Description
This Skillet Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe brings a classic dish to your weeknight dinner table with ease. Tender chicken breasts, stuffed with ham and Swiss cheese, are breaded and pan-fried to golden perfection, then simmered in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce. It’s a comforting and elegant meal that’s surprisingly simple to prepare.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, about 3-4 pounds
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 slices thinly sliced deli ham
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
Sauce:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Prepare Chicken: Using a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken breasts until they are uniformly about ½ inch thick.
- Breading Station: In a bowl, whisk together the egg and milk; in a separate large bowl, whisk together the breadcrumbs, flour, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper.
- Bread Chicken: Dip each prepared breast first in the egg mixture, allowing any excess to drip off, then coat in the flour mixture. Set the breaded breasts aside.
- Cook Chicken: Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place 2 chicken breasts into the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side until the chicken is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining two tablespoons of oil and battered breasts.
- Remove Chicken: Remove the cooked chicken from the skillet.
- Make Sauce: Melt the butter in the skillet and whisk the flour into the butter, creating a paste.
- Add Liquids: Slowly add in the chicken broth and heavy cream, whisking continually to keep the sauce from breaking.
- Season Sauce: Once the cream and broth are incorporated completely and you have a smooth gravy, add in the Dijon mustard, thyme, salt, and pepper. Whisk to combine, then reduce the heat to low.
- Assemble Cordon Bleu: Add the chicken back to the skillet in the sauce, and place one slice of ham and one slice of cheese on each chicken breast.
- Melt Cheese: Cover the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and serve.
Notes
- When adding the liquid to the butter and flour paste, slowly add about ½ cup at a time, whisking continually until that amount of liquid has been incorporated. Adding liquid in too quickly will break the sauce, which means the paste won’t combine with the liquid.
- If your skillet is large enough to fry all four chicken breasts at once, you can do that in one step. I like to do it in 2 batches so I can be sure each breast is evenly cooked.
- You can use other types of cheese such as provolone or gruyere.
- You can also use turkey instead of ham.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 600kcal
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 1200mg
- Fat: 40g
- Saturated Fat: 15g
- Unsaturated Fat: 25g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 45g
- Cholesterol: 180mg
