This Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast is breaded, baked until crispy, and topped with a creamy lemon-herb gravy. A super comforting meal for a chilly night.
Serve this broccoli stuffed chicken breast with Sour Cream Mashed Potatoes for a dinner that people of all ages will love!
One of the greatest challenges of cooking for a family is to find meals that please everyone in the house. I’m very familiar with the struggle and it is real, friends!
This seemingly fancy, but surprisingly simple Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast isn’t just kid-friendly, it’s family friendly.
Crispy breaded and stuffed chicken breasts are smothered in an easy, flavorful gravy that makes this dish irresistible even to the pickiest eaters .
Ingredient Notes
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – To save time and effort, I like to buy thin-sliced chicken breasts. If you’re using thicker pieces, you’ll need to butterfly your chicken breasts by slicing them all the way through the middle to create two pieces.
- Broccoli – You want to finely chop broccoli florets and cook them in advance of stuffing the chicken. See below for more on this.
- Ricotta cheese – I use part-skim ricotta. For an even richer result, go with whole milk ricotta cheese.
- Shredded Swiss cheese – I love the flavor of Swiss with broccoli!
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Eggs
- Mustard – For the first step in the breading process, I whisk eggs with a little Dijon or stone ground mustard. It’s surprising how much flavor it adds!
- Panko bread crumbs – Look for pre-seasoned Italian style panko to save time and reduce the number of ingredients needed.
- Condensed Cream of Chicken with Herbs Soup – Instead of can of regular Cream of Chicken Soup, I use this seasoned version for the easy gravy. Another time and ingredient saver!
- Milk
- Lemon – A little fresh lemon juice freshens and brightens the creamy herb gravy.
You want to be sure your chicken breasts are no more than ¼-inch thick. If needed, place a piece of plastic wrap over each breast and use a meat mallet to lightly pound to an even thickness. Even if you purchase thin-sliced chicken breasts, they may be a bit too thick.
How to Make Broccoli Stuffed Chicken Breasts
This is a quick overview of how to make this recipe. You’ll find detailed instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
Before beginning finely chop the broccoli and place it in a microwave-safe bowl. Add a little water, cover, and microwave for 1 minute. Drain the water from the dish and allow the broccoli it to cool a bit.
- Combine the ricotta cheese, Swiss cheese, cooked and slightly cooled broccoli, salt and pepper. Pour the panko bread crumbs into a shallow dish. Place the eggs in a separate shallow dish and beat lightly with the mustard.
- To assemble the chicken rolls, place about some of the broccoli cheese filling (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) towards the end of the chicken breasts and roll it up.
- Set the stuffed chicken it in the dish of beaten egg and carefully turn to coat all sides. Next, place the stuffed chicken in the bread crumbs. Toss the bread crumbs over the chicken roll until well coated.
- Place the breaded chicken, seam side down, in a baking dish that you’ve coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake uncovered in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 35 to 40 minutes.
To be sure the chicken is fully cooked, the internal temperature should read at least 165 degrees F when tested with an instant read meat thermometer. If you’d like to brown the coating more, set the oven to broil for a minute or two at the end of the cooking time.
For the Easy Gravy
- Whisk the soup with the milk in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. When warmed through, stir in the juice of half a lemon and season with a little salt and pepper.
- Spoon about half the warmed sauce over the cooked chicken and reserve the rest to serve with the chicken.
Storage Tips
Transfer leftover stuffed chicken breasts and gravy in separate airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
Reheat leftovers in the microwave, just until heated through. You may want to add a little additional milk to thin the gravy, as needed.
More Chicken Breast Recipes You’ll Love
- Creamy Lemon Chicken with Pasta
- Easy Chicken Scallopini
- Chicken Marsala
- Malibu Chicken
- Baked Chicken Pesto Parmesan
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Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts, approximately 1 ½ pounds
- ¾ cup finely chopped broccoli
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese, part-skim or whole milk
- 1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ cups Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
- chopped parsley, optional for garnish
For the Easy Lemon-Herb Gravy
- 10.75 ounce Condensed Cream of Chicken with Herbs Soup
- ½ cup milk
- ½ lemon, juiced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13- x 9-inch or other large baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- Place the chopped broccoli in a small microwavable dish and add ¼ cup water. Cover the bowl with a paper towel and cook on HIGH power for 1 minute. Carefully drain the water from the dish and set it aside.
- Place a layer of plastic wrap over each piece of chicken and lightly pound with a mallet, if necessary, to ensure all pieces are about ¼-inch thick.
- In a small bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, Swiss cheese, cooked and slightly cooled broccoli, salt and pepper. Set aside. Pour the panko bread crumbs into a shallow dish (like a pie plate). Place the eggs in a separate shallow dish and beat lightly with the mustard.
- To assemble the stuffed chicken breasts, place about ¼ of the broccoli cheese filling (about 2 to 3 tablespoons) on the end of a piece of chicken and roll it up. Set it in the dish of beaten egg and carefully turn to coat. Allow the excess egg to drip off then place the chicken roll in the bread crumbs. Toss the bread crumbs over the chicken roll until well coated. Transfer the breaded chicken to the prepared pan and place it seam side down. Stuff and bread the remaining chicken and transfer them to the baking dish.
- Bake uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the internal temperature reads at least 165 degrees F when tested with an instant read thermometer. If you'd like to brown the coating more, set the oven to BROIL for a minute or two at the end of the cooking time.
- Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over LOW heat, whisk the soup with the milk until smooth and cook until warmed through. Stir in the juice of half a lemon and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the heat.
- Spoon about half the warmed gravy over the cooked chicken in the baking dish. Transfer the remaining gravy to a gravy boat or small bowl and serve it with the chicken.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
This post was originally published on December 3, 2013. It has been updated with new text and images.
Chicken Dinner Winners!
Hmmm this stuffed chicken looks so good! I like this cheesy filling. I’ve never used Italian style panko. All my life regular panko only. I’m curious how it’s like. It looks more crunchy from the picture and sounds delicious!
Looks delicious!