This incredibly tasty chicken wellington recipe is a showstopper the whole family will enjoy. It combines boneless chicken breast, mushroom, and cream cheese for the filling wrapped up in a puff pastry sheet and baked in the oven till golden brown. If you're a fan of the beef wellington, you will love this variation served with a delicious thick gravy.
While this dinner recipe is great for entertaining and weekends, sometimes you need a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Try my chicken casserole with Ritz crackers, it is super easy, tastes amazing, and everyone will love it. Another great option is my easy chicken cordon bleu with a touch of Dijon mustard and my easy chicken tetrazzini.
Contents
This is one of my mom's favorite comfort food recipes to make when she wants to WOW her guests with a fancy wellington. The help of fresh or frozen puff pastry makes the whole experience even easier when preparing the chicken wellington. The pastry can be easily formed and shaped into any design to give the wellington a fancy look.
The juicy filling comprises 3 layers of cooked chicken breasts, a mushroom and bacon mixture, and a layer of cream cheese. It takes around 40 minutes to prepare the wellington, which is nothing considering the final dish looks, smells, and tastes fantastic.
🍽 What you need
I like to use larger chicken breasts when making this irresistible chicken wellington as they need to be cut in half to make long thick pieces. Any shop-bought puff pastry will work here, I have used 4 or 5 different brands from various grocery stores and can't really tell the difference.
🔪 How to make Chicken Wellington
Learn how to make the best chicken wellington with my easy to-follow-instructions, top tips, and video walkthrough. The process involves cooking the chicken, making the bacon & mushroom mixture, assembling everything inside puff pastry before baking it, and serving with homemade gravy.
Make the chicken
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius) and heat a skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the bacon slices to the skillet until crispy, then remove them to plates covered with kitchen paper to soak up the bacon grease, allow them to cool, and chop them into pieces.
- Leave a tablespoon of the bacon grease in the pan, flatten each boneless chicken breast half, and season both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Cook chicken halves for 4 to 5 minutes on either side until browned and transfer the chicken breasts to a plate.
- Keep the heat on medium-high and add the garlic, onions, and mushrooms to the skillet, occasionally stirring while scraping any burnt bits from the bottom. Once the onions have started to brown and the liquid has mostly evaporated from the mushroom juices, add in the crispy bacon and rosemary with a sprinkle of salt and pepper for a further 2 minutes.
- Set the mushroom mixture aside to cool slightly.
- Cut the puff pastry into 4 squares around 7inch in diameter. You can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface if it's too small.
- Grab the small bowl and mix the cream cheese and mustard with a fork until well combined.
- Place the mushroom and bacon mixture in the center of each pastry sheet with a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture over the top, and place a boneless chicken breast half on top. Wrap the pastry around it and seal the edges with a bit of water on your fingertips. Make sure to press the edges tightly.
- Place the pastries seam side down on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and brush the wellingtons with an egg mixture of 1 whisked egg and a tablespoon of water. Make sure to cover the wellingtons thoroughly with the egg wash.
- Bake them in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the pastry puffs up and becomes golden brown.
Make the gravy
- Put the saucepan over medium heat with the 2 tablespoons butter until it melts, then whisk in the flour until it darkens before pouring the broth and wine while constantly whisking to incorporate the ingredients.
- Add the salt and pepper to taste and let it simmer for 2 minutes. It will start to thick as it heats up, then when the gravy is at your desired thickness, remove it from the heat.
- Cut the chicken wellington into thick slices and pour the gravy over the top. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley (optional), serve, and ENJOY!
Substitutions
If you love this chicken recipe but want some new ideas for a wellington, give these variations a try.
- Chicken Wellington with spinach and artichoke - For this version, it uses artichokes & spinach mixed with cream cheese as the layer to go between the chicken instead of mushroom & bacon mixture.
- Beef wellington - Substitute the chicken for a beef tenderloin and use the same mushroom mixture like in this recipe and make one big wellington rather than smaller ones.
- Salmon Wellington - This version is extremely tasty and juicy and combines salmon fillets with spinach and garlic.
💭 Top tips for success
- Don't cut the chicken breasts too thin, or they will become too dry during baking. Around 3 inches thickness is ideal.
- Use any spare leftover puff pastry to create fun designs on top of each wellington.
- If you don't feel confident making 4 mini wellingtons, you can make 1 big one or 2 medium ones.
- Sprinkle some seeds on top for added flavor. I sometimes use sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds to give the pastry a hint of flavor.
How can I keep my puff pastry from getting soggy?
Here are four steps to ensure puff pastry comes out perfect every
time. The leading cause of soggy puff pastry is moisture.
Step 1
Let the meat come to room temperature. Pat dry with a paper towel, lightly salt, and let rest for 5 minutes, pat dry with a paper towel. The meat is free of excess moisture and ready.
Step 2
Chop the mushrooms and onion finely, and cook them at high heat, constantly stirring until the moisture from the onions and mushrooms evaporate.
Step 3
Egg wash the inside of the puff pastry. Egg-wash cooks quickly and creates a barrier to protect the puff pastry.
Step 4
Add 2-3 steam vents to the top to allow steam to escape. Preheat the baking tray before adding the wellington. Furthermore, do not overcook wellington.
🧊 Storing and ♨️ Reheating
Chicken wellington is perfect for storing in the fridge or freezer, making it great for meal prep and midweek fast dinners.
Fridge - Allow the cooked wellingtons to cool and transfer them to an airtight container or cover them on a plate with plastic wrap. They will last 3 days in the fridge. For uncooked wellingtons, you can keep them in the fridge for 2 days wrapped in grease paper and covered with plastic wrap.
Freezer - Cooked or uncooked chicken wellingtons store for up to 5 months frozen inside an airtight container.
🥗 What to serve with
Serve up a tender slice of this amazing chicken wellington with some of these great side dishes.
Fried cabbage with bacon
If you love cabbage and bacon, then this quick and easy side dish is perfect to go with the wellington. The recipe combines herbs and spices mixed together with shredded cabbage and bacon, sautéed in a pan. Simple but tasty!
Asparagus risotto
A risotto perfectly compliments the wellington on the side, and this asparagus risotto is irresistibly good. It's rich in flavor and uses favorite Italian ingredients like pesto and parmesan cheese.
Roasted potatoes
Nothing beats a crispy homemade roast potato! They compliment any meal from meat to fish to vegetarian, and these rosemary and garlic roasties taste amazing, plus they're ready to eat in 40 minutes.
👪 Serving size
This chicken wellington recipe serves 4 generous portions or 5 slightly smaller slices but is easily scalable. I often make 2 or 3 big wellingtons and freeze one or give one to friends.
It's the perfect showstopper for any dinner party and will have your guests wanting more!
More Chicken Recipe Ideas
Are looking for more dough inspiration recipes? Check out my phyllo dough recipes collection with the easiest recipes to make for your family.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.
Try one of my comfort dinner recipes for your next family meal! And if you have any questions, I'm here to help!
📋 Recipe
Chicken Wellington
Ingredients
- 6 bacon
- 2 large chicken breasts - boneless and skinless halved into 4 pieces
- use very generously salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion - finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- ½ pound mushrooms - crimini halved then sliced
- 1 teaspoon rosemary - dried
- 1 package puff pastry dough - refrigerated
- 4 oz cream cheese - softened
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 egg - beaten with 1 tablespoon water
for the gravy:
- 2 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoon white wine
- use very generously salt and pepper
Instructions
to make the chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Cook the bacon in a skillet until just crisp, then remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain - chop into pieces when cooled. Remove most of the grease from the skillet, leaving about 1 tbsp.
- Flatten the chicken pieces into even thickness and generously salt and pepper both sides. Reheat the skillet with the grease in it, and cook the chicken until browned - about 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside on a plate.
- Add the butter to the skillet, and cook the onions, garlic and mushrooms - scraping up any brown bits - until the onions have softened and the mushrooms have lost most of their size and liquid. Stir in the bacon pieces and rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Cook on high heat for another minute or two, then remove from heat and set aside.
- Cut the pastry dough into 4 equal squares, about 7" x 7". you can roll the dough out on a floured surface if it's too small
- Mix the cream cheese and mustard together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Place ¼ of the mushroom mixture in the centre of each pastry square, then spoon ¼ of the cream cheese mixture on top. Place a chicken breast on top, wrap the pastry around the it and seal the edges tightly. you can run your finger with a little water on it around the edges to help it seal.
- Place the wrapped chicken seam side down on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, brush generously with the egg wash, and bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed and browned.
to make the gravy:
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in the flour. Whisk until the flour darkens and begins to thicken, whisk in the broth and wine.
- Season with salt and pepper, and continue to stir well until it boils. Allow it to boil for about 2 minutes, stirring very often, until the gravy thickens.
Notes
- Don't cut the chicken breasts too thin, or they will become too dry during baking. Around 3 inches thickness is ideal.
- Use any spare leftover puff pastry to create fun designs on top of each wellington.
- If you don't feel confident making 4 mini wellingtons, you can make 1 big one or 2 medium ones.
- Sprinkle some seeds on top for added flavor. I sometimes use sesame seeds or pumpkin seeds to give the pastry a hint of flavor.
Mary K.
I really want to make this for my family and am wondering about the portioning of the chicken. Do I cut horizontally or vertically to attain a true half a breast for each serving?