Mmmm, chicken cordon bleu! The French term “Cordon Bleu” translates to “Blue RIbbon”. There are many variations of the dish, but all involve a cutlet (usually chicken or veal) that is wrapped around cheese (usually Swiss) and cured pork (such as ham or prosciutto), then breaded and pan-fried or baked (we’ll be doing the latter!)
This recipe makes 4 servings which translates into 1 piece of cordon bleu chicken per serving, but at just 175 calories each, I’ll usually have two for dinner – a delicious way to meet my daily protein requirements!
For those of you that prefer/don’t mind pounding your own chicken breasts into flat cutlets, feel free – however, I built this recipe using pre-cut thin chicken breast cutlets (brand: Maple Leaf Prime), as they’re always readily available at my grocery store. Easey peasey!
I’m also going to try mixing ranch seasoning flavor into the breadcrumbs. I’ve been thinking for awhile that this would make an awesome add-in ingredients to chicken breading, and should complement the cheese and ham well – let me know what you think!
Ingredients:
- 4 thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets (I used Maple Leaf Prime Thin-Sliced Chicken Breast cutlets)
- 1/3 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix
- 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese (or use thin slices)
- 4 slices of ham (I used blackforest ham)
- 1 egg white
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk egg white
- In another medium-sized bowl, mix breadcrumbs with ranch seasoning
- Place one slice of ham on top of one chicken cutlet, folding the ham so it doesn't hang over the edge of the chicken, top with 1/4 of the cheese, roll up the chicken edges to form a secure roll (toothpick together if you need), then dip the outside of the chicken roll into first the egg whites, then the breadcrumb mixture.
- Place onto baking pan, fold-side down
- Repeat with 3 remaining chicken cutlets
- Top all with remaining breadcrumbs
- Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until chicken is done to your liking
Nutritional Information:
Nutritional Information: Per serving (1 chicken cordon bleu cutlet) Calories: 175 Protein: 28 grams Carbs: 6 grams Fiber: 1 gram Fat: 5 grams Sugar: 1 gram
