For an easy baked chicken recipe, try this updated twist of the traditional Chicken Cordon Bleu. Thinly pounded chicken breasts are rolled around string cheese and sliced ham, dipped in butter and bread crumbs, and baked to a luscious golden brown.
Served hot with warm rolls and a salad, this could be a family favorite in the making.
The colors of the ham and cheese when the roll is sliced is part of the delight of this presentation.
You can add your signature touch of fresh herbs or finely chopped veggies, or even a layer of steamed spinach.
Try the following recipe as shown, then let your imagination dictate your next culinary classic.
Easy Baked Chicken Recipe – Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 pieces of string cheese, regular or low fat
6 slices cooked ham, thinly sliced
1/2 cup butter, melted with the solids skimmed off the top
1 cup bread crumbs, seasoned or plain
kosher salt and ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic and pound them to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Season each breast with the kosher salt and black pepper.
Lay 1 slice of cooked ham over each breast. Put 1 piece of string cheese at one end of the pounded breast and roll it up around the ham and the cheese. You may need to trim the sides of the chicken breast to make a neat roll.
Use a toothpick to secure the rolled breast.
Dip each piece of chicken first in the melted butter and then roll it around in the bread crumbs.
Place each coated roll in a baking dish, with the seam side down. This will help keep it from opening up during the cooking process.
Bake in the hot oven for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are browned and the juices run clear.
Remove the toothpick from the seam of each roll before serving – plate each roll on a warmed dinner plate, again with the seam side down.
Food For Thought – I love to jazz this recipe up.
After pounding and seasoning the chicken, spread an even layer of lightly steamed spinach over the surface of the breast. Then put the slice of ham. Put a couple of small, fresh sage leaves at one end of the breast, then put a (little) finger – sized piece of mozzarella on the sage leaves.
Roll the chicken up and follow the directions above.
When you serve it, slice each roll on the diagonal into 3 pieces and shingle them on the warmed dinner plate. The layers of spinach, ham and cheese will look wonderfully appetizing, and the aroma of the sage will whet every appetite!
Good To Know – Melted butter that has been skimmed of the solids floating to the top is called clarified butter.
It’s basically the oil that remains when the water is evaporated and the milk solids are removed from whole butter. This oil can remain at room temperature for days, so if you have some leftover from this recipe, strain out any bread crumbs and save the oil in a clean, airtight container.
Use it for frying meat and vegetables or any other easy baked chicken recipe or chicken cordon bleu recipe that calls for the technique used here.