My favorite Chicken Cordon Bleu includes rolled up layers of ham and Swiss cheese with a crunchy coating, topped with a simple sauce. Don't miss my trick for how to roll chicken cordon bleu without toothpicks!
If you love fancy dinners that are EASY to prepare and impress, try my Braised Short Ribs, Chicken with 40 Cloves Garlic or Baked Salmon.
I'm so excited to show you how EASY it is to make Chicken Cordon Bleu ! This recipe is inspired by the method by husband grew up eating, which includes crushed cornflakes as the coating. It's absolutely delicious and I especially love that I can make it ahead of time, for company.
How to make Chicken Cordon Bleu:
Prep chicken breasts. Use a sharp knife to cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to create two chicken breast halves (or buy already cut chicken breast halves). Place between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound them into thin, even pieces (be careful not to pound so hard that the meat tears.).
Top with ham and cheese. Top each pieces of chicken with a slice of ham and a ham handful of shredded cheese.
Roll each up tightly into a bundle, tucking the sides a little, and place on a small square of plastic wrap (this is my trick for how to roll chicken cordon blue tightly, so it stays and doesn’t require toothpicks).
Wrap the chicken bundle up tightly in plastic wrap, pinching the excess plastic on the sides to create a tootsie-roll shape. Twist and swing the ends to create a firm chicken roll (watch video below, for reference).
Refrigerate the wrapped chicken bundles for at least 30-minutes or up to one day in advance, or freeze for up to 3 months..
Add breading: Dip the chicken bundles in melted butter, and then into the cornflake crumbs (you could also use breadcrumbs), pressing lightly to help the crumbs stick to the chicken. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.
Bake on the center oven rack for about 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (160 degrees F on a thermometer inserted into the chicken, not the filling.)
Top with sauce. Make the sauce by stirring the mayo and mustard together. Taste and add more mustard, as needed, to taste.
Variations:
- Cheese: The most popular type of cheese to use when making chicken cordon bleu is Swiss cheese and I love the way it pairs with the ham and chicken. HOWEVER, feel free to substitute any other cheese and I have no doubt the results would be equally as delicious!
- Cornflakes: regular breadcrumbs, Panko, crushed ritz crackers would also work.
- Sauce: I use a very simple sauce for my chicken cordon bleu; mayonnaise and mustard mixed together. This is how we enjoy it in our family, but here is a more traditional chicken cordon bleu sauce recipe if you prefer.
Serve with:
Make Ahead And Freezing Instructions:
To make ahead: Prepare the recipe through step 4 (wrapping stuffed chicken breasts and placing them in the refrigerator). Store for up to one day and prepare as directed.
To freeze: Prepare the recipe through step 4 and place wrapped chicken breasts in a freezer safe container or ziplock bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and continue with step 5 of the recipe.
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Recipe
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Equipment
- Rolling Pin , or mallet
Ingredients
- 8 thin slices ham
- 8 oz Swiss cheese sliced or shredded
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts , about 2 pounds
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups corn flakes cereal , crushed (or substitute breadcrumbs)
- 6 Tablespoons butter , melted
For the sauce:
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard , to taste
Instructions
- Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Use a sharp knife to cut each chicken breast in half horizontally to create two chicken breast halves. Place the chicken breast halves between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or rolling pin to pound them into thin and evenly (be careful not to pound so hard that the meat tears.).4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Top each pieces of chicken with a slice of ham and a ham handful of shredded cheese. Roll tightly, tucking the sides a little, and place on a new piece of plastic wrap.8 thin slices ham, 8 oz Swiss cheese
- Wrap the chicken tightly in the plastic wrap, pinching the excess plastic on the sides to create a tootsie-roll shape and twisting them to create a firm chicken roll. Refrigerate the wrapped chicken bundles for at least 30-minutes or up to one day in advance.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Remove chicken from fridge, unwrap and season with salt and pepper. Add cornflakes to a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Add crumbs to a shallow dish or pie plate. Melt butter in a separate shallow dish.salt and freshly ground black pepper, 3 cups corn flakes cereal, 6 Tablespoons butter
- Dip the chicken bundles in melted butter, and then into the cornflake crumbs, pressing lightly to help the crumbs stick to the chicken. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Bake on the center oven rack for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through (160 degrees on a thermometer inserted into the chicken, not the filling.)
- Make the sauce by stirring the mayo and mustard together. Taste and add more mustard, as needed, to taste.1 cup mayonnaise, 1-2 teaspoons yellow mustard
Notes
-
- Cheese: Usually chicken cordon bleu is made with Swiss cheese, and I love that flavor combination. If you want to use a different cheese, feel free to swap it for any other cheese and it will still be delicious!
-
- Cornflakes: Swap it out for regular breadcrumbs, Panko, crushed ritz crackers, or gluten free breadcrumbs.
-
- Sauce: If you want a more traditional chicken cordon bleu sauce recipe feel free to make it! In my family, we love the simplicity and flavor of mixing mayonnaise and mustard together.
Nutrition
To stuff Chicken breasts without pounding them:
For a simplified method of making this recipe, you could take the whole chicken breasts and cut slit in the side to stuff with ham and cheese.
I originally shared this recipe October 2018. Updated March 2020 and September 2021.
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
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I love chicken cordon Bleu. I have made it with multiple different recipes. This is the best cordon Bleu I’ve ever made, by far. I used thin sliced black forest ham, boneless skinless chicken thighs, and I added dabs of cream cheese into the cheese layer. I also don’t like putting toothpicks in so I followed the wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, and it worked great.
My family absolutely loves this version of chicken cordon bleu. It is always a hit, and we made it again to celebrate the 200th meal plan.
One of the best Chicken Cordon Bleu recipes that I have tried. It is very straightforward, simple, and DELICIOUS 😋
This is the best chicken cordon bleu I’ve ever made. Such a fancy supper and so easy to make.
Chicken was rubbery and non-edible. Followed the recipe exactly. Chicken was fresh and sliced by the butcher to 1/4”. Oven at 400 F. Meat removed at 160 F. Meat thermometer was accurate. So rubbery we couldn’t eat it. Why?
Thank you
I’d suggest you look into ‘Woody Chicken Breasts’ and how to avoid buying them. https://www.today.com/food/woody-chicken-breast-t258881
Thanks — I wasn’t aware and that really helpful! Can’t wait to try this recipe tonight.
Thanks for the video it helps alot!
Going to make tonight.
Very easy, tasty! Came out of the oven beautiful. Trick for holding it together easy and effective. A husband favorite!
I love this recipe! I added a bit of spinach and used gluten-free cauliflower crumbs which sounds weird, but they tasted just like crunchy breadcrumbs, so it turned out excellent and everyone loved it! I will definitely be making this again! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
AMAZING!! I only changed one thing , I was low on corn flakes so I did half cornflakes and 1/2 ritz crackers ! HUGE hit with the family !
The recipe is tasty. Served the chicken with risotto and roasted asparagus. Chicken was a bit dry- will reduce temp or duration next time and cheese leaked out. That was disappointing
I tried this recipe when I was in a rush to prepare something different using chicken breast.
Amazed how easy this from start to serve.
I made one following the recipe and one with a teriyaki glaze minus the crumbs. Both were great including the sauce. Only change would be to broil for the final 5-10 minutes to crisp w/o drying. But will be making this again.
Completely confused why mine didn’t brown at all? I hate cooking. Have them on broil now to hopefully get something crunchy. Ugh.
To freeze, the recipe says prepare through step four which includes melting the butter.
Dipping chicken in crumbs is part of step 5.
Can you clarify?
Happy to clarify! You will wrap the chicken in the saran wrap as instructed in step 3 but instead of putting in the fridge for 30 minutes you will freeze them for up to 3 months. When you are ready to use, thaw then overnight in the fridge and proceed with step 4.
Made this tonight….very easy and was delicious!!!Thank you for the recipe!