Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast, juicy chicken breast filled with mozzarella cheese and mushrooms drizzled with a white wine sauce for a delicious and unforgettable quick meal.
This one pan dish is ready in under 40 minutes and is a perfect choice for quick weeknight dinners for you and your family. It's quite versatile and rich in flavor.
HOW TO MAKE MOZZARELLA STUFFED CHICKEN BREAST
For this recipe, boneless skinless chicken breast is essential. As you may already know, chicken breast isn't the "easiest" protein to cook. If not cooked properly, the end result is dry hard to eat chicken. It has very little fat which makes it the healthiest part of the chicken, but the most difficult to cook.
If you're not use to cooking chicken breast. I highly recommend that you brine the chicken breast first. Brining is a mixture of salt and water that is used for seasoning and tenderizing meat. Although brining isn't required, I recommend this step if you have at least 15 minutes to spare. You can brine the chicken breast up to 6 hours in the fridge. I brined this chicken breast for 1 hour since I had additional time.
Brine the Chicken:
Submerge the chicken breast in a large bowl of salt-water mixture and allow the chicken breast to brine for at least 15 minutes up to 6 hours if time permits. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. After brining, rinse the chicken breast with water and pat dry with paper towels.
Stuff the Chicken:
I stuffed the chicken breast with mozzarella cheese and mushrooms though you can also stuff with frozen spinach and other vegetables. Using a paring knife or other sharp knife, cut a slit through the thickest part of the breast. When cutting, do not cut through to the opposite end of the breast. The goal is to create a "pocket".
After stuffing the chicken breast, use a couple of toothpicks to secure the slit, sear both sides of the chicken breast and place the cast iron skillet or oven-proof pan in the oven to continue the cooking process. If you do not have an oven-proof pan, it's perfectly fine. You have 2 options:
- You can sear the chicken breast on top of the stove in a pan or skillet then transfer the seared chicken breast and drippings to a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- You can omit the searing and simply cook the chicken breast in a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil.
Tip: If stuffing your Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast with spinach, make sure to thaw the spinach completely and remove as much of the excess water as possible before stuffing the chicken breast.
HEALTH BENEFITS of COOKING CHICKEN BREAST
Boneless skinless chicken breast has many nutritional benefits. Not only is it high in protein, it's a low fat, low calorie food and a great source of iron and potassium. In keeping with the nutritional benefit, it's important to recognize that the way in which chicken breast is prepared makes a huge difference in it's nutritional outcome. So, keep it healthier, by removing the skin, enhance the flavor with fresh herbs or other spices, bake instead of frying, use heart healthy oils such as extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, for example.
According to LiveStrong.com, "a 3.5 ounce of boneless skinless chicken breast contains 31 grams of protein which is two-thirds of the 46 grams of protein women need each day and 55% of the of the 56 grams of protein that men should have each day."
It's no surprise that chicken breast is a healthy protein, but it can also be bland, boring and undesirable to eat if not cook properly, so remember when it comes to chicken breast get creative and challenge yourself to prepare it in a fun and appetizing way.
For other quick weeknight dinner ideas, check out these:
Turkey Burger Sliders on Hawaiian Rolls
Or, these side dishes would pair nicely with your mozzarella stuffed chicken:
Oven Roasted Broccolette Recipe
Roasted Asparagus With Garlic | Whole30
Follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for other easy recipe ideas.
Thanks for stopping by.
Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast
- 2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ¼ cup white wine
- ½ cup sliced mushroom
- 4 slices mozzarella cheese
Brining Process
- 4 cups boiling water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Add water and salt to a pot and place on stove over medium heat. While water is warming stir until salt dissolves. Remove pot from heat once salt mixture is warm. Allow mixture to cool.
- Wash chicken and add to salt mixture, cover with plastic wrap and brine for a minimum of 15 minutes or up to 6 hours in the fridge. Remove chicken from salt mixture and rinse with cold water. Place chicken breast on a clean plate and pat dry with paper towels.
- Cut a slit through the thickest part of each chicken breast creating a pocket. Do not cut through to the other end. Place a slice of mozzarella cheese and sliced mushrooms inside each pocket. Close each pocket using toothpicks to prevent the ingredients from falling out. Season with pepper and fresh thyme. Set aside.
- In a cast iron skillet or oven proof pan, add extra virgin olive oil and butter over medium high heat and sear both sides of chicken breast. About 6-7 minutes per side.
- Place skillet or pan in oven to continue the cooking process. Cook for an additional 10-12 minutes, or until the juices run clear, or the thickest part of the chicken breast reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius).
- When done, remove chicken breast from oven and place chicken on a clean plate. In the same skillet keep about 2 tablespoon of the pan juices. If necessary, add a drizzle of olive oil and place the skillet over medium high heat. Add mince garlic and saute until fragrant. De-glaze pan with white wine and simmer until alcohol is cooked off. Place chicken breast back in skillet, baste chicken with pan juices, place in oven for an additional 3 minutes.
- Remove skillet from oven and allow chicken breast to rest. REMOVE toothpicks and serve with a delicious side dish.
Notes
- You can sear the chicken breast on top of the stove in a pan or skillet then transfer the seared chicken breast and drippings to a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- You can omit the searing and simply cook the chicken breast in a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil.
Nutrition
Alex
This turned out great! I made it with alfredo sauce plus noodles and Parmesan cheese. I added spinach and mushrooms to the garlic at the end. I did not wash the chicken, though, that grosses me out.
CookingwithBliss
Hey Alex - I'm so happy to hear the Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe turned out great, and the alfredo sauce sounds amazing - that's a great idea. I appreciate your comment and 5 star rating. Thanks so much.