Cheesy. Basil. Stuffed. Chicken.
What the recipe title fails to mention is: Golden. Garlic. Basil. Bread. Crumbs. On. Top. Of. The. Chicken. Surrounded. By. Roasted. Juicy. Tomatoes.
Dude. Seriously. If this meal hadn’t been real, I would have dreamed it in my dreams of dinners I want to dream of forever.
Similar in stuffing-technique to this chicken, this relatively simple dish is such a unique and wonderful way to change up chicken dinner night. I served it with this Roasted Garlic and Cauliflower Pasta (oh my!). Perfect. Meal.
I do have to admit that the deliciousness of this meal may have been due, in part, to the fact that my amazing friend, Mariann, was visiting and er, well…she did most of the work. Why is it that food tastes so much better when someone else makes it? I’ll ponder that thought while inhaling the Maple Pumpkin Hazelnut bread (smothered in Nutella…oh yes siree) my sister-in-law just made this very evening while she stays with us for a few days. I swear, I’m not this bad of a hostess all the time. I just can’t pass up the opportunity to beg-slash-guilt someone into making food for me. I hope we can all still be friends.
One Year Ago: Fresh Strawberry Lemonade
Two Years Ago: Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie
Three Years Ago: Sugar Gems
Cheesy basil Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version
*Note: the chicken breasts called for in this recipe need to be on the thicker side because a pocket is cut into the thickest part of the chicken breasts (similar to this recipe) and the delicious cheese-basil filling is stuffed inside. Thinner chicken breasts won’t work well for that crucial step.
*Serves 4 (more, if you can cut the chicken in half after baking to serve kids)
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil, divided
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (see note)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise, lowfat or regular
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the shredded cheese, 2 tablespoons of the minced basil, cream, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Cut a pocket in chicken breasts (like in this recipe), stuff with cheese mixture and seal, using a toothpick to help close the slit, if necessary. Transfer the stuffed breasts to 13 by 9 inch baking dish and spread tops evenly with mayonnaise.
In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, remaining garlic, remaining fresh basil, and one tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle crumb mixture over chicken, pressing lightly to adhere.
Toss tomatoes with remaining tablespoon oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Arrange the tomatoes in the baking dish in and around the chicken. Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and the chicken is cooked through (registering 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer) about 25 minutes. Serve immediately.
Recipe Source: from Cook’s Country Cookbook: Rediscovering America’s Home Cooking
{ 41 comments… read them below or add one }
Going on the menu for next week! Have a great labor day weekend!
This looks really tasty!! We don’t stuff chicken breasts often, so this is a good recipe to have for a special occasion.
Looks very delicious! Oh, and please post the recipe for the maple pumpkin hazelnut bread. That’s 4 of my favorite things in one recipe title!
Beautiful!
This looks and sounds delish! I just pinned it to make for a later date.
Please. Seriously.
Yummmmmmmmm……….!
I love any stuffed chicken breast! I am so happy to have another recipe to add to my collection. Also thank you for sharing a side recommendation! I struggle with coming up with side dishes besides our go to broccoli and rice (which quite frankly I am so sick of).
Oh my gosh this sounds awesome. Just looking at the picture induced serious mouth-watering. Can’t wait to try it. I mean, what’s not to like about cheese and basil?
I’m totally on a fresh basil kick and I have a bunch of fresh tomatoes out in the garden right now! All I need is some mozzarella and I will be eating this! (oh, and heavy cream – don’t stock that either).
Can you use something other than mayonnaise? I can’t stand the stuff!
Going on the menu. Pinning as well…did you know you are popular on Pinterest???
I agree with Amanda- do u have a mayo substitute?? I want to make this so bad we just don’t do mayo!!
Becky and Amanda – if it makes any difference, my friend, Mariann, that was here making this with me, HATES mayo with a passion. She nearly gagged while making it but then confessed she couldn’t even taste it. However, if you really are averse, I’d just leave it out and press on the breadcrumbs or try sour cream.
Looks wonderful! Can’t wait to try it!!
I think I have everything on hand to make this. Thanks so much! Lots of cherry tomatoes in the garden right now….a bonus!
Oh my, this looks wonderful! I think it’s going on the menu this weekend =) Thank you for sharing!
this looks incredible. your description makes me want to make it all the more:) thanks!
Going to try this one this weekend, but PLEASE can I have the maple pumpkin hazelnet bread recipe too??
I would have never thought of combining these things in this way, but it sounds so good!
Yummy! What a great comfort meal, love these flavors!
This looks delicious, Melanie! I am making stuffed chicken for my party on the 10th, and had been going back and forth between several recipes. Now I think I am going to make this one. If you love it, I know my family and guest will love it! I think the chicken can be stuffed and assembled in the baking dish the day before the party. Just before baking I will top the chicken with the breadcrumbs and tomatoes. What do you think? Would that work?
I have to confess that I am not a mayo lover, but I have used it to top fish (sprinkled with Old Bay) before, and it is delicious! Mayonnaise is just oil and eggs, so it does an amazing job of keeping the fish or chicken moist, which I’m sure this chicken was! Thanks so much for sharing your amazing recipes!
I don’t know if you have ever tried this; but instead of toothpicks to hold the chicken I use dry spaghetti noodles. The noodles soften and cook and magically disapear : )
These are always fun to make Mel. Like chicken pockets
Dishes cooked for you always taste better, I’m practically positive of that.
I made this last night using 6 chicken breasts. I too, am a mayonnaise-hater, but I used it and it was DELICIOUS. my 16 yo & 12 yo inhaled it. Both the tomatoes & basil were from my garden. Thank you Mel!
Just wanted to let you know we had this today and LOVED it…another keeper! Thanks so much Mel, your site is the only recipe blog I trust completely. I know that if Mel posts it, it is going to be fantastic! Thank you!
Made this tonight and loved it! I also used the dry spaghetti noodle instead of toothpicks trick and was amazed that it really did work! A friend gave me your citrus water recipe and I’ve been a Mel’s Kitchen Cafe convert ever since.
This was really good, I made it for supper tonight along with the recommended side dish. It took some time, definitely not a quick night meal but it was worth the time (and the dishes, lol). On a side note, I am not a mayo fan and i couldn’t even tell it was there.
YUM! This looks so delicious; I would love this over some nice pasta.. mmm.
This was quite tasty. My chicken was a bit tough/dry, but I’m thinking it was because of the chicken itself, not the cooking method. The flavors were fab! Most of the filling seemed to seep out during baking, so next time I will definitely toothpick them. Also, did you grease the pan before you put them in? And your breasts look a lot closer together in your picture than mine did… they four of them filled the pan length wise, but not width wise- maybe that’s why they dried out a little? Mixed with the cherry tomatoes, they dryness wasn’t too bad. I’m excited to try this again, hopefully with better chicken breasts. Do you think covering it with foil for the first 15 min or so would help??
Stacie – you might be on to something with the space in the pan causing a drier piece of chicken. A smaller pan size might help with that (I had doubled the recipe and made a larger pan full). I didn’t grease the pan. I think a smaller pan size or your tip of covering with foil might help with baking a moister piece of chicken.
This looks amazing! I’ve linked you to my blog post on Jessiker Bakes for “Fabulous Friday Finds” ! You can check it out here http://bit.ly/og3aMF
Just finished eating this for dinner. Wow. So good! I think I will try fresh mozzerella next time though. The block mozzarella didn’t seem to get all ooey gooey even after being shredded. Either way, it was delicious. To fill in the extra place in the pan I tossed some spinach with the tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper (doubling the latter three) and it turned out delicious! The spinach left some liquid in the bottom but it didn’t affect the dish. I also served it with a side of noodles and then toped them with the tomatoes and spinach. Delicious! Thanks Mel for your delicious recipes. Many of them have become staples in our home
)! Oh, for dessert we had the S’mores Cookie Bars… they won’t be lasting long.
I’ve been looking for some low-carb dinners since finding out I have gestational diabetes (boo!), and this looked like a good one. The family loved it. The flavours were fantastic. I accidentally cut through the “pocket” in the chicken breast on the first one, so I decided to pound them flat with mallet and fold them over the cheese mixture and secure with toothpicks like I do for another stuffed chicken recipe. The cheese mixture stayed in place, and the cooking times still worked out (just in case someone else does the same thing). We will definitely make this one again.
I LOVE Cook’s Country Cookbook. SO great! I found this recipe a few years back and I always thought it was better-than-a-restaurant good!! Thanks for posting it, I am going to make it again tonight! And your picture looks a whole lot better than my first try at this recipe. Let’s see if I can recreate your deliciousness!
I am embarressed at how loud I was while eating this…I think it was one of the first times ever that I had to verbally say “Yumm” and “Ohh!” with every bite! LOL Who needs a resturaunt? This is amazing! Both my sisters made it last week and raved over it so I had to try it too- It’s my new favorite dish, even over sweet and sour chicken. And great to entertain with too (as long as I can keep my mouth closed while eating it) I served mine with some bowtie pasta tossed in garlic, olive oil and parmesan. MMMmmmmMM!
I’ve been dying to try this recipe and this sunday is the day! But I’m just wondering if you think I could assemble it all pre-church, store it in the fridge and then pop in the oven when we get home?
I adore your blog and make many of your recipes often, haven’t been disappointed once!
Hi Emily – I think assembling beforehand would work, but if I were you, I’d keep the bread crumb topping separate and put it on top just before baking. Hope you love it!
Let me first say that I am a joke in the kitchen. Culinary-challenged, for sure. For supper tonight I made this along w/ the Roasted Garlic & Cauliflower Pasta & it was A LOT of work for this girl. The pasta was ready before the chicken ever went into the oven. I know, I know – go ahead & laugh! ANYWAY, both dishes were DELICIOUS!! And I will make them both again. Next time I’ll know what I’m doing ahead of time & I’ll be more organized. The end result was definitely worth the time it took for me to figure things out – it was a good learning experience for me. I know I should be ashamed for telling how backward I am when it comes to cooking, but I’m just happy to be improving! As always, an excellent recipe from your table to mine – thanks!!
One more confession (get ready to be appalled): This was on my menu for Tuesday, but the week did not go as planned. Everything has been “off” so one night I threw together a quick, last minute meal & used the mozzarella cheese that was meant for this chicken. I forgot that I had done it so NO MOZZARELLA tonight. I could either wait on my husband to make a trip to the store or I could use cheddar (gasp!). (This is a good time to recall that the pasta was finished before the chicken ever went into the oven.) With much moaning & groaning I used the cheddar. Though I’m not the best cook I am one of the best eaters – I know the difference between mozzarella & cheddar & I know this was a weird substitution. However, the dish is already so good & flavorful, it handled the cheddar just fine. Quite the experience for all involved.
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What a stellar recipe! I could not have loved it more. The perfect sunday dinner, company over dish!
Mel, This was so dang good. My family gobbled it up. It was easy and really good. I’d make it for company in a heartbeat! Another winner!
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