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.
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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…..
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.
Made this yesterday, I have not made Chicken Cordon Bleu in decades, wanted to refresh my memory. I did change some of the recipe. I used Perdue thin sliced chicken breast cutlets, no pounding. I grew up using Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Crumbs, which I seasoned with G Washington’s Golden seasoning and freshly grated Aged Parmesan and freshly course ground black pepper and parsley flakes. Used the egg method no flour, just seasoned Crumbs. Very thinly sliced tavern ham and Swiss in a 385 degree convection oven setting for 35 minutes. For the sauce I used a can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken and Mushroom Soup, about 1/2 a can of whole milk, a generous Tbls of Grey Poupon Country ground mustard and a shot of Madeira and parsley and ground pepper.
It was fantastic, my Husband loved it. Served with sautéed fresh mushrooms and steamed Savoy cabbage with browned butter and mashed potatoes. Fresh sliced strawberries for dessert. Will definitely be making again going forward, great recipe from decades ago.
I have made this recipe at least 10 times in the last few years, and it comes out perfect every time. I use the super easy instructions, and it is! The sauce is so good I make it for all sorts of other dishes.
As always – super yummy!
I made this recipe tonight in the air fryer, it’s hot here and I didn’t want to turn on the oven. It worked perfectly, tasty, juicy chicken for dinner.
How long and at what temperature did you cook them in the air fryer for?
At 350° for about 20 minutes
Thank you! Greetings from Australia! Xx
This was so good and easy. I did the quick dredge and made the sauce. Company-worthy.
I love your recipes here in Canada, Nagy,
Great recipe the secret is Browning of the breadcrumbs nice and crispy will do again
Great recipe
Best ever, you would swear it was fried it’s so crispy! I used the pre-toasted, panko crumb method with mayonnaise and Dijon.
Great recipe! Simple and easy to execute. I added about a teaspoon of honey to the mustard sauce with a little salt and it was a big hit.
Thank you for a truly outstanding recipe which I followed to the letter. However, the recipe calls for a cup of completed mustard cream sauce and I ended up with 1 1/4 cups, way too much for 2 people. I suggest
halfing the sauce.
this dish is amazing! i used the dredging method and it came out perfect, didnt toast the breadcrumbe. this is a dish I would feel confident to serve to company,,, That good,,, thank you
Made this tonight. It was delicious. I didn’t toast the breadcrumbs and it was good but would probably be better if you toasted them .I only had very thin chicken breasts so I rolled them and used a toothpick. The whole picky family loved it. Definitely make the sauce!!!!
Great recipe, simple is best, on the Dijon sauce add a sauted mushroom, garlic, and onion mix to kick it up a bit