Last year, for Christmas dinner, my Mom made chicken cordon bleu and both of my girls asked for seconds. And that was with full knowledge of the cookies that were waiting for them. Impressive! Mom's was a lovely version, all rolled together and served with a fancy sauce---it was Christmas after all.
A few weeks later, they asked if I would make it for dinner. Blessedly, I found this simpler version on Pinterest (thanks, melskitchencafe.com) and immediately set to getting what we needed to throw this together. Yeah, I said throw. It's really easy, it takes mere minutes to assemble, and the reactions from my girls are the same as they were on Christmas! Win!! This has become a pretty regular menu item, and Abby swears she's going to make it for us next time--start to finish!
A couple notes on the recipe below. We don't usually make the sauce. No one was a huge fan, so we skip that element. I've included the recipe, though, in case you're feeling saucy! I usually have a dollop of Dijon with mine--a little goes a long way!!
We've also had great success using the thin sliced chicken breasts rather than cutting thicker ones. If you do slice the thicker ones, you might consider pounding them out a bit even after you've sliced them.
And finally, the original recipe didn't specify Panko breadcrumbs, but they really do hold up better than regular every day breadcrumbs. So treat yo'self...get the Panko!
Add a veggie and a starch along side this chicken and you've got a yummy dinner. This kind of got me thinking---could we do another version? Maybe swap ham and swiss for pepperoni and mozzarella--kind of a quick and easy chicken parm? Or maybe ham with a spicy cheese and add a little red pepper to the breadcrumbs? Bleu cheese, no ham and hot sauce over the breadcrumbs.....okay, before I get too carried away, here's the scoop!
What You'll Need:
- 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut in half length-wise to form two thinner chicken breasts
- Salt & Pepper
- 12 slices deli ham
- 6-8 slices Swiss cheese
- 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons of butter melted
Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon chicken boullion granules (or one boullion cube crushed)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
What You'll Do:
- Preheat your oven to 350* and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish
- Lay the chicken breasts in a single layer in the dish
- Sprinkle both sides with salt & pepper
- Layer each chicken breast with 2 pieces of ham, then top with 2 slices of cheese on each
- Toss the breadcrumbs with the melted butter until golden brown
- Spread the breadcrumbs over each piece of chicken
- Bake for 30-35 minutes
While the chicken is baking, whip up the sauce! Simply melt the butter and stir in the flour, cooking for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking continuously. Stir in the boullion, and keep whisking, 3-5 minutes. Once it's thickened and bubbling, stir in the remaining ingredients and stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm over low heat until the chicken is finished, adding salt & pepper as needed.
Serve by either adding a healthy spoonful of the sauce onto a plate and resting the chicken on top, or by spooning the sauce over top of the chicken.
Cheers and enjoy! Let me know what you think!!
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