Chicken Cordon Bleu is a simple yet elegant weeknight dinner of tender chicken rolled around ham and cheese. Thank you Milk Means More for sponsoring this post.
My first experience with Chicken Cordon Bleu was when my mom served it after a particularly inspired night in the kitchen. She worked nights as a labor and delivery nurse at the time. Nurses/night shifts/pot lucks seemed to go hand-in-hand on the unit because labor & delivery tended to be hoppin’ at night. The rules were that everyone bring enough to food share and include the recipe. To this day, my mom still talks about how well they ate on that unit! In fact, when she copied several of our favorite family recipes onto index cards for our newlywed gift, we noticed that the majority of them came from her days working labor and delivery.
One of our favorite recipes has always been Chicken Cordon Bleu. My childhood-self was very concerned that blue cheese was involved in the recipe, which was a total deal breaker at the time. I was happy to discover that blue cheese was not “bleu” part of Chicken Cordon Bleu.
As fancy as the French-inspired name sounds, Chicken Cordon Bleu bears no familial ties with the prestigious culinary institute of similar name. Literally translated, cordon bleu means blue ribbon. In the middle ages, blue dye was rare and costly to make, thus making fabric of that hue an expensive luxury reserved for the wealthy. “Cordon Bleu” refers to a special order of French knights established by Henry III in 1578. The knights wore blue ribbons to denote their elite status. During the same period, highly trained chefs wore aprons tied with a blue ribbons. Since that time, the term “cordon bleu” describes the highest order of cooking.
Despite the name, Chicken Cordon Bleu is a uniquely American dish with more modern roots. The dish rose to popularity in the late 1960’s, although other variations existed world-wide. Chicken Cordon Bleu traditionally features thinly filleted chicken rolled with ham and cheese in the center, breaded, and fried.
Although the name Chicken Cordon Bleu sounds elaborate, it’s really fairly straight-forward to prepare. Chicken Cordon Blue is simply rolls of thin chicken breast fillets, ham, and cheese; the chicken rolls are breaded, dredged in melted butter, and baked until crisp outside and gooey inside. I remember feeling so sophisticated eating such a fancy looking dinner! My mom was appreciative of Chicken Cordon Bleu being kid friendly but still outside of the usual “kid friendly” dinners of spaghetti and meatballs, slow cooker sloppy joes, and shredded chicken tacos. As a parent, I understand the craving to eat something other than stereotypical kid food. Sometimes a fancier dinner makes it easier to relax and feel like an adult.
All that sophistication came with a price. I remember my mom spending what seemed like all afternoon in the kitchen preparing Chicken Cordon Bleu. The skinning/trimming of chicken breasts along with a good pounding with a meat mallet to get the chicken thin enough to roll took some time. Avoiding many extra steps by purchasing boneless skinless chicken breasts that are already thinly filleted is a real time saver. Look for thinly sliced chicken breast fillets at the butcher counter or in the meat case at the grocery store. That single time-saving purchase dramatically reduces the hand-on preparation time to about 15 minutes.
Chicken Cordon Bleu requires an hour start to finish, but much of that time being in the oven. With the shortened preparation time, Chicken Cordon Bleu a feasible dinner for weeknights when you’re craving a little sophistication.
Lighten up with this baked Chicken Cordon Bleu!
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Kirsten Kubert
Yields 6 Servings
Chicken Cordon Bleu is a simple yet elegant weeknight dinner of tender breaded chicken rolled around ham and cheese.
15 minPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 6 Tbs. salted butter or more, to taste
- 1 C. all purpose flour
- ½ tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. paprika
- 1 C. Panko style breadcrumbs
- ½ tsp. dried thyme
- 2 large eggs
- 6 thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breast fillets
- 6 thin slices (4 oz.) Swiss cheese
- 6 thin slices smoked ham
Instructions
- Gather three shallow pie plates or bowls for the coating ingredients. Stir the kosher salt and paprika into the flour in one pie plate. In another, combine the Panko style breadcrumbs with the dried thyme. Lightly beat the eggs in the third pie plate; set all aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the butter in an 11” x 8” (2.8 Liter) ceramic baking dish. Place the baking dish into the oven as it preheats. The butter should be melted by the time the chicken rolls have been assembled.
- Place a single thin chicken fillet, cut side up, on a large cutting board or clean work surface. Layer 1 slice of ham, followed by 1 slice of Swiss cheese. Roll the chicken lengthwise “pinwheel style” over the filling ingredients, beginning with the widest width end and rolling toward the smallest end. Secure the chicken roll with a few toothpicks along the seam of the roll. Repeat with the remaining chicken fillets, ham, and cheese.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. The butter in the baking dish should be completely melted but not yet browned.
- Carefully coat each chicken roll with the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Dredge the floured roll through the beaten eggs to moisten the exterior, and then coat the wet chicken roll in the seasoned Panko bread crumbs. If need be, press the breadcrumbs around the roll to get them to stick.
- Place the roll, seam side up, into the baking dish. Quickly turn the roll over so that the seam side is resting on the bottom of the baking dish, and the top of the roll has been coated with melted butter. Repeat with the remaining chicken rolls until all are breaded and rolled in butter in the baking dish. If the breadcrumbs absorb most of the butter before all chicken rolls are coated in the baking dish, an additional tablespoon or two of melted butter may be drizzled over top of the rolls.
- Bake the chicken rolls for 40 to 45 minutes or until the cheese has melted, chicken is cooked through, and breadcrumbs are beginning to brown. Let chicken stand for 5 minutes. Remove all toothpicks securing the rolls prior to serving.
Notes
: Look for thinly sliced, boneless skinless chicken breast fillets in the poultry case or butcher counter of the super market. The chicken breasts are thinly sliced lengthwise into two fillets. Buying the chicken already filleted saves preparation time. In the absence of thinly sliced fillets, the chicken may also be cut “butterfly” style, and continuing the cut all the way through to make two fillets. I find that the fillets hold up to rolling over filling better than chicken breasts that have been pounded flat. Please keep careful count of the toothpicks inserted into the chicken rolls to secure them in the oven to ensure that all of the picks are removed prior to serving. Using an equal number of toothpicks in each chicken roll is recommended. Chicken Cordon Bleu is lovely served with freshly steamed vegetables and hot cooked brown rice.
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