Don’t let the fancy name deter you; Chicken Cordon Bleu is easy to make at home.
Chicken breasts, thin slices of deli ham, and swiss cheese are rolled jelly roll style, dipped in bread crumbs and until tender and juicy.
To make it extra special, I serve it with a quick Dijon sauce.
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 with simple ingredients you know and love.
- I bake cordon blue instead of deep frying.
- If 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 it or very thinly slice it.
- 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 of Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and parmesan cheese. Not only does this sauce pair well with my chicken cordon bleu recipe, 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!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
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 chicken bouillon cube
- 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!
Excellent “gourmet” chicken cordon bleu. An absolute delight!
Made this recipe for a dinner party for 12 guests and everyone LOVED it! Lots of complements on the sauce. A breeze to assemble ahead of time that day and throw in to the oven later.
Great flavor and a nice change of pace. We eat a lot of chicken and I’d gotten into a rut. Love how quickly this assembles and is ready for the oven. Easy enough to involve the littles in preparation.
I pan fried until it was the color I wanted, then moved to the oven. This was the best chicken cordon Bleu that I’ve ever had.
Thanks for the recipe. I am always looking for creative ways to prepare chicken, as hubby is NOT a chicken fan. I tried to follow the recipe as best as I could with what I had on hand, I used Panko since I didn’t have bread crumbs. Also, did not have unsalted butter, so didn’t add any additional salt. The sauce was delicious, meal served with salad and mushrooms as sides. Hubby said I could make it again .
I am glad he enjoyed it, Kat!
The BEST chicken cordon bleu recipe I have ever tried. I’ve never dredged with just butter and it came out perfectly. Absolutely LOVE the sauce. I’m going to make that sauce for asparagus too.
I’ve tried several chicken cordon blue recipes. I made this for Christmas 2023. My family loved it. I chose to prep it a day ahead and bake it day of. Turned out terrific. I did not make it with the sauce because I also made your Scallop Potatoes, also prepped the day before. These were creamy and out of this world homemade comfort food. The side was fresh green beans. I took everything out an hour a head to warm on the counter before baking in the oven as directed. Will make again. Thank you !
I followed the recipe exactly as is and it turned out perfect! It was so easy to make and a good recipe even for beginners. It will impress your guests because it is so delicious and turns out as pretty as the picture! I got so many compliments and everyone wanted
the recipe!
Hi, my question is do you dissolve the bouillon in water first or just add it straight in? Thank you!
We add it straight into the sauce!
Doubt that I will make this again. Way too salty!
Sorry this recipe wasn’t your favorite, I don’t find it to be too salty! Did you use salted or unsalted butter?
Amazing and super easy! Recommend with the garlic butter rice.
Love the recipe used panko instead. We do not like Swiss so used mozzarella instead. put it over a bed of marinated spinach with garlic and a side of marinated mushrooms
Made it last night. Absolutely delicious.
This recipe is so easy and so delicious! I didnt have white wine for sauce so added extra milk and not at all disappointing. Perfectly moist chicken and crispy breadcrumb coating (Panko crumbs wotk so good)at 40 minutes baking time. Best cordon bleu recioe I have found . I will make this again!
This is SO good and not that difficult to make. Everyone moans out loud with the first bite to the last!
I am making this dish as we speak, have all the components ready. Sooo fun to make. The sauce is a little thick and strong, added 1/8th cup more of white wine and wow delicious! Dijon is a little strong for my taste buds, can really taste it, will only add 1 Tbsp next time. I will let you know how the meal turns out, first time making Chicken Cordon Bleu and wanted to try this recipe first. Looks beautiful, thank you for sharing
We hope you love it, Joanne!
For those confused about the bouillon cube: so was I. I dissolved the cube in 2 cups of water and ended up using about 1 cup to thin out the sauce which was otherwise very thick. I suggest adding gradually at the end until you reach desired consistency. Mine turned out super creamy and silky, not to mention delicious! It did yield A LOT of sauce though, half of which ended up dumped, so next time I’m halfing it.
Otherwise, I pretty much modified this all the way with chicken thighs instead (and flattened them), used camembert and fresh basil instead of the OG, turned out spectacular! Thank you!
Thanks for sharing your tips, Irina! We are glad you loved the recipe.
So many things wrong with this recipe.
What do you do do with the garlic? Chopoed, minced, crushed?
What kind of thyme, Dried or fresh? Do you chop it? Finely?
What oven temperature? I think that is important.
Now, the sauce… I followed the recipe, the amounts measured with measuring spoons, measuring cup, and I did not add salt. Your recipe says add salt and pepper to taste. Well, I would guess that nobody added salt. It was so salty that it was inedible and I had to toss it and waste all of the ingredients I used. Such a shame. If you took out the saltiness, it would still be bad, as the flavor was not appealing. It wasn’t just me, as my dinner guests said the same. I know you got 5 star reviews on this recipe. I’m also guessing that those people may have not made the sauce and were lucky on the cooking part for the chicken.
Hi Troy! We use 1 clove of garlic (minced) and dried thyme leaves as indicated in the recipe card. Also in the recipe card you will find the cook temperature and time. I hope that helps! Many readers have loved the sauce, so I am sorry to hear that!
My husband and I enjoyed this but Andes mushroom to the sauce
I made this tonight for dinner and omitted the sauce. The whole family loved it and my 7 year old had seconds(which is rare lol) I served this with sautéed garlic green beans. Definitely will be making this again, I just have to figure out how to get my bread crumbs more browned, even after putting the breasts under the broiler the coating was still “soft.”
That’s a huge win!
If you prefer a little more crisp you could try adding Panko breadcrumbs next time Melissa.
Hey Melissa- you can toast your breadcrumbs like 3-5 minutes at 350 before you bread the chicken. It makes it much crunchier and evenly toasted