An easy Chicken Cordon Bleu which is quick to prepare, and baked rather than fried. All the flavour, all the crunch, a beautiful golden crumb, and it’s better for you!
This retro classic is here to stay – always!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken stuffed with ham and cheese, coated with crunchy golden breadcrumbs. You’d swear it’s fried – but it’s baked.
The classic way to make Chicken Cordon Bleu involves breast pounded until thin, layered with ham and cheese, rolled into a log, chilled, dredged in flour then egg then breadcrumbs then deep fried (and you need a lot of oil to deep fry them). It’s not dissimilar to Chicken Kiev in this respect.
But phew! I got tired just typing that out!! And it’s certainly not something that I’m making tonight. 🙂
BUT – you can definitely make my Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu tonight. Because it’s just that – EASY.
How to make Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
I stuff my Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu simply by cutting a pocket into chicken breast, then stuffing it with cheese rolled up inside ham (helps stop the cheese melting out, terrific reader tip!) . Secure with toothpicks – and that’s it! The stuffing is done!
Choose your own adventure: Crumbing
Next up is the breadcrumb. I’ve got 2 methods to choose from:
Method 1: Super Easy – Smear mayo and mustard on the chicken, then sprinkle over breadcrumbs. The mayo-mustard mixture acts as glue / flavouring and oil to help make the breadcrumb toasty gold; OR
Method 2: Quick Dredge – Dunk chicken in egg flour mixture (combined in same bowl), then in breadcrumbs.
After coating the chicken with breadcrumbs, just give them a quick spray and voila! Ready for baking!
Super Easy vs Quick Dredge
Here’s a comparison of the 2 methods. There’s no denying the Quick Dredge comes out better looking, and it’s the option I’d use for company. Plus, full coating of crunch.
But the Super Easy version is just so darn quick and easy, and really, the main thing is just the absence of crunch on the underside of the chicken. Small compromise for the convenience, in my humble opinion!
Secret Tip: Oven Toasting Breadcrumbs
If you’ve ever baked something crumbed and been disappointed by how it came out pale and splotchy and/or not as crunchy as you hoped, I think you’re going to love this cheeky tip.
Just spread the breadcrumbs out on a tray, spray with oil, then bake for 3 minutes. This oven toasting gives the breadcrumbs a head start on the colour / crunch factor.
Outcome: Baked crumbed / breaded chicken that is beautifully golden all over and truly crunchy, like it was deep fried! Optional extra step, but truly worth it in my view.
PS Some recipes do this in a skillet – oven is easier. 🙂
And here’s a comparison of the Chicken Cordon Bleu with and without toasting the breadcrumbs. See how splotchy it is without the toasted breadcrumbs compared to the toasted breadcrumbs??
Whichever method you choose, you’ll be greeted with the same glorious sight of molten cheese oozing out of the warm ham stuffing inside the juicy chicken breast, and all that golden crunchy crumb….
And to top it all off, that MUSTARD CREAM SAUCE!!!!
I think you need to change this weeks’ meal plan. Immediately. 😂 – Nagi x
More crunchy crumbed chicken
Crunchy Baked Chicken Tenders and also the Parmesan version
Oven Fried “KFC” Chicken Tenders (11 secret herbs & spices!)
Crispy Parmesan Crusted Chicken Breast – LOW CARB marvel!
And more baked crunchy crumbed things
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Watch how to make it
In the video, I demonstrate how to make one breast using each crumbing method: Super Easy and Quick Dredge. The recipe makes 2 chicken breasts using one of these methods.
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
Breadcrumbs
- Panko breadcrumbs – 1/2 cup for Super Easy or 1 cup for Quick Dredge
- Oil spray
Chicken
- 2 small chicken breasts, around 6-7oz/180-210g each
- Salt and pepper
- 4 slices swiss cheese (Note 1)
- 4 to 6 slices of ham, about 2.5oz/75g (Note 2)
Method 1: Super Easy
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
Method 2: Quick Dredge
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp plain flour
Dijon Cream Sauce (makes 1 cup)
- 1 1/2 tbsp butter
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/4 cups milk (Note 3)
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, finely grated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan).
- Spread panko breadcrumbs on a baking tray and spray with oil. Bake for 3 minutes or until light golden. Remove and scrape into bowl straight away.
- Cut a pocket into each chicken breast, as per the photo below.
- Fold the cheese in half and place 2 pieces inside each pocket. Do the same with the ham. Close the pocket, seal with 2 toothpicks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Super Easy Method
- Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Spread onto the top and sides of the chicken (not underside).
- Sprinkle panko over the chicken, using your other hand to press the breadcrumbs onto the side of the chicken. Spray with oil.
Quick Dredge Method
- Whisk egg and flour. Dip chicken into egg mixture, then into the panko breadcrumbs. Transfer to tray, spray with oil.
Baking
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and just cooked through. Remove toothpicks, serve with the Dijon Cream Sauce.
Dijon Cream Sauce
- Melt butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add half the milk and whisk until the flour mixture is blended in.
- Add remaining milk, mustard and cheese. Cook for 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until thickened. It will thicken as it cools.
- Remove from heat, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with chicken.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Flashback: before he knew how to swim – looking out longingly at all the ducks teasing him mercilessly, wiggling their tails and flapping their wings…..
Great easy recipe to follow along. I even baked the breadcrumbs. My friends were so impressed with this dish.
Excellent and easy. The best was the fabulous Dijon sauce. This is a keeper!
I have started just checking in here first for recipes. Never ever disappoints. I did the quick version and used Brie instead of Swiss. The panko treatment is game changing!!!
Thank you from Ohio!!
I have started just checking in here first for recipes. Never ever disappoints. I did the quick version and used Brie instrad of Swiss. The panko treatment is game changing!!!
Thank you from Ohio!!
I made this recipe because we had a lot of ham from Thanksgiving left over. I didn’t have chicken breasts, but had 10lbs of thigh-leg quarters. After I fileted the meat off the bones, pounded the meat down with a mallet to make them fairly thin, sliced the ham off the bone thinly, then followed the recipe almost exactly using the dredge method. I only added a few seasonings to taste. The bread crumbs were homemade from dried up old rosemary bread and I am glad I toasted the crumbs, too. The sauce is a must for POP, though not essential because the flavors were succulent without it. It was luscious with it. Will keep this recipe in the armor
This is the third time I used this recipe. The sauce part was a little confusing as far as the milk is it 1 14 cup or one 1/4 cup but we muddled through. A pro tip we figured out this time is to cut a slit down the top middle and flair it a bit to keep the cheese inside since it ran out when cot down the side.. The other mod we used was rather than tooth picks we used butcher’s twine to hold it all together. Worked perfect.
This turned out fantastic! The mayo and mustard added a nice flavour and allowed the bread crumbs to stick nicely. Thank you!
This recipe is my go to! I make this every couple months. The kids and hubby all love it! I usually use method #1. I feel it adds such a good flavor and moisture to the chicken. We love to make it with a side of asparagus and a starch of some kind.
My newly minted young adult made this today and it came out fantastic! Thank you!
Made this for dinner last night. Used super easy recipe, doubled it, and I felt like I should have cut back some on the panko, only because I would perfer a lighter sprinkling of crunchy topping. It was great, everyone enjoyed!!! Thank you!!!
Hi Nagi. I love your recipes. Thank you! And that adorable Dozer. Always such a creative post! Thank you!
This recipe was a big winner with the family. Thank you!
I forgot to rate the recipe!
*5*stars for sure!,
Made this recipe as written and the chicken was excellent. Browning the Panko in advance was a great idea, Going forward, I will do that every time I use Panko. I made the sauce with 1% fat milk and it wasn’t any good. I may try again with full fat but I may just skip this sauce and try to find an alternate. The chicken is so good and doesn’t even need a sauce. Thanks Nagi for sharing your great recipes and tips.
I like the tricks Nagi uses to make things direct, simple, and successful. Pro tip: never use ‘cooking spray’ – the oil is suspended in solvent and fired with a solvent-based propellant. Just use plain old oil.
Oh my goodness. Absolutely delicious!
Again, amazing! Tip,.. Give the sauce a few minutes to reduce and thicken. My sauce was thin and I made a cornstarch flurry to add. Right before I added it, the sauce reduced and was nice and thick
This was so absolutely delicious! My chicken was thin so I ended up just cutting it in half and making a kind of sandwich with the chicken as the bread, and ham and cheese inside. But still very yummy. Zero leftovers for my family of five, and I doubled the recipe.
I made this for dinner tonight. I used the easy method withthe mayo/mustard and toasted Panko on top. I was very impressed, it was really tasty, tender and moist. The sauce poured on top of it was really good. I would recommend this recipe and will definitely make it again. Pretty easy to make, and quick. Love trying new recipes, and especially love it when they turn out so well.
I made this about a week ago. Turned out beautifully, I used to make this quite often when there were still three of us at home. There are only two of us now so I knew there would be leftovers, which did not last very long.
The only changes I made were to add one packet of G. Washington golden seasoning to the crumbs and I used Kellogg’s Cornflake Crumb instead of Panko. You can buy Kellogg’s Cornflake Crumbs at the grocery store, they add a bit more flavor than panko. Used the dredge method. I also used Perdue Thin Sliced chicken breasts.
Husband loved this so I am making this again tonight for dinner.