Easy Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breast

Choices to Build Flavor in your Dish:

Choice #1: Cheese

Chicken breasts are quite a lean cut of meat. To bring some unctuosity and creaminess (we do want to avoid dry meat!), cheese is key. As you will cook in the oven, you need something which melts nicely such as mozzarella.

Choice #2: Wow flavor ingredient

In addition to cheese, you can pick an ingredient to enhance the taste of the chicken breast and cheese. It can be more than one, of course, but beware of too much complexity in your dish.

Choice #3: Side dish

For maximum simplicity, I like to pick a side which cooks in the oven at about the same time as the chicken (20min). For a low carb option, green vegetables, for instance, are a great choice. They soak up the taste of the chicken breast for maximum flavor. Otherwise, rice (15min cooking) is also a great alternative. Roasted potatoes are delicious but would take a bit longer so you would need to anticipate.

My favorite combinations:

Italian stuffed chicken breast

Mozzarella, sundried tomatoes for the wow factor and green beans for a crunch. See below for the detailed recipe.

Why does it work: these are coherent tastes in terms of inspiration. Mozzarella is quite a neutral taste which combines well with the sundried tomatoes which are full of flavor. Green beans cook easily in 20min in the oven and bring a bit of crunch and texture.

Cannelloni Ricotta and spinach inspired stuffed chicken breast

A mix of ricotta, parmigiano (or pecorino) and spinach for the stuffing. Side can be boiled spinach as well (just cook them for 2 min in a pan with a bit of butter)

Why does it work: classic pasta re-imagined. In this case, the cheeses are equal to the star of the dish compared to the vegetables. So, for vegetables, you need something neutral and creamy such as spinach. Pine nuts for texture could be a lovely addition as well.

Raclette stuffed chicken breast

Raclette cheese, red onions (can be caramelized in a pan and put on top upon serving or in the stuffing), potatoes (you can boil them before hand and put them in the oven to roast with the chicken)

Why does it work: Raclette cheese has already a strong taste and is the star of the dish both in terms of texture and taste. Combining it with another strong taste such as sundried tomatoes would be too much flavor in my experience and a bit heavy. But the sweetness of the red onion well complements the cheese. Potatoes are great to play the raclette inspiration to the end. Why not even add some pickles on the side for fun and acidity?

Greek inspired stuffed chicken breast

Feta cheese, fresh tomatoes and oregano. A side of broccolis.

Why does it work? Feta is a very versatile cheese which melts beautifully. Here, as it is already quite salty cheese, I preferred to pair it with fresh tomatoes instead of sundried but still add additional interesting taste such as oregano. Broccolis are quite neutral and add a bit of texture.

Feel free to experiment with the ingredients. As always, beware of flavor balance. Ask yourself: what is my star ingredient? Who are the supporting actors? Everyone cannot be on the front page. Otherwise it adds competition and confusion rather than balance.

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• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 Mozzarella
• 4 sundried tomatoes
• 2 teaspoon of pesto
• optional: 2 teaspoon of panko breadcrumbs. They are Japanese breadcrumbs which become really crunchy. You can use normal breadcrumbs instead as well.
• 2 cups or 300 grams of fresh green beans
• 10 fresh cherry tomatoes
• Cooking oil such as canola
• Oregano (optional)

• Preheat your oven to 200C
• Open the chicken breasts in 2 without going all the way. If you want to go technical, it is called butterflying chicken breast (you can find a description here). I usually do not flatten the meat afterwards, but it is up to your taste.
• As a reminder, raw chicken can sometimes carry bacteria such as salmonella. Beware to wash your utensils and cutting board before proceeding to the rest of the recipe. I often but a piece of parchment paper on the board to protect it and avoid (yey) additional washing up.
• Salt and pepper your meat to taste
• Add the mozzarella in slices equally inside the cut chicken on one side. Place the sundried tomatoes and a bit of oregano on top
• Fold back the chicken in two to close it.
• Add the pesto and sprinkle the Panko breadcrumbs on top
• Place them on a cooking dish (they will release a bit of juice, so beware of very flat cooking trays)
• Add the green beans and fresh tomato on the side with a bit of oil and salt/pepper to taste
• Cook for about 20min or until the chicken is cooked through.