Oven Chicken Cordon Bleu
UPDATE: This recipe was featured in the April/May 2015 edition of Taste of Home Magazine (page 32)! How exciting is that!
My daughter is a big fan of chicken cordon blue. She points it out every time he sees it in the frozen food case and reminds just how much she “loves” chicken Cordon Bleu but I’m just not a fan of the pre-packaged variety. I’m also not a fan of tedious food preparations for our busy weeknight dinners. So how can we make this dish something we will both enjoy?
What we’ve created here requires much less work. No pounding, no rolling, no folding and certainly no frying! This is Chicken Cordon Bleu made easy! Boneless, skinless chicken breast portions are layered into a baking dish, topped with your choice of ham, cheese and then delicious, buttery, fresh, bread crumbs and baked to a golden brown, juicy perfection. This version may not be as visually stunning as the classic preparation but this version is every bit as delicious as the original. Even better, it’s quick and easy enough for a weeknight dinner because this version is ready in just 30 to 35 minutes.
For me, the fresh breadcrumbs make all the difference in this recipe. To do this, I simply save the heels of my bread or any other leftover rolls and stash them in the freezer for just such an occasion when I need to grind up fresh bread crumbs quickly in my food processor (affiliate link). For the chicken breasts, you can slice them in half or use the smaller ones that come frozen and already cut into portions. I enjoyed this dish so much because the choice of cheese and ham was all my own and I was able to use a ham I like over the smoky flavored ham traditionally used. The sauce was a wonderful accompaniment and was light enough to allow the flavors of the ham and Swiss to still really shine through and really brought the dish together for me. If you prefer, you can omit the wine and use chicken stock or water to complete the sauce.Also, we enjoyed these as leftovers over the following day and thought they were still quite tasty. These can be frozen into portions and enjoyed at a later time. The sauce can be portioned and frozen as well. Enjoy!
If you try this recipe, let us know! Tag us in your photo and send it to us #Kitchen_Dreaming on Instagram or @KitchenDreaming on Twitter. We’d LOVE to see your results!!
PrintEasy Chicken Cordon Bleu
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Yield: 6 servings -
Category: Dinner
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu chicken breasts are layered into a baking dish, topped with ham, cheese and bread crumbs then baked to a golden brown,
Ingredients
- For the chicken
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 6 slices deli ham
- 3 slices aged Swiss cheese, halved
- 1 cup panko (Japanese) bread crumbs
- Cooking spray
- For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1/3 cup finely shredded Swiss cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper; arrange in a greased 13×9-in. baking dish.
- Top each with 1 slice ham and 1/2 slice cheese, folding ham in half and covering chicken as much as possible. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Carefully spritz bread crumbs with cooking spray, keeping crumbs in place. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a thermometer inserted in chicken reads 165°.
- For sauce, in a small saucepan, whisk flour and milk until smooth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened.
- Reduce to medium heat. Stir in wine and cheese; cook and stir 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is thickened and bubbly. Stir in salt and pepper. Keep warm over low heat until ready to serve. Serve with chicken.
Notes
For Freezing: Once cooked, these can be individually frozen for quick lunches or weeknight meals. When reheating in the microwave, times will vary depending on each individual microwave wattage. I would recommend to reheat in the microwave on half power for about 5 minutes and then check to see how it’s progressing. Add another 3 to 5 minutes until it is just heated through. I froze my portions sitting on top of a bit of the sauce for a one dish meal.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 oz with 3 tbsp sauce
- Calories: 285
- Sugar: 2.4 g
- Sodium: 1066 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 4 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 12 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 33 g
- Cholesterol: 89 mg
Congrats on your feature! That is so exciting…I just started getting that magazine. I can’t wait to see it. This looks delish! 😀