With just 5 ingredients you can make this recipe for an easy chicken cordon bleu recipe. Chicken, ham, Swiss cheese, an egg, and bread crumbs are all you need to make this chicken cordon bleu.
This recipe comes from a country club I once worked at so you know it is fancy and delicious!
🥰 Why this recipe works
- A great prep ahead meal, the rolled up chicken can be browned in a pan, cooled and chilled until ready to bake off to an internal temp of 165.
- Creamy swiss cheese is the perfect pairing with ham as a filling for stuffing a chicken breast.
- Slice on the bias for a beautiful plated presentation at parties.
📝 Notes on the ingredients
- chicken breast - boneless, skinless
- ham - thinly sliced deli ham or diced deli ham
- swiss cheese - sliced deli swiss or long slices of cheese
- salt, pepper & dired parley or Italian seasoning mix
- egg wash - one part egg, one part water, beaten
- flour- for dredging
- bread crumbs - panko is great for added crunch or you can make your own breadcrumbs
- oil for frying - I use canola oil
🥣 Helpful Kitchen Tools
- Cast iron pan - a mainstay in my kitchen, this pan gives you an amazing sear and can last a lifetime.
- Tongs - helps to easily flip the rolled up chicken when frying.
- Toothpicks - take help from toothpicks to keep the chicken closed as you dredge and fry it.
- Chef knife - a good 8" or 10" blade chef knife will help make cooking in your kitchen a more enjoyable expereince
🥘 How to make chicken cordon bleu:
- Split each chicken breast in half. If they are still on the thick side, give them a bit of a pounding between two sheets of plastic wrap or in a plastic zip top bag.
- Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and parsley. There are no real measurements. Just pretend you are on a cooking show and sprinkle as they would. You will be fine.
- Fold 2 slices of ham and a ½ a slice of swiss cheese on each chicken breast.
- Starting at the thinner side of the chicken breast, roll it up with the ham and swiss on the inside. Secure with 2 wooden toothpicks.
- Coat each chicken roll in flour that has been flavored with salt and pepper. Be sure to coat completely.
- Beat an egg with a splash of water to create an egg wash. Roll each chicken roll in the egg wash.
- Roll in bread crumbs and coat completely.
- In a pan with a small amount of oil brown every side of the chicken cordon blue. I find it best to start with the seam side of the roll. It helps 'seal' the chicken closed. At the country club we would deep fry them till golden in a deep-fried.
- Turn until all sides are golden brown. The idea is not to cook them through but just to brown them on all sides.
- Remove the chicken rolls from the pan and allow them to rest on paper towels.
- When you are ready to bake off your chicken, turn your oven to 400 and cover them with foil and bake approximately 45 minutes to until an internal temperature of 165 is reached.
🍽️ What do you serve with chicken cordon bleu?
- Couscous – Serve on a bed of your favorite couscous. I cook my couscous in chicken stock for an extra boost of flavor.
- Roasted Potatoes– Another delicious option is to serve along side this dish pan roasted potatoes.
- Sweet Potatoes - a collection of LOTS of different sweet potato recipes.
- Pasta– My kids can't get enough of pasta with their chicken cordon bleu.
- Vegetables - pick your favorite vegetable. The beauty of this easy dish is that it goes with so many vegetables.
📝 Frequently asked questions, answers and tips:
I am sure everyone has an opinion on this one but I encourage you NOT to microwave chicken cordon bleu. The microwave has a tendency to toughen and make the chicken meat rubbery. Please don't microwave chicken.
More Delicious Chicken Recipes:
- Dorito chicken casserole
- Sheet pan chicken sausage and peppers dinner
- Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
👩🍳 Chef story:
My first job was at the local country club. I was a prep cook for the fancy banquets and weddings held in the ballroom. I learned knife skills, culinary terms, what it was like to be a non-smoker in an on-the-clock smoke break world and how to make chicken cordon bleu. Lots and lots of chicken cordon bleu.
Pound, season, fill, roll, dredge, dunk, crumb, and freeze. Over and over. I could roll chicken cordon bleu in my sleep!
Now that I have children I am looking for dishes that my children will eat for dinner. They love chicken nuggets, so I thought I would try and switch it up one day to see if I could broaden their tastebuds just a bit. And much to my surprise, it worked! So much so, my four-year-old asked for it again tonight! This kid never asks for anything other than pasta and sauce for dinner so I am considering chicken cordon bleu a success!
Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu Recipe
There is more to a recipe than just the recipe card. Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Split each chicken breast in half. If they are still on the thick side, give them a bit of a pounding between two sheets of plastic wrap or in a plastic zip top bag.
- Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, and parsley. There are no real measurements. Just pretend you are on a cooking show and sprinkle as they would. You will be fine.
- Fold 2 slices of ham and a ½ a slice of swiss cheese on each chicken breast.
- Starting at the thinner side of the chicken breast, roll it up with the ham and swiss on the inside. Secure with 2 wooden toothpicks.
- Coat each chicken roll in flour that has been flavored with salt and pepper. Be sure to coat completely.
- Beat an egg with a splash of water to create an egg wash. Roll each chicken roll in the egg wash.
- Roll in bread crumbs and coat completely.
- In a pan with a small amount of oil brown every side of the chicken cordon blue. I find it best to start with the seam side of the roll. It helps 'seal' the chicken closed. At the country club we would deep fry them till golden in a deep frier.
- Turn until all sides are golden brown. The idea is not to cook them through but just to brown them on all sides.
- Remove the chicken cordon bleu from the pan and allow them to rest on paper towels.
- When you are ready to bake off your chicken, turn your oven to 400 and cover the them with foil and bake approximately 45 minutes to until an internal temperature of 165 is reached.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclosure
Nutritional facts are estimates and are provided as a courtesy to the reader. Please utilize your own brand nutritional values to double check against our estimates. Nutritional values are calculated via a third party. Changing ingredients, amounts or cooking technique will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
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originally published Feb 15, 2015
Sarah Mock
ok... now you need to share your recipe for dijon butter sauce! What is this magic!!!? Give me a link if you have one!
Stephanie
This sounds delicious! I've never breaded my chicken cordon bleu, but instead baked it with a dijon butter sauce. I'm now thinking your cordon bleu with my dijon butter sauce on the side may be a match made in heaven!
Sarah Mock
Thanks so much Jo-Lynn! There are a few steps involved but it is well worth the effort!
Jo-Lynne Shane
That looks AMAZING! I've always loved chicken cordon bleu, but I've never tried to make it myself.