This is definitely one of my favorite, go-to chicken dinner recipes. My kids love it, my husband loves it, my friends all ADORE it, and I LOVE it. It's not only delicious, but EASY and fast. I'm showing you step-by-step how to make a gourmet chicken cordon bleu (with a homemade cream sauce) roll up, with no hammering out any meat, in just minutes.
WHAT DO I NEED TO MAKE CHICKEN CORDON BLEU
For the rolling-of-the-chicken you will need:
- SWISS CHEESE
- HAM (or try pre-cooked bacon! its also delicious!)
- CHICKEN BREASTS
- TOOTHPICKS
- BUTTER
- BREADCRUMBS
PRO-TIP: have all ingredients measured/counted out before you start cutting and dipping your chicken becuase your hands are going to get messy with raw chicken and you don't want to have to wash your hands repeatedly.
HOW TO ROLL CHICKEN FOR CHICKEN CORDON BLEU -THE EASY WAY
Here is the secret to making your chicken cordon bleu easy and fast without the mess and time of hammering your chicken flat. You BUTTERFLY it.
Butterflying your chicken basically means you are going to slice it in half lengthwise. This will give you two thin slices of chicken out of one breast. It makes your chicken go farther and provides the perfect serving size.
- Start with a thawed chicken breast and sharp knife. Trim and fat or tendons.
- Starting with the thick part of the chicken slice horizontal through the breast
- Lay breast open, here it looks like a butterfly. Cut in half
- Place a small piece of swiss cheese along the chicken
- Place a piece of ham on top of the cheese
TIPS TO ROLLING YOUR CHICKEN
I like to start with the skinny end and roll towards the fatter end of the breast toothpick that bad boy nice and tight. Usually I use 2 toothpicks per chicken roll.
After rolling dip your chicken in butter, then coat in breadcrumbs.
PRO-TIP: cut and roll all your chicken before starting the dipping process. Your hands will also get coated with butter and breadcrumbs which is hard to work with when rolling the chicken. Roll all chickens, then dip.
When you are finished coating your chicken rolls place them in a pan. Drizzle remaining butter from bowl over chicken cordon bleu rolls and place in oven to bake.
PRO-TIP: They will take a little less than an hour to bake, but to take all the guess work out and know for sure your chicken is completely cooked I HIGHLY recommend using a thermometer. 100% recommend this one from thermoworks- it is hands down the more reliable one on the market for temp reading.
HOMEMADE CHICKEN CORDON BLEU SAUCE
Now for the ultimate gravy! This easy peasy chicken cordon bleu sauce is what everyone drools over. So while your chicken is baking make the sauce.
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO I NEED FOR HOMEMADE CHICKEN CORDON BLEU SAUCE?
- Butter and flour- to make a roux
- chicken boullion
- parmesan cheese
- swiss cheese
- parsley
- milk
- water
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY HOMEMADE CHICKEN CORDON BLEU SAUCE
- Melt butter in sauce pan, add flour and whisk. Add in bullion. Once bubbling add milk and water.
- Add in cheese and parsley
- Stir until it's all combined and melted.
Serve over chicken or to the side. (also a great topping for your side dish!)
WHAT DO I SERVE AS A SIDE FOR CHICKEN CORDON BLEU?
My go-to is jasmine rice, cooked in my instant pot. ha ha It's fast, easy and kids love it. For some more fancier options try
Roasted Red Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Roasted Veggies
Rice Pilaf
Risotto
CAN I MAKE GLUTEN FREE CHICKEN CORDON BLEU!
ABSOLUTELY!! Infact the photos you're looking at right now are all make with gluten-free ingredients. I used gluten-free bread crumbs and gluten-free flour for the roux in the cheese sauce. My go-to flour substitute is cup-4-cup, but you can use whatever you can find at your local grocery store or online store. I got these ingredients just at my Walmart!
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Chicken Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 thawed chicken breast
- 8 pieces of Deli ham *I prefer honey ham
- 8 slices of swiss cheese.
- 16+ toothpicks
- ½ cup of melted butter
- 1 cup bread crumbs
Cheese Sauce
- 4 Tablespoon butter
- 2 teaspoon instant chicken bullion
- ¾ cup shredded swiss cheese I typically use the rest of the sliced swiss, just tear it up.
- 4 Tablespoon parmesan cheese
- 2 ½ cup milk
- 4 Tablespoon flour
- dash of pepper
- 2 teaspoon parsley
Instructions
- Butterfly your chicken breast.Start with a thawed chicken breast and sharp knife. Trim and fat or tendons.Starting with the thick part of the chicken slice horizontal through the breastLay breast open, here it looks like a butterfly. Cut in halfPlace a small piece of swiss cheese along the chickenPlace a piece of ham on top of the cheese
- I like to start with the skinny end and roll towards the fatter end of the breast toothpick that bad boy nice and tight. Usually I use 2 toothpicks per chicken roll.After rolling dip your chicken in butter, then coat in breadcrumbs.
- place in 9x13 pan
- 6.Bake at 350 for 40-50 min
Cheese Sauce
- Melt butter on med heat, stir in flour. Let mixture bubble for a minute.
- Add bullion, and milk.
- Add remaining ingredients.
- Pour over chicken.
Notes
Nutrition
Jenny says
My whole family loves this recipe! We make it every week.
Sharon says
Super easy and delicious!
Harriette says
I don’t have the chicken bullion. Will the gravy/sauce turn ok out.
Desarae says
I would just add some salts, seasoning salt, onion or garlic salt to season it a little bit, but it will still taste great!
Emily Kemp says
This looks absolutely delicious and I love how easy it is too!
Jill says
My family really enjoyed this. The cheese sauce was something new that tasted great over white rice and steamed broccoli. Pinning this and will make it again. I used fish fry seasoned breading since I was out of bread crumbs. It made it a little too zesty for my 5 year old, but I thought it was awesome.
Nina says
Hi, just made this today for lunch and my son wanted it again for dinner! hahaha :) We really love the cheese sauce, I added a teeny bit of dijon mustard for some added zing and it worked! this one's definitely a keeper...Thank you!
Laura says
This was wonderful!! Made it tonight for dinner and it was really easy and tasted complicated, the whole family enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
angelica says
i just have a question do pour the sauce over the chicken when it's cooked or when you put the chicken in the oven?
Desarae says
You pour the sauce at the very end if desired. My husband likes to put it over chicken and rice! My kids like sauce to the side and dip their chicken in it.
Jo Brinkley says
My husband is on low salt diet, going to try this using turkey instead of ham.
Marie says
Looks great! Going to try these this week. Question, is the serving size 4? I know the photo shows 8 rolls but the recipe only calls for 4 chicken breasts. If we're doing more, should be double the ingredients? Or, when you cut the breast in half, does this make 2 rolls? Thanks! :)
Desarae says
when you slice the chicken as described in the post it will double your recipe- so 4 chicken breasts will give you 8 rolls. :)
jessica says
Looks yummy! I'm trying this tonight! Thanks for the recipe, I can't stand some of the ones with cream of chicken.