Chicken Cordon Bleu sounds fancy, and it is actually really easy to make at home. Chicken breasts are filled with ham and Swiss cheese, dipped in bread crumbs, and baked until tender and juicy.
To make it extra special, I serve it with a quick Dijon sauce.
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A Fancy Favorite Made Easy
“Cordon Bleu” translates from French to blue ribbon. Typically, it is a chicken rolled around ham and Swiss cheese, then breaded and baked or fried.
- This chicken cordon bleu recipe is easy to make.
- It uses simple ingredients you know and love.
- I bake cordon bleu instead of deep frying.
- It can be made ahead of time and baked before serving.
What You’ll Need To Make Cordon Bleu
- Chicken: Choose smaller chicken breasts, if possible, about 5 to 6 oz. Larger chicken breasts can be cut in half cross-wise to create thinner cutlets. Pound the chicken to ½-inch thick using the flat side of a meat mallet.
- Ham: Thin slices of deli ham are the easiest to roll, but you can also use leftover baked ham. If using leftovers, dice them or slice them very thinly.
- Cheese: Use shredded or thin slices of Swiss cheese.
- Breadcrumbs: I prefer the finer crumbs of seasoned breadcrumbs for a light, even coating. You can replace it with seasoned Panko breadcrumbs or use a combination.
Variations
- Ham: Replace ham with prosciutto or smoked turkey.
- Cheese: Swap Swiss cheese for provolone (slightly more tangy) or even cheddar cheese!
Sauce for Chicken Cordon Bleu
This cordon bleu sauce recipe is an easy homemade Dijon cream sauce. It’s simple to make with Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Not only does this sauce pair well with my chicken cordon bleu recipe, but it’s also great on veggies.
How to Prepare Chicken for Rolling
- Place a boneless skinless chicken breast on a cutting board and cover it with plastic wrap to keep the juices from splattering.
- Use the flat side of a meat mallet or tenderizer and gently pound the chicken to ¼-inch thick.
- If the chicken breast is very thick, you can butterfly it open before pounding.
- Be firm but gentle when pounding so the chicken thins out but doesn’t get damaged or fall apart.
How to Make Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Prepare the chicken breasts (above). Layer the ham and Swiss cheese on each breast.
- Roll each chicken breast jelly roll style. Roll the chicken in melted butter and then seasoned breadcrumbs.
- Bake per the recipe below. While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce.
Voila! A fancy restaurant-style meal that is actually easy to make at home.
Serving Suggestion: Serve Chicken Cordon Bleu with a starch and a fresh vegetable.
- Try mashed potatoes or rice.
- Add steamed or roasted vegetables like broccoli, green beans, or asparagus.
Storage and Leftovers
Store leftover chicken cordon bleu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Reheat in the microwave to heat it through, and then lightly pan fry it to crisp the outside. Leftover cordon blue can also be reheated in the air fryer at 320°F for 13-18 minutes.
More Stuffed Chicken Recipes
Did you enjoy this Chicken Cordon Bleu? Leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 5-6 oz each
- 4 slices deli ham
- 4 ounces Swiss cheese or Gruyere cheese, shredded or sliced
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup white wine
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 cube chicken bouillon
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a baking dish or rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
- Place the chicken breasts in between two pieces of plastic wrap and, using the flat side of a meat tenderizer, pound to ¼-inch thick (*see note). Season with ½ teaspoon of Kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon of pepper.
- Top each chicken breast with 1 slice of ham and about 1 oz cheese. Roll the chicken jelly-roll style. Secure with a toothpick.
- Combine melted butter and garlic in a small dish. Mix breadcrumbs and thyme in a separate bowl. Dip each chicken roll in butter and then into the breadcrumb mixture.
- Place in a baking dish and bake 35-40 minutes or until the chicken reaches a internal temperature of 165°F.
- To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute.
- Add in milk and wine a little bit at a time stirring after each addition until the mixture is smooth. Add in Dijon, bouillon and Worcestershire. Bring to a boil while whisking and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the toothpicks from the chicken. Serve immediately with the sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, Dinner, Entree, Main Course
Cuisine American, French© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
More Cordon Bleu-Inspired Meals
- Cordon Bleu Casserole – No cream of anything soup in this!
- Grilled Chicken Cordon Bleu – Summertime favorite!
- Chicken Cordon Bleu Soup – Easy, dreamy, creamy!
Very tasty and easy. The first time I have ever fixed chicken this way and it turned out good. Thank you so much for sharing. My husband thanks you too.
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy to hear that you and your husband loved this chicken cordon bleu!!
This is one of the best Chicken Cordon Bleu recipes I’ve ever made. Love the gravy, I didn’t have any white wine on hand so I used chicken broth and I used Better than bouillon instep of bouillon cube, delicious.
This was way easier to make than I thought it would be! I’ve never had this dish but it looked good so I made it for some friends (they are always my guinea pigs!) and it was fantastic. The difference in mine was one slice of ham, one slice of swiss and I rolled in panko crumbs. I also didn’t have enough milk so I did 1/2 C wine, 1/2 C milk. It was very good.
Lucky friends you have to be your guinea pigs!! Thank you for your review!
Very good but VERY salty!!
Simply wow
Very Delicious and simple to make. My family absolutely loved it! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Any advice on what to use instead of bullion? I cannot find any with ingredients I am comfortable with. Or if you can recommend a complany that makes a good bullion with out all the preservatives?
thank you for such an apporachable recipe.
Have you tried Better than Bouillon brand? They’re organic and hopefully they work for you.
Help i don’t have warharsher sauce any suggestions on a substantiation? Sorry for bad spelling.
You could try using soy sauce in place of the Worcestershire sauce Peggy. Enjoy!
Its a good basic recipe; however, it can be better. The first change I recommend is to brown the rolled chicken prior to baking and reduced the baking time. It adds a richness that cant be accomplished in baking alone.
Secondly, the recipe is very high in salt. I omitted the chicken bullion and replaced it with 3/4 cup very hearty low salt chicken stock (not broth), and reduced the milk to 1/4 cup. The sauce was less dense and more a gravy texture than alfredo.
And, lastly I covered the chicken with the sauce in the last 10 minutes of baking. The sauce thickened a bit more during the baking.
In essence, you didn’t make Holly’s chicken cordon bleu but your own. Hmmmm, why post your recipe on someone’s else’s blog?! Why don’t you create your own blog and not mess with anyone else’s? I find people who totally dissect someone’s hard work and then post ‘their’ recipe to be rude and inconsiderate, imo.
Just want to say I like reading all the comments no matter how much they tweak the recipe. Everything read is a learned experience. I’m making this tonite and am reading all the comments just to see what I might do differently myself. We’re older so noting the salt content makes me wish to reduce the sodium somewhat. Always something to be learned Clancy. In the meantime Spend with Pennies and a couple other blogs remain my favorites when I look for good recipes! Cooking is an individual endeavor so nothing wrong with changing things up to suit your own tastes.
Very good, my only issue was the chicken bullion cube. Does not dissolve in the sauce so I put it in hot water. Unless the unwritten sis that it should be dissolved it hot water???????
Just like I used to bake
Simple but great receipt for this chicken cordon blue. The only thing different I did was to substitute your sauce with a homemade holiday sauce. The extra kick from the lemon juice added a great flare to chicken dish and of course goes great with broccoli. Would recommend this quick and easy receipt to for folks that like a rich and delicious French chicken dish.
So happy that you enjoyed the chicken cordon bleu Andy!
What could we substitute instead of white wine in the sauce?
While it would change the flavor, you could try a little bit of apple juice or chicken broth.
Delicious and easy! I did not have the wine or chicken bouillon on hand and subbed them with a half cup of chicken broth and decreased the milk to half cup (used whole milk). The sauce was creamy, thick and delicious! My whole family loved it. Thank you for the recipe
So easy and the best Dijon sauce I ever had, and I don’t even like mustard. I add one slice of prosciutto, one slice of Black Forest ham and one slice of Swiss cheese. Also stuffed the chicken with one steamed broccoli. Simply delicious. Thank you.
Made this for dinner tonight delish easy to make
This is by far the best and easiest recipe!
I’ve tried many cordon bleu recipes in the past, and this one is by far the best. Truly a 5 star dish.
The only thing I do differently from the written recipe is mix half traditional bread crumbs and half panko bread crumbs together because I like the crunch panko brings!
I’ve been making Chick Blue for over 50 years but this is hands down the best recipe I’ve ever made. Will make double the incredible sauce next time and maybe cook the chicken 5 minutes less. Sooo good! Thank you for your recipe.
I made a few substitutions to accommodate my family’s needs, and it still worked out perfectly! Instead of bread crumbs, I coated the chicken with crushed almonds and walnuts. Instead of dijon mustard, which I didn’t have, I used plain mustard and a splash of white wine vinegar, and I didn’t add flourd. I also used half and half instead of milk. My family loved it!
Hi Holly,
Your recipe looks amazing and I can taste it already, I’m so going to give this a try!
Would there be a chance in the future that your recipes could show both U.S. and metric conversions to ingredients?
Cheers,
John
I hope you enjoy it John! Thank you for the suggestion of including metric conversions. I always appreciate the feedback.