Chicken Cordon Bleu is a fancy-sounding dish that’s actually easy to make at home.
It’s made with tender chicken breasts, smoky ham and goey swiss cheese all rolled up and baked in the oven until the chicken is tender and juicy.
To make it extra special, it’s served with a simple creamy dijon sauce.
What is Chicken Cordon Bleu?
Chicken Cordon Bleu is a fancy-sounding French dish that’s surprisingly easy to make at home. “Cordon Bleu” translates from French to blue ribbon.
Traditionally, it’s made with chicken breasts wrapped around ham and swiss cheese. But don’t be afraid to get creative and mix things up!
Ham – I find thin slices of deli ham to roll the easiest but leftover ham works (and it can be diced or thinly sliced). Substitute ham for prosciutto or smoked turkey if you’d like.
Cheese – Swiss cheese is the traditional choice for cordon bleu. Swap out the Swiss for provolone (slightly tangy) or even cheddar cheese!
Breadcrumbs – I prefer the finer crumb of seasoned breadcrumbs in this recipe. Panko can be substituted.
Chicken Cordon Bleu Sauce
This cordon bleu sauce recipe is an easy homemade dijon cream sauce.
It’s simple to make and packs a big flavor with the additions 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.
If you prefer, you can serve this with an easy cheese sauce or even hollandaise. Or, if you’re short on time, you can skip the sauce altogether.
How to Prepare Chicken for Rolling
You’ll be surprised when you see how easy this chicken cordon bleu recipe is to make! Start by preparing the chicken so it can be rolled up.
- Place a boneless skinless chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap (this keeps it from splattering juices everywhere).
- Pound the chicken with the flat side of a meat mallet or tenderizer until it is 1/4″ thick. If the chicken breast is really 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
If you have time, soak the toothpicks in water before securing the chicken to keep them from burning and make them easy to remove. I always put 2 toothpicks per roll so I can account for all of them when I am serving.
- Prepare the chicken breasts (above) and layer them with ham and swiss cheese.
- Roll in the chicken breasts up, jelly roll style.
- Roll them in melted butter with garlic, and then seasoned breadcrumbs! Place them on a baking sheet or in a dish and bake per the recipe below.
- While the chicken is baking, prepare the sauce!
Voila! A fancy restaurant meal that really is easy to make at home (but don’t worry, your secret is safe with us)!
Cordon bleu is a rich meal with bold flavors, so light and fresh sides make the perfect complement.
I would suggest steamed or roasted vegetables like broccoli, green beans, or roasted asparagus.
Add in a tossed or Caesar Salad and a side of garlic butter rice for the perfect meal!
This baked chicken cordon bleu recipe can feed as few as four or double the recipe and have a fancy dinner party for 8!
Roll and dredge the chicken breasts per the recipe below. Place them on rack on top of a baking sheet and lightly cover with plastic wrap. Prepared cordon bleu can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Keep leftover chicken cordon bleu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It can be reheated in the microwave to heat it through and then lightly pan fried, air fried, or broiled to crisp the breadcrumbs.
Savory Stuffed Chicken
Did you enjoy this Chicken Cordon Bleu? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 5-6 oz each
- 4 slices 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
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 Parmesan cheese
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a baking dish or pan 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.
Sauce
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add 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 1 minute.
- Remove from heat and stir in parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve over chicken.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Chicken, 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.
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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!
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