No more boring chicken, because this Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe brings big flavor into these cheesy chicken breasts. You can stuff chicken breasts with anything, but a zucchini and cheese pairing is the winning combination!
Ingredients Needed:
- The Basics: Olive oil and salt
- Zucchini: For this recipe, you’ll need 1 pound of fresh zucchini. Just use the scale at your market to get the right amount.
- Onion: I like to use sweet onion. You’ll chop it finely.
- Cheese: Goat cheese crumbles are used for this recipe. There are many other cheeses you can use (see suggestions below).
- Unsalted Butter: This will be combined with the goat cheese to add a buttery flair to your stuffing.
- Egg: It acts as a binder to keep the stuffing ingredients together.
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese adds another depth of flavor to the filling.
- Chicken: For this recipe, you’ll use bone-in chicken breasts with the skin still attached. Can you use boneless chicken? Maybe, but I haven’t tried it. I’d slice it open, stuff it with the filling and use toothpicks to secure it closed. It wouldn’t need to bake as long.
- Herbes de Provence: This is a flavorful dry herb that you can find in your market’s spice aisle. It will be the finishing flavor addition to the stuffed chicken breast.
How to prepare shredded zucchini:
Zucchini has quite a bit of natural moisture within, so it’s important to draw that moisture out. After grating your zucchini, place it in some paper towels and give it a sprinkle of salt. The moisture will naturally come to the surface, and then you can use the paper towels to squeeze it out completely.
How to make Stuffed Chicken Breast:
Saute the zucchini in a bit of oil; remove from the skillet. And then saute the onion in a bit of oil; remove from the skillet.
Next, you’ll combine the goat cheese and the butter. Then you’ll mix in the egg, zucchini, onion and Parmesan.
And then it’s time to stuff the chicken. Loosen the skin from the chicken, keeping it atttached to the chicken breast on one side. The stuffing goes underneath the skin. Then you’ll brush each breast with olive oil and sprinkle with herbes de Provence.
Bake the chicken for about 30 minutes.
HOT TIP:
If you have leftover stuffing, place it into an ovenproof dish and cook it up into a little mini soufflé. Yum!
Substitution and Change-up Ideas:
- Sub feta cheese or shredded gouda for the goat cheese.
- Add crisp, cooked bacon to the filling.
- Add sun dried tomatoes to the filling.
- Use cream cheese to combine with the goat cheese instead of butter.
- Experiment with using different herbs. Thyme would be lovely!
Favorite Chicken Recipes:
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Preheat the oven to 375°F.
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Shred zucchini, sprinkle with salt, wrap in paper towels, and let stand for 15 minutes. Squeeze the zucchini dry.
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In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add the zucchini and sauté until tender crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes; remove from skillet and let cool. In the same skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, add the onion, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes; remove from the heat and let cool.
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In a small bowl, use an electric mixer to combine the goat cheese and butter until blended. Add the egg and beat until smooth. Stir in the zucchini, onion and cheese.
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Using your fingers, loosen the skin from the chicken breasts leaving one side attached, and push the zucchini stuffing underneath the skin of each breast. Brush each stuffed breast with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with the herbes de Provence.
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Place chicken in a roasting pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes (until the chicken is done throughout. You can test with an instant-read thermometer. It should read 160℉. Remove from the oven, and let the chicken sit for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
- If you have leftover stuffing, place it into an ovenproof dish and cook it up into a little mini soufflé. Yum!
Serving: 1serving, Calories: 764kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 68g, Fat: 51g, Saturated Fat: 20g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g, Monounsaturated Fat: 20g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 264mg, Sodium: 451mg, Potassium: 978mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 1153IU, Vitamin C: 22mg, Calcium: 180mg, Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.