Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

This chicken cordon bleu recipe is so easy to make in less than an hour. It tastes fantastic with deli ham and swiss cheese slices wrapped inside a juicy chicken breast served with a 5-minute homemade parmesan Dijon sauce. It's fancy enough to serve as a special occasion dinner or any day of the week for that matter because it's pure comfort food at its finest.

If you like this recipe, you'll love my recipe for chicken wellington, which is similar but also very different. Another fan favorite is my chicken and biscuits a true comfort classic.

🐓 Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe

When you think of easy midweek dinners, baked chicken cordon bleu may not be at the top of your list. But I assure you, with this simple method of making the stuffed chicken breasts, you will be adding this recipe to your cookbook.

Chicken cordon bleu is a delicious dinner recipe the whole family will love. When served with a mustard cream sauce and roast potatoes, it makes the whole dish even better. The recipe is easily scalable for bigger crowds, and leftovers make delicious sandwiches for kids' packed lunches.

🍽 What you need

This recipe may be world-class, but it doesn't require anything too fancy. All you need is household cooking equipment and easily sourced ingredients.

Equipment

• sharp knife
• meat pounder
• toothpicks
• 3 shallow bowls
• whisk
• baking dish
• large skillet
• small saucepan
• cooking spray (if you're not using oil)

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• chicken breasts - 2 boneless, skinless
• ham - 4 slices
• swiss cheese - 4 slices
• all-purpose flour - ¾ cup
• salt - ½ teaspoon
• pepper - ½ teaspoon
• egg - 1
• milk - 2 tablespoons
• breadcrumbs - 1 cup
• vegetable oil or olive oil- 1 tablespoon
• butter - 1 tablespoon

For the Dijon cream sauce:

• butter - 2 tablespoons
• all-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons
• milk - 1 cup
• bouillon cube - 1, chicken flavored, crushed
• salt - ½ teaspoon (optional)
• dijon mustard - 1 tbsp
• Worcestershire sauce - 1 tsp
• parmesan - ½ cup, finely grated

Substitutions

• Make the chicken cordon bleu gluten-free by swapping the all-purpose flour for almond flour and use panko bread crumbs instead.
• Flavor the flour mixture by adding a teaspoon of granulated garlic salt, onion powder, mixed herbs, and paprika.
• You can also chicken thighs for this recipe if you don't have chicken breast, but the size of the chicken cordon bleu will be significantly smaller.
• I like to use swiss cheese like gruyere cheese and quality slices of ham for my chicken cordon bleu, but feel free to use your favorite ham and cheese.
• This recipe will also work with thinned pork steaks, beef steaks, and turkey steaks.

🔪 How to make Chicken Cordon Bleu

Learn how to make this amazingly easy, baked chicken cordon bleu recipe with my guided cooking instructions, top tips, and video walkthrough. It's as easy as pounding the chicken breast, laying the ham and cheese, rolling it up, securing it, and coating it in bread crumbs before baking it to perfection.

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius).

Prepare the chicken by slicing the chicken breasts in half. Do this lengthwise, so you're left with 4 thinner cuts of chicken breasts.

Step 2

Now, place each of the individual chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat tenderizer/meat pounder, flatten each piece till they're all about a quarter of an inch thick. Alternatively, you can also use a rolling pin.

Step 3

Put cheese and ham on each cutlet, then roll up the cutlets and secure them in place with toothpicks.

Step 4

Make sure your chicken rolls are as tight as possible.

Step 5

Now make the breadcrumbs mixture by setting 3 shallow bowls on the surface. In one bowl, mix the flour with salt and pepper.

Step 6

Then in another bowl, make the egg mixture by mixing the egg with milk and the final bowl with bread crumbs.

Step 8

Now it's time to level up our chicken rolls. Dip each chicken roll in the flour mixture, then transfer it to the egg wash in the next bowl.

Step 9

Finally, roll them around in your bread crumb mixture and set them on a plate.

Step 10

Heat a large skillet over medium heat with oil and melted butter. Once the oil is hot, seal each side of the rolled chicken breasts for around 4 minutes until nice and golden brown, and transfer them to a greased ovenproof dish.

Step 11

Bake them for 20 to 25 minutes until they are piping hot in the middle and crispy on the outside. While the stuffed chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce.

How to make the Parmesan Dijon Cream Sauce

Step 1

The first step to making our creamy dijon mustard sauce is to add flour and butter to the saucepan over medium heat and whisk it together for 2 minutes.

Step 2

Add the milk in slowly while continuously mixing, then the chicken bouillon and spices.

Step 3

Once thickened, remove from the heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and parmesan cheese until well combined.

Step 4

When the dijon mustard sauce is nice and thick, wait for the chicken to finish cooking and serve it on top of the chicken.

💭 Top tips for success

• Wet your toothpicks! This will make them easier to insert into the chicken breast roll and save them from being burnt during the cooking process.
• If you don't have a rolling pin or meat basher, try using the bottom of a cup to pound chicken breasts flat.
• Adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to the sauce gives it a nice tang that goes well with the chicken.

🥗 What to serve with

Now that we're done making our delightful chicken cordon bleu with creamy sauce, you might be wondering what you could possibly serve with the dish that would live up to the taste. Well, fortunately, I have a few suggestions that should pair nicely with our chicken cordon bleu for a complete dining experience for your dinner guests!

Asparagus Risotto: In my personal opinion, nothing goes better with chicken recipes than some nice veggies, except maybe a rice-based dish. And as far as meeting those requirements go, this Asparagus Risotto is a double whammy. Tender asparagus spears with arborio rice, well spiced and topped off with a cheesy finish, is the perfect weeknight meal to compliment the chicken cordon bleu.

Roasted Potatoes: This easy-to-prepare potato dish is magnificent and goes great with our chicken cordon bleu. Roasted potatoes take very little by way of equipment and ingredients and less than an hour in cook time. Seasoned with salt and pepper and garlic and rosemary for flavor, this one is a sure crowd pleaser for large family dinners with minimal effort.

Garlic Green Beans: An effortless green side dish, these garlic green beans also go great with chicken with minimal effort. Even frozen greens work here, and with a bit of blanching, spicing, and oven time, they'll be ready to enhance your main dish.

🧊 Storing and ♨️ Heating

Stuffed chicken recipes always store well refrigerated or frozen along with the parmesan, mustard cream sauce.

Refrigerate

Allow any leftover chicken cordon bleu to cool completely before transferring them to an airtight container. Cover them in plastic wrap and place them on a plate in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freeze

You can either place them in separate individual freezer bags or transfer any leftover to an airtight container and place it in the freezer for up to 4 months.

⏲️ Preparing Classic Chicken Cordon Bleu In Advance

I usually scale this recipe to make 10 or more at the weekend, so I can freeze them and bake them for dinner during busy weekdays. It's easier and way more convenient!

The preparation process is the same, but rather than browning them in the skillet, place them in an airtight container with parchment paper layered under and over each piece, making sure not to squash them; otherwise,,, they will stick together. Uncooked chicken cordon bleu will last up to 6 months frozen.

There's no need to thaw them before baking them. Place them on a baking sheet with parchment paper in a preheated oven at 350 F for 30 minutes until golden brown.

👪 Serving Size

Baked chicken cordon bleu is absolutely delicious, and 2 chicken breasts will give you 4 portions, or scale it up to make more. They can be eaten hot from the oven or cold the following day, and any leftover pieces make perfect meal prep options.

Enjoy this delicious chicken cordon bleu recipe with friends and family on the weekend and save the rest for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

📋 Recipe

Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

This chicken cordon bleu recipe is so easy to make in less than an hour. It tastes fantastic with deli ham and swiss cheese slices wrapped inside a juicy chicken breast served with a 5-minute homemade parmesan Dijon sauce. It's fancy enough to serve as a special occasion dinner or any day of the week for that matter because it's pure comfort food at its finest.

4.88 from 8 votes

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Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: Swiss

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 617kcal

Author: Ben Rayl

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

for the chicken:

• 2 chicken breasts - boneless and skinless
• 4 slices ham
• 4 slices swiss cheese
• ¾ cup all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter

for the sauce:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 bouillon cube - chicken flavored, crushed
• ½ teaspoon salt - optional
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
• ½ cup parmesan - finely grated

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius)
• Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise, making 4 thinner cutlets.  Put each cutlet between two pieces of plastic wrap and flatten with a meat pounder until they are approximately ¼" thick.
• Top each cutlet with a slice of ham and cheese - then roll up tightly, tuck in the ends and secure with toothpicks.
• In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper together and set aside.
• Whisk the egg and milk together in another small bowl and set aside as well.
• Place the breadcrumbs in a third bowl.
• Dip the rolled cutlets in the flour first, then the egg wash and then roll in the breadcrumbs and set on a plate.
• Heat the oil and butter in a small skillet over medium heat and brown the chicken on all sides before transferring to a greased baking dish.
• Bake in the oven for about 20 - 25 minutes, or until no longer pink.

While the chicken is baking, make the cream sauce:

• Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour, and continue to whisk constantly for about 1 - 2 minutes.
• Slowly pour in the milk, then stir in the chicken bouillon and salt - whisk constantly over medium heat until it begins to simmer and thicken - about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in the mustard, worchestershire sauce, and parmesan until well combined and the cheese has melted.
• When the chicken is cooked, remove from oven and serve drizzled with the sauce.
• (remember to remove the toothpicks before serving)

Video

Notes

• Wet your toothpicks! This will make them easier to insert into the chicken breast roll and save them from being burnt during the cooking process.
• If you don't have a rolling pin or meat basher, try using the bottom of a cup to pound chicken breasts flat.
• Adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to the sauce gives it a nice tang that goes well with the chicken.

Nutrition

Calories: 617kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 50g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 1830mg | Potassium: 750mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 467IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 446mg | Iron: 4mg