, but very delicious. Ordered by mistake but glad we did.
