Super Simple Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Stuffed Braid Bread
This is a simple recipe with few ingredients that pack a punch in flavor. It takes a little more than 30 minutes, but thats because it bakes for 25 minutes. Theres very little prep time! With only 7 ingredients, this dish is loved by families.
This is a simple recipe with few ingredients that pack a punch in flavor. It takes a little more than 30 minutes, but thats because it bakes for 25 minutes. Theres very little prep time! With only 7 ingredients, this dish is loved by families.
- 2 cups pre-cooked chicken i used some left over chicken tenderloins, but chopped rotisserie chicken will do
- 2 cups steamed broccoli florets about 1 small frozen bag - you can lightly chop, but i just mixed them in the way they are
- 2 cups low-fat cheddar cheese shredded and handful set aside for topping
- 1/4 cup light mayo
- 1 egg yolk reserve egg white for wash
- 1 egg white lightly beaten
- 2 tubes refrigerated crescent rolls rolled out to form large rectangle
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
- salt & pepper optional to taste
- Carbohydrate 42.53102 g
- Cholesterol 105.488 mg
- Fat 31.707944 g
- Fiber 2.44853996543884 g
- Protein 36.727554 g
- Saturated Fat 10.5169152 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (287g)
- Sodium 1152.6004 mg
- Sugar 40.0824800345612 g
- Trans Fat 13.8835874 g
- Calories 615 calories
Step-by-step
- Pre-heat oven to 370 degrees.
- Line backing sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out refrigerated crescent dough to form a large rectangle. Pinch seams. This will almost entirely fill your baking sheet.
- Mix mayo with egg yolk
- Then add chicken, cheese (all but a little handful), and steamed broccoli florets and toss. **There is really no reason to add any extra seasons other than rosemary, as the cheddar is salty; and the chopped chicken has some flavor as well. However, if you taste it and find it needs more season, by all means add salt and pepper.
- Form a long log of this mixture in the middle of your dough - I used my hands to shape it - messy, but purely effective and I get to lick my fingers!
- Wash your licked fingers and then fold dough over mixture in a braided pattern. I did this by cutting one inch strips down each side of the formed mixture. Then folded each section over in a criss-cross pattern. Trust me - it really didn't look pretty and I had to stretch the already thinning dough and pinch to keep the mixture from poking out.
- Then I sealed up the ends by pinching the dough together as well. Next time, I think I'll just fold each side over and call it Cheesy Chicken Broccoli Stuffed Bread Loaf... or something along those lines!
- Baste Bread Loaf with egg white wash and sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary (you can use dried, but honestly, the fresh stuff is the BEST!)
- Next pop it in the oven for 25 minutes. I reserved a little handful of cheddar and topped the bread with it about 10 minutes out so it melts.
- When the bread turns a lovely golden brown and the cheese gets all melt-y on top you know it's done!
- I slice with an electric knife... it makes for easy cutting and it is so much easier to cut! I slice it about a inch thick and serve with fresh fruit.
Ingredient lists reveal proportions, but they rarely explain why structural choices matter. Refrigerated crescent roll dough relies on a high fat-to-flour ratio, which creates distinct, flaky layers when laminated fats melt and release steam in the oven. Pinching the perforations together before filling stops steam from escaping prematurely and keeps the interior filling contained.
Stuffed breads of this style evolved from European hand pies and pasties designed to encase meat and vegetables inside an edible wrapper for portable meals. Modern adaptations substitute yeast dough with commercial laminated doughs to drastically reduce active prep time while maintaining a crisp exterior crust. The binding agent inside the filling, formed by mixing mayonnaise with an egg yolk, uses emulsified fats and proteins to keep the shredded chicken and steamed broccoli cohesive as moisture releases during baking.
Bake this loaf at 370 degrees Fahrenheit on parchment paper to prevent the high-fat pastry from sticking to the metal sheet. Applying an egg white wash over the exterior provides a glossy protein film that aids browning via the Maillard reaction. Reserve a small portion of shredded cheddar to add during the final ten minutes of baking so the dairy proteins melt without burning.
Serve slices alongside fresh fruit to provide an acidic contrast to the rich, sodium-dense cheese and poultry filling. An electric knife cuts cleanly through the warm, laminated crust without compressing the soft interior crumb.
