It's been a while since I stuffed a chicken, which is strange because I find it so satisfying. And I've been on a broccolini kick these days and dying to make things with it. I do realize that broccoli and broccolini (baby broccoli) are similar, but they are just different enough that I've temporarily written off regular-boring-old-broccoli for the sleeker, more hip broccolini. I guess this is my mid-life crisis time. Instead of sports cars and expensive spa days, I'm going for younger versions of vegetables. And with that loopy thought process, I give you this incredibly delicious stuffed chicken with broccolini and soy glaze.
Want to make chicken breast taste better?
Most of the time when you see recipes about stuffing chicken, it's boneless breast of chicken. And if you're a regular reader on my site, you know my thoughts about white meat chicken. It's our job as home chefs to make it taste like something. On it's own, white meat chicken is a great source of protein that doesn't have a ton of flavor. So, like risotto, which also doesn't have much flavor - we have to give it flavor and bring it to life. Stuffing chicken is awesome and there are a lot of flavor options. If you think of your favorite flavors chances are they will taste good stuffed inside a chicken breast.
if you love stuffing chicken - you might want to check these out too:
Pizza Bake
Stuffed Chicken with broccolini and soy glaze: a few ingredients with big flavor
There are varying levels of effort made when stuffing chicken and I think this recipe is one of the easiest to make. All you need to do is pound the chicken, season it, and stuff it with gouda and broccolini. I know that stuffing a chicken can sound intimidating, but I swear this one is pretty easy with no advanced techniques! While the chicken is cooking you can make the glaze which takes less than 10 minutes. The best part about the glaze is you probably have most of these ingredients on hand.
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Easy Soy Glaze ingredients:
- Butter
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Soy sauce
- Sweet rice vinegar
- Honey
These heats up quickly and after you cut the chicken, you can brush this on the chicken before serving. For me, I love brushing a little flavor over the top of chicken and love just barely coating it. It's the whole less is more thing I sometimes insist upon. But if you want more of a coating just double the recipe!
Easy Steps to making stuffed chicken with broccolini and soy glaze
Stuffed Chicken with Broccolini and soy glaze
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 portions 1x
Description
This stuffed chicken with broccolini and soy glaze is an easy and delicious gourmet treat. Super tender and juicy!
Ingredients
- 4 small-to-medium boneless chicken breasts
- 1 6-8 ounce package of Gouda cheese
- 1 small bundle of broccolini
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- Olive oil
- Parsley garnish, optional
For the Soy Glaze:
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet rice vinegar (or reg. white vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon honey
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Instructions
- Wash broccolini and fill a sauté pan with water. If some of the stalks seems a little long you can cut them down a bit before cooking. Make sure you have 8 stalks total (2 per each piece of chicken). You can slice a larger stalk down the middle to make two if you need to. Turn heat to high and wait for it to boil. Add broccolini and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from water and transfer to a plate or sheet pan.
- While the broccolini is boiling you can trim any fat from the chicken breasts. They are typically very lean, but do have a little fat around the edges.
- You’ll need to butterfly the chicken breasts. Slice the breast in half lengthwise, but don’t cut all the way through. Open the chicken and lay it flat on your cutting board. Do this with all four pieces. My video shows this well.
- Once the chicken is butterflied, the broccolini is probably done. Remove from the pan and lay pieces out on a plate or sheet pan so they are not touching.
- Place two of the chicken breasts (side by side) on a cutting board and cover with plastic wrap. Using a kitchen mallet (or a rolling pin or pan) to pound the chicken down to about ¼” in thickness. Do this to all four pieces.
- Season both sides of the chicken with a little salt and pepper and set chicken aside on a plate or small sheet pan.
- Slice the Gouda cheese into ¼” rectangular slices. Gouda usually comes in a block. Peel the red wax from around the outside of it and slice any additional wax from the outside as well. Cut the Gouda in half, then start slicing the rectangle slices. You’ll probably have a little more cheese than you need. You can use the rest to make an omelet, cheese and cracker snack, or on top of a salad.
- Time to stuff the chicken. Place two slices of the Gouda cheese in the bottom half of the butterflied chicken breast. Add two stalks of broccolini on top of the cheese (stalks meeting in the middle and the “heads” sticking out a little on each end).
- Once the chicken is stuffed, transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and drizzle a little olive oil over the top of the chicken. You can use a pastry brush or your fingers to spread over each piece.
- Bake the chicken in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees.
- While the chicken is cooking make the soy glaze. Start by finely dicing the garlic and ginger. I used a microplane to grate the ginger, but a knife is fine too.
- Melt butter in a sauté pan and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for minute or two on low-to-medium heat until the garlic and ginger are fragrant. Then add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar (or regular white vinegar if that’s what you have), and honey. Whisk together to combine and cook for 1-2 minutes. It should start thickening very quickly. Once done - transfer to a small dish.
- Once the chicken is out of the oven, let it sit a few minutes before cutting. There were a lot of juices so if you’re serving these on a plate or platter, you should blot them first. I placed the chicken on a paper towel-lined sheet pan first to dry the bottom. Then I transferred to a cutting board and cut each breast in half (at a slight diagonal angle).
- Place the cut pieces of chicken on a small platter or plate, then brush the soy glaze over the tops and sides. This is enough glaze to cover all the chicken with a light coating. If you are someone who likes it a little saucier, you could just double the glaze recipe.
- Garnish the chicken with fresh parsley or scallions if you have on hand. Serve with your favorite sides. Rice, potatoes or salad will work great with this.
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