Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu
Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu. I have been making this recipe for years now. It is such a wonderful and tasty dish not to mention that you can prepare it in advance. Yes, that's right you can easily have dinner on the table in about 20 minutes and impress your guests at the same time. Really though, who doesn't want to have their dinner preparation stress free and taste delicious at the same time? I always fall back on this recipe when I have guests coming. It is pretty nice to be able to enjoy their company without worrying too much about dinner. I usually prepare the chicken rolls in the morning, place them in the refrigerator and then bake them right before dinner. I make a salad and mashed potatoes to accompany the chicken. You can prepare the salad beforehand as well add salad dressing right before serving. I also get the potatoes prepped in advance. I peel the potatoes, cut them in chunks and place them in a pot. I then completely cover the potatoes with water and keep them covered until ready to make them into mashed potatoes. It is important to keep the potatoes immersed in water so that they will not turn black on you. How many chicken rolls you make depends on the number of family/guests you will be serving. That is the neat thing about this recipe you can make one or two or enough for a crowd. It is ideal for potlucks they go quickly. You can also cut the chicken cordon bleu in slices and skewer them onto a bamboo stick for a quick appetizer. The spiral shape looks quite pretty. I usually use Swiss/Gruyere cheese and thinly sliced deli ham for the filling. If the cheese/ham slice is bigger than the actual chicken piece you are using, trim it to fit. I use simple, white, sliced bread for the bread crumbs. It works just fine. Actually, I never use store bought dried breadcrumbs. I find that the fresh bread crumbs have a better taste. You can easily add your own spices/herbs to make it your own. I often mix in some shredded Parmesan with the bread crumbs but, I have done it without as well. So, if you don't have shredded Parmesan readily available, don't panic it will still taste delicious. You will need amounts can be adjusted according to your needs I used 5 chicken breasts for this recipe.
Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu. I have been making this recipe for years now. It is such a wonderful and tasty dish not to mention that you can prepare it in advance. Yes, that's right you can easily have dinner on the table in about 20 minutes and impress your guests at the same time. Really though, who doesn't want to have their dinner preparation stress free and taste delicious at the same time? I always fall back on this recipe when I have guests coming. It is pretty nice to be able to enjoy their company without worrying too much about dinner. I usually prepare the chicken rolls in the morning, place them in the refrigerator and then bake them right before dinner. I make a salad and mashed potatoes to accompany the chicken. You can prepare the salad beforehand as well add salad dressing right before serving. I also get the potatoes prepped in advance. I peel the potatoes, cut them in chunks and place them in a pot. I then completely cover the potatoes with water and keep them covered until ready to make them into mashed potatoes. It is important to keep the potatoes immersed in water so that they will not turn black on you. How many chicken rolls you make depends on the number of family/guests you will be serving. That is the neat thing about this recipe you can make one or two or enough for a crowd. It is ideal for potlucks they go quickly. You can also cut the chicken cordon bleu in slices and skewer them onto a bamboo stick for a quick appetizer. The spiral shape looks quite pretty. I usually use Swiss/Gruyere cheese and thinly sliced deli ham for the filling. If the cheese/ham slice is bigger than the actual chicken piece you are using, trim it to fit. I use simple, white, sliced bread for the bread crumbs. It works just fine. Actually, I never use store bought dried breadcrumbs. I find that the fresh bread crumbs have a better taste. You can easily add your own spices/herbs to make it your own. I often mix in some shredded Parmesan with the bread crumbs but, I have done it without as well. So, if you don't have shredded Parmesan readily available, don't panic it will still taste delicious. You will need amounts can be adjusted according to your needs I used 5 chicken breasts for this recipe.
- Carbohydrate 24.8796055 g
- Cholesterol 275.56 mg
- Fat 100.7768895 g
- Fiber 1.83133498674631 g
- Protein 30.061063 g
- Saturated Fat 56.51753175 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (238g)
- Sodium 1374.8465 mg
- Sugar 23.0482705132537 g
- Trans Fat 6.77406810000001 g
- Calories 1116 calories
Step-by-step
- Process a few slices of bread in food processor to make about 4-5 cups of fresh breadcrumbs. Add Parmesan and 2 tsp onion powder. Set aside. Melt butter in a bowl and mix with oil. Set aside. Wash and clean chicken breasts.Pat dry and cut each breast into two pieces. You will have two pretty thin slices.
- Place a chicken piece on a cutting board. Lay a plastic wrap over the chicken piece and pound with a mallet to about a 1/4 inch thickness. Take care not to pound too hard because the meat may tear or create holes. Do the same thing with all the chicken pieces. You should have 10 chicken pieces to the original 5.
- Season each chicken piece with a bit of salt/pepper and the remaining 2 tsp onion powder. Be careful not to over salt the chicken as it is quite thin and the cheese and ham are also salty.
- Bring all the other ingredients in close proximity. Take out the deli ham and place on a plate.Take cheese out...I usually like to cut the cheese slices in half in case I have to overlap them.
- Take a chicken piece and place a slice of ham and a slice of cheese(or 2 if you cut the original in half).
- Roll chicken ...making sure you tuck the sides in as much as possible(this prevents the cheese from oozing out too much in the final baking time). You can secure it with a toothpick. I have, as of lately, started to omit this step. But if you are doing this for the first time, it might help to secure it with the toothpicks. Take the chicken roll and dip into the melted butter/oil...make sure all the sides are well coated.
- Take the butter coated chicken roll and then roll it in the breadcrumbs/Parmesan mixture.
- Place in a casserole dish or plate. Finish with the rest. You can sprinkle some dried herbs of your choice if you like. I sprinkled some dried basil. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to ensure that the breadcrumbs stay put on the chicken:). When ready to bake, place each chicken roll on a parchment lined jelly roll pan(this will help with the cleaning later) making sure you don't overcrowd them.
- Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle. Place the pan on the top third rack. Don't over cook the chicken. You can easily do this in a toaster oven as well.
Golden breadcrumbs shatter under the fork to reveal steaming, paper-thin poultry wrapped tightly around bubbling melted cheese and savory cured ham. Achieving this contrast requires careful management of the oven environment. Place the baking sheet on the upper third rack of a 375 degree Fahrenheit oven to maximize direct radiant heat. This positioning cooks the interior through in roughly fifteen to twenty minutes while browning the exterior before internal moisture can soften the crumb coating.
Starchy side dishes provide the ideal textural and flavor foil for rich, heavily salted proteins and dairy. Mashed potatoes absorb excess pan drippings while offering a velvety counterweight to the dense filling. Crisp green salads dressed in high-acid vinaigrettes cut through the significant fat content of the gruyere and butter coating, resetting the palate between bites. Prep the potatoes hours ahead by submerging them in cold water to prevent enzymatic browning, ensuring zero active labor occurs while the main course bakes.
Crust integrity depends heavily on utilizing fresh bread processed directly from sandwich loaves rather than dry, commercial alternatives. Fresh crumbs contain enough internal moisture to adhere cleanly during the rolling phase without burning instantly in the oven. Chilling the assembled logs for at least one hour before cooking solidifies the exterior butter-and-oil binder. This crucial rest period anchors the breading to the meat so the coating stays intact rather than sliding off onto the baking sheet.
Portion control is entirely modular since the recipe scales down to a single portion or up for large gatherings simply by splitting individual split breasts. Slicing the baked rolls into thick rounds creates an unexpected hors d'oeuvre presentation when secured on bamboo skewers. Trimming oversized deli ham and cheese slices flush with the pounded poultry edges prevents sticky protein leaks that burn during the final minutes of baking.
