Hello everyone! This week I want to share with you my Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken. I received such a strong response to my Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken (click here for recipe!) that I wanted to hit you with another quick and easy chicken recipe to spice up your weeknight dinners.
Spice up your chicken dinners with Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken
Chicken is such an easy go-to dinner. They are some of the easiest and fastest meals I know how to make. What’s not to love? Chicken breast is versatile, packed with lean protein, and is extremely difficult to mess up.
The one con to cooking chicken for dinner is that it can very quickly get repetitive and boring. This recipe for Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken is is a great way to stave off boredom and mix it up, and will help take your chicken game to the next level.
When its hot out of the oven, this chicken is bursting at the seams with fragrant basil, oozing sun dried tomato drippings, and has feta that is melting on the inside while slightly crisping on the outside. I think you guys will really enjoy this – this chicken is seriously a hot pocket of mouth-watering flavor.
Fresh Basil from my basil plant!!!!
One of the things I found most exciting about this recipe was the opportunity to cook with some fresh basil from my new basil plant.
I wish I could be cool and act like I’m good at gardening, but my gardening skills are admittedly awful (for now anyway ;)). I had decided to buy a basil plant from the grocery store because #summer and #pesto. After I bought the plant, I was SO excited to buy soil, fertilizer, and OBVI my cute little pot that says “GROW”.
Unfortunately, I am sad to say that my basil died in under week. LUCKILY – I bought a spare and I am determined to make sure this one survives – more blog posts to come…
Before my basil plant dropped dead, however, I was able to steal a few leaves for this recipe, which made me feel like the living embodiment of the farm-to-table movement. #sustainabilityandsuch
Stuffing the Chicken
The most crucial aspect of making stuffed chicken (of any kind) is to make sure you buy regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you purchase thin-sliced chicken, creating the stuffing pocket will be more difficult – the chicken will be too thin surrounding the stuffing and will be more likely to tear.
In order to stuff the chicken breast, make a three-inch-long incision on the side of one of each piece of chicken. (I feel like I’m in physiology lab all over again😂) You’re basically creating a pocket where you will insert the tomato basil mixture. As you make the incision, you want to cut almost all the way through without cutting the chicken fully in half.
Insert the filling, pop that baby in the oven, and voila! Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken.
Breading the Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken
In order to bind the panko breadcrumbs to the chicken, I baste the chicken with around a teaspoon of light mayo per breast. This substitution is pretty common in several other chicken recipes I’ve seen, so I decided to give it a try. I really like the mayo because it adds a very subtle tang to the chicken, and works extremely well in adhering the panko to each piece.
Obviously, I recognize that this seems odd and that some of you may not be big on mayo, so… SUBSTITUTIONS PEOPLE. In place of mayo, you can use an egg wash instead. To make an egg wash, you simply crack an egg into a bowl with one tablespoon water. Then, whisk the mixture and subsequently dip the chicken in, before dousing it in Panko bread crumbs.
For more information on how to make an egg wash, click HERE for more in depth instructions).
Regardless of what binder you use, be sure to salt and pepper the crusted chicken before putting it into the oven.
If you have any confusion about the recipe, watch the video below!
Tomato Basil Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts size of each, roughly 6 oz
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tsp light mayo 1 tsp per breast
- 4 tbsp panko bread crumbs
- 4 oz reduced fat feta cheese (1 oz per breast)
- 8 tbsp sundried tomatoes in oil (roughly 2 tbsp per breast)
- 4 tbsp fresh basil roughly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Prep Chicken
- Salt and Pepper chicken breast
- Baste each chicken breast with one teaspoon of light mayo.
- Spread bread crumbs on a plate. After each chicken breast is covered with mayo, press each breast into the plate of panko until completely covered on each side.
- Once you've finished breading chicken, make an incision along the side of each breast. The incision should stretch across the length of the chicken. As you make the incision, you want to cut almost all the way through without cutting the chicken in half to form a pocket for the stuffing.
Prep Mixture
- In a medium sized bowl, combine feta, sun dried tomatoes, and chopped basil. Mix together.
Stuff the chicken
- Divide the tomato basil mixture into four and stuff inside each chicken breast.
- Put the stuffed chicken on a foil lined baking tray
- Once the oven is preheated, bake stuffed chicken for 25-30 minutes (or until the inside is no longer pink).
So so so delicious!!!!! A great healthy weekday meal! I’m not even a great chef, but this was easy and yummy!
So happy you enjoyed it Colleen! Thank you for your feedback!