There are a lot of different ways to make this classic dish. I used to think of chicken cordon bleu as a dish where the chicken breast is flattened, stuffed, rolled, flash fried, then baked in the oven. However, my mom always made it folded in half and baked rather than rolled and fried. And I'll tell you what: this method is just as awesome as fried and doesn't require as much technique.
The Stuffed Chicken Breast Series: An Easy, Gourmet Treat
But before I get into that, I'd like to welcome you to my Stuffed Chicken Breast Series. Yes, I'm going all in with stuffed chicken breast recipes. This is actually the very first stuffed chicken recipe I posted on my website. It's my mom's recipe and I've always loved it. So awesome.
There are a few different ways you can go about stuffing chicken. The first is butterfly, stuff & fold, like my cordon bleu. Next option, slice down the top of breast to make a pocket, stuff crumpled tin foil into the pocket, sear it, then add the filling into the pocket. This works best if you have a creamier filling. Lastly, there is the rolling method: butterfly the breast, pound it thin, lay out/spread your filling onto the chicken, then roll the breast. For this type of technique your filling should lay flat and not be bulky.
There are so many exciting combinations and methods to try! I'm sure there are more variations on how best to stuff your boneless chicken breast. These are simply a jumping off point.
Stuffing and Folding Chicken Cordon Bleu is Easy and Delicious
I like the simplicity of the baking method on this one. Yes, I know frying it is totally awesome, but baking it is healthier and requires less culinary technique. In my opinion, baking does not compromise any flavor. It's still absolutely delicious! All you need to do is:
- Butterfly the chicken breast and pound it slightly to even it out.
- Lightly salt the chicken on both sides.
- Dip in butter then breadcrumbs.
- Stuff with ham and cheese.
- Bake in the oven.
The one extra step you could take is to toast your panko breadcrumbs slightly in a pan before breading the outside of your chicken. My recipe doesn't call for that to save on the prep time. But you could choose to do this if it's really important to the presentation for you.
Otherwise, get those chicken breasts in the oven and make the cheese sauce while they cook. You can follow along in my step-by-step video above. In terms of side dishes, the sky is the limit. You can do something like light a side salad or steamed vegetables work well too. Truth be told, I don't usually make anything on the side because the chicken is so delicious and filling. So it's up to you what you want to do!
If You're Obsessed with Stuffing Chicken (Like Me), Try These:
- Three-Cheese Stuffed Chicken w/Sausage & Red Sauce
- Stove Top Stuffing Chicken Rolls
- Stuffed Chicken Pepperoni Pizza Bake
- Jalapeno Popper Chicken Wrapped in Bacon
- Cheesy Fajita Stuffed Chicken
- Bacon Ricotta Stuffed Chicken
- Asparagus and Cheese Stuffed Chicken
- Stuffed Chicken w/Sun Dried Tomatoes & Sharp Provolone
Easy Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Description
Easy baked chicken cordon bleu is a fantastic comfort food with simple steps and excellent flavor.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 chicken breasts (butterflied and pounded)
- 8 slices of ham (I used black forest)
- 8 slices of Swiss cheese
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 cups plain panko bread crumbs
- Salt, to taste
Sauce
- 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
- ½ small shallot, finely diced
- 4 ounces of gruyere cheese (need to buy an 8 ounce block)
- ¼ cup of freshly shredded parmesan
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 ½ cups of whole milk
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon of salt, more if needed
Instructions
- Finely dice shallot and garlic and set aside.
- Trim fat from the chicken breasts. Slice them lengthwise to split them open (also called butterfly). Do not cut them in half – the breast needs to stay one piece so you can stuff it with the ham and cheese. My video shows this well. Once the chicken is opened, pound them with a mallet to flatten them just a bit. If you don't have a mallet cover in plastic wrap and use a pan or rolling pin to flatten.
- Sprinkle a pinch a salt on both sides of all the chicken.
- Melt your butter in the microwave.
- Set up your assembly station with the chicken, ham, cheese, melted butter on a plate, and plain panko breadcrumbs on a plate.
Assembly:
- Take one chicken piece and dip one side into the melted butter.
- Pick up chicken and let butter drip off.
- Place chicken on top of panko breadcrumbs (buttered side down) and press down on chicken to adhere the breadcrumbs.
- Add one slice of cheese on bottom, two slices of folded ham on top of that and one more slice of cheese on top of the ham.
- Now fold it gently and place in your baking dish.
- Repeat that process for the other three pieces of chicken.
- Put into a preheated oven at 350 degrees and cook for 40 minutes. Then turn broiler on high five minutes to brown the breadcrumbs if you like, this is optional.
Sauce Preparation:
- Grate the gruyere cheee.
- Melt five tablespoons of butter in a small sauce pot on low to medium heat.
- Add the garlic and shallots. Stir around and let it cook for a few minutes until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Watch the heat on this, you don’t want to burn that garlic.
- Add all-purpose flour to create a roux. This is a thickening agent for sauces. Stir this for a few minutes until the raw flour cooks out a bit.
- Add milk and whisk thoroughly. Heat on low for a few minutes and this will start to thicken.
- Add the shredded gruyere and stir. Add the freshly grated parmesan and stir. I grated the parmesan directly into the pot, but you can grate it ahead of time too. Add salt to taste and stir.
- Remove from heat and let it sit. Ideally, you should heat the sauce and then let it sit a few minutes before serving. If your sauce is too thin add a little more gruyere. If it's too thick a splash more milk.
- Pour sauce on top of chicken and serve.
Equipment
Kitchen Mallet (Meat Tenderizer)
Buy Now →Notes
- For toastier browned panko, you can toast your breadcrumbs in a pan before adhering to the chicken. This step makes the process a bit longer and I wanted to focus on a simple baked recipe. But you can certainly do this if you choose.
- I used black forest ham, but any plain ham will be fine. I would stay away from honey ham or any kind of seasoned or spiced ham as this will change the flavor profile.
- Four stuffed chicken breasts is a lot of food. You can easily cut the chicken breasts in half right before serving and that will be plenty of food for one person. Keep in mind you will probably be serving with some kind of rice and/or vegetable side.
- I don’t normally present ingredients like cheese in ounces. But the standard way gruyere cheese is sold is in 8-ounce packages and you only need half of it for the sauce recipe, so I presented the amount as needing 4 ounces.
Kim Preston
I tried this recipe the other night and as usual delicious. I could only find smoked gruyere, not sure if that’s standard but I used it anyway and it was great. I love the videos , they do really help,even though the directions are great. I’m really learning a lot, thanks so much Stacey !!
Stacey
Smoked gruyere sounds awesome - I'm glad you found a good substitute for regular gruyere. I'm so happy you are enjoying my blog - that really means a lot. 🙂