Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipes - Talking Meals (2024)

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Thanksgiving dinner doesn’t have to be the giant whole turkey roast! You can have all the flavors and feels with these Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipes! In fact, this is such an easy recipe, you can enjoy it for dinner anytime. This easy chicken recipe gives you the Stuffed Chicken PLUS lots of extra stuffing to bake on the side!

Sometimes you just need a smaller version of Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps it’s just two of you this year. Or perhaps it’s Spring or Summer and you and you have holiday cravings for some stuffing. I get it! That’s why I developed this way to stuff chicken breast and three different Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipes. Chicken breast is pounded out thin and then a savory, herbed bread stuffing is rolled up inside. The chicken is first seared in a pan for maximum flavor and then finished in the oven. Every bite has the browned crispy chicken and amazing moist stuffing.

Actually, the truth is that we have moved to Brazil for a couple years and this is the first year we are somewhere that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. So, concerned that I may not be able to find a whole turkey here, I created this recipe. I wanted my family to be able to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, even if there was no whole turkey.

I was a skeptic at first thinking that a stuffed breast could not live up to a whole turkey. But after making these Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipes, I am 100% SOLD! Your whole family will love this recipe. Check out this article with all of my Thanksgiving Planning and Prepping tips and tricks. Then, make sure to check out all of the delicious recipes Side Dishes for the holiday!

Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Simple Ingredients

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See recipe card for quantities.

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – Using a boneless skinless chicken breast allows you to pound chicken out thin so you can stuff and roll them. I always have raw chicken breasts in the freezer as they can last up to 12 months if in an airtight container or packaging. Check out all of my tips onPrepping and Storing Chicken for Easier Dinners.
• White Bread – I used a simple sliced white sandwich bread and left the slices out overnight to dry out. The reason you want to dry it out is that when you moisten it, it will help it to keep texture vs. dissolving into a soupy mess. You can use any loaf or boule bread, but a baguette has too much crust in my opinion and doesn’t get soft enough in the stuffing in my opinion.
• Salted Butter – I really like using salted butter and then adding more salt if needed. However, you can also use unsalted butter. You can substitute with another fat, but you do really need a fat to cook the onions and garlic. Substitutes for butter can be Ghee (clarified butter), olive oil, coconut oil, or other butter or oil product.
• Onion,diced – I used yellow onion, but you can use white onion, red onion, shallots, or even scallions. If you don’t have fresh onion, you can also use a tablespoon of onion flakes or onion powder. You can usefrozenonions as well.
• Celery,diced – I like to use the stalk and the leaves. You can leave the celery out if you desire. You can also substitute with green pepper.
• Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped – Fresh parsley is best, don’t even bother with dried parsley. You can substitute in other fresh herbs, such as basil or oregano.
• White button mushrooms – You can buy pre-sliced or whole mushrooms. Cremini or baby bella mushrooms would be great too. I don’t recommend canned mushrooms as they will not give the same flavor or texture, but if that’s all you have, make sure that you drain them really well and pat dry and then try to brown them in the pan.
• Egg – The egg is to help bind the stuffing together. If you don’t have eggs, you can substitute the eggs with another thick and creamy ingredient, such as mayonnaise, greek yogurt, or even dijon mustard or sour cream.

Seasoning and Oil

• Poultry Seasoning – Poultry seasoning can be found in the seasoning section. If you don’t have it, you can use a combination of 1 teaspoon each of sage, thyme, marjoram (or oregano), and rosemary, along with ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. You can make it at home in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
• Chicken Broth or Chicken Stock – This is the primary liquid used to moisten the bread. You can also use, vegetable or beef broth or stock. If you don’t have broth or stock in liquid form, you can also use water mixed with a chicken bouillon cube orchicken base.
• Extra virgin olive oil – This is to sear the chicken in the pan. You can substitute with any vegetable oil that you have.
• Salt – I used kosher salt, but any salt will work.
• Ground Black Pepper – You can use fine or coarse ground black pepper. I like fresh ground, but pre-ground is fine too.

Simple Equipment

There is nothing too special needed to cook this easy stuffed chicken breast recipe! You do need something to pound out the chicken with. I use a Meat Tenderizer, but you can use any heavy item with a flat surface, such as a rolling pin.

To cook the veggies and then sear the chicken,I use my absolute favorite12″ Ceramic Pan, which is great because I need minimal oil and I don’t have to worry about food sticking and burning.

To dry the bread out, I use alarge sheet pan(I use a 17×11).

Finally, for the extra stuffing you need a baking dish orcasserole dishthat’s approximately 8×8 or 9×9 or similar.

Prep-Ahead Steps for this Stuffed Chicken Recipe

Break bread up into small piece and leave out overnight to dry.

Tip: To speed up the drying out process, you can place the bread in a single layer on a sheet pan in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes. Leave the bread in the oven, but turn the oven off. You can leave the bread in the oven (turned off!) for another hour or overnight.

Dice the onions and the celery. Chop the parsley. Slice the mushrooms if needed. Store the onions and celery together but the mushrooms and parsley separately in the fridge.

Cooking Steps for the Stuffing

Over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of the butter and let melt. Once melted, add the sliced mushrooms, spread out into a single layer, and let cook to brown for 2-3 minutes. Stir to brown all sides and cook for another 5 minutes until reduced by half. Then add the onions and celery and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes.

Finally, add in the rest of the butter and keep the heat on just until it melts. This is what takes this stuffing over the top with decadent flavor! You can leave this extra butter out, but then you may need a splash more broth as you get mixing.

In a large bowl. add the dried bread, cooked onions and celery, mushrooms, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper. Mix to combine. Drizzle ½ cup of the broth over the bread to moisten and mix with your hands.

Beat the egg with ¼ cup of broth (cooled). Add it to the bread along with the parsley and mix with hands to distribute evenly.

Test the stuffing to see if it is moist and clumps together in your hands. If the bread still looks dry in places, drizzle in another ¼ cup of broth as needed and mix with hands until fully moistened ~ but not too wet.

Stuffing and Cooking the Chicken

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Step 1. Take the chicken breast and using a sharp knife, start to slowly slice into the size, horizontally. Is you start to cut into the side, pull up on the top half to help the knife cut straight through. Continue to slice through the center horizontally until almost to the other side, but do not slice all the way through as you will open the chicken up flat.

Step 2. Place a piece of plastic wrap onto the chicken and using a meat mallet, pound it out gently to be an even flat piece about ¼ inch thickness. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

Step 3. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the stuffing in the center of each chicken breast.

Step 4. and Step 5. Roll the chicken around the stuffing and secure the flap with toothpicks.

Step 6. In a preheated large skillet over medium high heat, drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (to coat) and sear the stuffed chicken breasts on all sides.

Then put into the preheated oven to cook for 15-20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.

Put any extra in a casserole dish to cook in the oven covered. Cook for 30-45 minutes at 350F degrees until internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F. For the last 10 minutes. remove the cover so that the top gets browned and crisp.

Stuffing Variations

Here are stuffing variations that you can make based on your preferences!

Roasted Chestnuts

This version incorporates roasted and peeled Chestnuts! My mother in law introduced me to adding chestnuts to stuffing and I absolutely adore them. The chestnuts add a meatiness and texture to the stuffing without having to add sausage or other actual meat. They are softer than other nuts when roasted and have only a slight nutty flavor.

You can really add as much or as little as you like, but I usually add an entire 15-16 ounce jar. I do recommend rough chopping the chestnuts of they are whole as whole is too large for a bite.

All of the other ingredients in the recipe remain the same. Add the chestnuts into the stuffing bowl at the same time as the onions and celery are added. Follow the instructions from there.

Smokey Bacon and Apples

This next version incorporates crispy salty and smokey bacon with sweet apples and is incredibly fun and yummy. For this recipe, you can eliminate the mushrooms, but the rest of the ingredients remain the same.

Here is what you will need additionally:

• 4-6 Strips of Bacon, diced – I use a regular smoked, Nitrate-free bacon. Applewood smoked would be great here too.
• 1-2 Apples, peeled diced – Any variety will be fine, but I used Pink Lady.

Preheat a large frying pan. Add the diced bacon on medium-low heat. Stir so that the bacon doesn’t burn. Render the fat and crip the bacon, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon leaving the fat behind and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Set to the side or store in the fridge if doing this in advance.

To the bacon fat, follow the recipe for adding the onions and celery. When they are done cooking (soft and translucent) mix in the apples in the pan, just so all of the bacon flavors coat the apples. Then follow the recipe instructions from here, starting with the addition of the rest of the butter to the pan. The bacon can be added to the stuffing mixture along with the veggies and apples.

Other Variations

Here are some other ingredients that taste delicious in stuffing!

• Green Pepper – My mom always added green pepper with the onions and celery. To do so, simply dice up ½ or whole green pepper and add to the skillet with the onions and celery.
• Sweet Cranberries or Raisins – If you like a sweet element in your stuffing, then dried cranberries or raisins are delicious. Add them to the skillet with the onions and celery at the end of their cooking time. Mix them in and then let them cook for a few minutes as you add in the rest of the butter melt.
• Citrus Zest – orange or lemon zest add a delicious sweet flavor without the sugary element. Simply add a tablespoon of the zest to the stuffing mixture when you add in the onions and celery.
• Sausage – Italian sausage, chorizo, andouille, or any other sausage that you have or love are great in stuffing. You can follow the bacon instructions, cooking the sausage first and rendering it’s fat. Then add the veggies to the fat in the pan along with any additional butter needed if there isn’t much fat. Then add the sausage to the bread with the onions and celery to be mixed in.
• Cheese – mozzarella cheese, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, feta cheese…
• Fresh Herbs – The base recipe here has fresh parsley, but you can use your favorite herb, such as fresh basil, oregano, thyme, sage, or rosemary. All would be amazing!

Can I just use store-bought stuffing mix?

Of course, you can find wonderful shortcuts at the store, like ready-to-go dried stuffing mix. The one we all know is Stove Top Stuffing Mix, but there are so many other Stuffing Mix options today!

Storage

For the prep step of peeling and dicing the onions, celery, parsley, or other ingredients, store the veggies separately from the dry ingredients (bread, seasonings) in the fridge. They will be good for 4-5 days.

Once mixed, the raw stuffing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.

Once cooked, the stuffing and chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.