This oven-baked stuffed chicken breast recipe offers a gourmet dining experience with minimal effort, all wrapped in delicious prosciutto!
With just a handful of ingredients, including chicken breasts, cream cheese, herbs, and prosciutto, it's a simple yet impressive dish perfect for any occasion.
The oven-baking method keeps the chicken juicy and flavorful, plus, leftovers can be used in paninis, pasta sauces, or wraps.
This cheese-stuffed chicken breast provides an elegant, tasty, and restaurant-quality dish that's easy to make, making it a fantastic addition to your culinary repertoire!
This prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast is filled with delicious cream cheese that is flavored with your favorite herbs or spices!
Preparing it only takes 5 minutes, then all the work is done by the oven.
It has become my go-to for last-minute dinner parties, as it sounds and looks quite posh, while it only requires four ingredients.
Serve it with your favorite side dish, like green beans, potatoes, and homemade gravy, or a side salad - a perfect addition to your Christmas recipes!
Jump to:
💎 Why This Recipe Works
- Simplicity Meets Elegance: It's perfect for home cooks, featuring minimal ingredients and steps, yet the prosciutto-wrapped chicken breast rivals fine dining!
- Flavor Explosion: Creamy, herby filling wrapped in prosciutto creates a burst of savory and aromatic flavors. Choose your favorite herbs, such as sage or rosemary, to infuse each bite. Serve with leek mashed potatoes, seasoned potato wedges, or roasted fennel!
- Juicy Perfection: Baking keeps the chicken juicy without adding oil or cooking it on the stovetop. It stays tender and succulent throughout.
- Versatility: Customize with your favorite herbs, spinach, mushrooms, sundried tomato, or Parmesan cheese. Adaptable to various tastes and diets, and all ages!
- Creative Leftovers: Repurpose your leftover stuffed chicken breasts into wraps, paninis, pasta sauces, salads, or elevate mac and cheese.
- Effortless Storage: Easily refrigerate or freeze. Wrap in plastic or foil, and place in an airtight container. Reheat in the oven or microwave for a delicious, convenient meal. Ideal for meal planning and busy schedules.
- Celebration: Turn these prosciutto-wrapped chicken breasts into the perfect main course for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Serve them with creamy mashed potatoes without milk, and sage and onion stuffing without eggs!
🛒 Ingredients
- Chicken Breasts: Opt for boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe.
- Cream Cheese: A soft, plain spreadable cheese is perfect for mixing with the seasonings. I use Philadelphia cream cheese, as it is perfectly seasoned and easy to mix.
- Prosciutto Crudo: To wrap the stuffed chicken breasts, keeping the juices and filling inside. My favorites are Parma Ham, which is quite sweet, or San Daniele, which is more aromatic and comes from my region in Italy, Friuli Venezia-Giulia.
- Herbs: Dried or fresh sage will work well, as long as fresh. Adjust the amount to taste.
🔔 Be sure to check out the recipe card for all the ingredients and instructions you'll need to make this dish. Don't miss out on any of the details!
♻️ Substitutions and Variations
- Cheese: Neufchâtel cheese is a great alternative to cream cheese, as their flavor is quite similar, although this has a little more tang and a grainy texture. Mascarpone is another great option, although some brands may be a little too sweet, so use it only if you already know its taste well.
- Chicken: You could use other parts of the chicken, such as boneless and skinless chicken thighs, however, these are harder to stuff due to their thickness and are fattier than the breast, so not my favorite option flavor-wise overall.
- Prosciutto: Bacon or regular ham can be used instead. Streaky bacon works perfectly and is my go-to when out of prosciutto, as it has the right saltiness level to balance the cheese's creaminess.
- Herbs: You can use your favorites to flavor the chicken breast filling. Great options are rosemary, black pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, marjoram, thyme, or a mixture of your favorites!
👩🏻🍳 How to Make (step-by-step)
- Start by preheating the oven to 400* F, Fan Oven to 180* Celsius, or 200* Celsius conventional oven.
- Prepare the filling by mixing the light cream cheese with the sage, which you will have chopped thinly. [Pictures 1 and 2]
- Should you prefer other herbs, feel free to change the recipe around, as this works well with multiple flavors, such as rosemary, chives, or green onions.
- Season the cheese filling with the required salt and pepper.
- For the chicken, use a sharp knife to cut and create a pocket in the chicken breast on the thicker side of it.
- Make a bigger internal cut without enlarging the entrance hole or going with the blade through the other side. This will allow you to close the filling in the breast without using any toothpicks.
- Divide the filling equally among the chicken breasts and ensure the filling fits inside them without being visible from the outside. Stuffing chicken with a teaspoon may make the process easier. [Picture 3]
- Next, after arranging the prosciutto slices in pairs on a chopping board, wrap the breasts, ensuring the filling pocket is covered and tightly held together. [Picture 4]
- Cover the bottom of a baking tray or baking dish with a non-stick sheet of baking paper or spray a little oil. A cast iron skillet can be used as well.
- Put the prosciutto-wrapped chicken on the tray and roast on the middle shelf in the oven for 25 minutes (or until the chicken is cooked).
- The delicious wrapped chicken dish is ready to be served!
🙋 People Also Ask [FAQs]
Is it better to bake the chicken covered or uncovered?
Covered baking is ideal for larger cuts, such as whole chickens or bone-in pieces, as it helps ensure thorough and even cooking. On the other hand, when dealing with smaller cuts of meat, like chicken breasts or tenders, baking them uncovered yields faster results.
Does stuffing a chicken keep it moist?
Stuffing the chicken breast with herbs and cream cheese helps retain the moisture and juiciness of the meat and imparts a delightful internal flavor to the chicken as it cooks.
💡 Expert Tips and Tricks
- Choose the right chicken: Try to choose a chunky chicken breast, rather than a thin and wide one (like for most stuffed chicken breast recipes). This will ensure that the chicken remains moist and you don’t risk chopping it all the way through when making the pocket for the cream cheese.
- Olive Oil: There is no need to add oil on top of the chicken before cooking. This will make the prosciutto fry, drying it out [been there, done that!]. Cooking it on the middle shelf in the oven, at the right temperature, will keep the chicken juicy and make the prosciutto perfectly crisp.
- Turkey: Turkey breasts tend to be more flavorful than chicken, however, consistency-wise and nutrition-wise they are quite similar. Should you wish to use turkey instead, this is a great swap!
- Light Cream Cheese: Low fat cheese are quite watery, so the end result of the stuffing will suffer and may leak. Go for full-fat cheese!
❄️ Storing & Reheating
- In the fridge: Store the stuffed chicken breast in an airtight container for up to four days.
- In the freezer: You can freeze the chicken in freezer bags or suitable containers for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat in the oven: preheat the oven to 325* F or 165* C and warm-up for 10 minutes; it is best to put the chicken breast in a tray with a teaspoon of water and cover it with a sheet of foil, so to lock the moisture in.
- Reheat in the microwave: put the chicken breast on a plate with a teaspoon of water at the bottom and cover with a piece of cling film; put in the microwave and heat for about 1 minute or until piping hot.
✨ How To Use The Leftovers
- Wrap: chop the chicken into large chunks and put it in a wrap with some crunchy salad.
- Panini or Toastie: chop the chicken to stuff a panini or toastie with some grated cheese or mayonnaise, then toast as liked.
- Pasta sauce: create a tomato-based sauce and flavor with small pieces of this stuffed chicken breast before using the sauce to dress some pasta.
- Salad topping: chop it and use it to top a nice salad.
- Elevated Mac and Cheese: follow your usual mac and cheese recipe and add his prosciutto chicken in chunks before baking.
🔪 Filling Ideas
- Goat cheese and sundried tomato stuffed breasts
- Feta cheese and spinach leaves filling
- Sauteed mushrooms and onions stuffing, wrapped in speck
- Parmesan and spinach stuffed chicken breast
- A stuffing of soft cheese and other herbs, such as rosemary or thyme
- Mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese, oregano, and tomato paste filling wrapped in ham slices
🍴 More Delicious Recipes to Try
🍽️ Recipe
Baked Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Prosciutto
With minimal prep and only four ingredients, this prosciutto-wrapped stuffed chicken breast offers a gourmet dining experience in minutes!
Ingredients
- 30 g Full Fat Cream Cheese
- 3 leaves of Fresh Sage or 1 teaspoon dry sage
- 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 4 Slices Prosciutto
- Salt and black pepper to Taste if required
Instructions
Preheat the fan oven
- - FAN 180 degrees Celsius- CONVENTIONAL 200 degrees Celsius- 400 degrees Fahrenheit
Prepare the chicken
- Create a pocket in each chicken breast, ensuring not to cut it through. Try to insert the knife in one side of the breast and moving it side ways without enlarging the entrance whole, but only the internal pocket.
Prepare the filling
- If using fresh sage, wash the leaves and chop them into small pieces then mix them with the cream cheese. Season with a bit of salt and pepper if liked.
Stuff and wrap chicken breasts
- Divide the cream cheese filling between the two chicken breasts and close the pocket of the chicken well, ensuring the herby cream cheese is sealed inside.
- Lay the slices of prosciutto one next to the other in pairs, slightly overlapping. Wrap one chicken breast using two slices, all the way around (like a burrito), ensuring the prosciutto covers the cut where the cream cheese has been filled.
Bake
- Place the two wrapped chicken breasts on a baking tray and put on the middle shelf of the oven.
- Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes or until cooked through.
Notes
- Try to choose a chunky chicken breast, rather than a thin and wide one (like for most stuffed chicken breast recipes); this will ensure that the chicken remains moist and you don’t risk chopping it all the way through when making the pocket for the cream cheese.
- Cheese: Neufchâtel cheese is a great alternative to cream cheese, as their flavor is quite similar, although this has a little more tang and a grainy texture. Mascarpone is another great option, although some brands may be a little too sweet, so use it only if you already know its taste well.
- Prosciutto: Bacon or regular ham can be used instead. Streaky bacon works perfectly and is my go-to when out of prosciutto, as it has the right saltiness level to balance the cheese's creaminess.
-
- In the fridge: Store the stuffed chicken breast in an airtight container for up to four days.
- In the freezer: You can freeze the chicken in freezer bags or suitable containers for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
- Reheat in the oven: preheat the oven to 325* F or 165* C and warm-up for 10 minutes; it is best to put the chicken breast in a tray with a teaspoon of water and cover it with a sheet of foil, so to lock the moisture in.
- Reheat in the microwave: put the chicken breast on a plate with a teaspoon of water at the bottom and cover with a piece of cling film; put in the microwave and heat for about 1 minute or until piping hot.
Nutrition
Calories: 248kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 27gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.04gCholesterol: 98mgSodium: 284mgPotassium: 470mgFiber: 0.01gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 241IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 21mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Velva says
This is delightful. Chicken breasts have a low-fat and really need a good stuffing to up the game. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Velva
Elle says
Thank you Velva!
Tavo says
yummy! I loved the stuffing ingredients! Very well chosen!
Elle says
Thank you, Tavo!
Claudia Lamascolo says
Wow that looks so easy and mouth watering I am trying this tonight!
Elle says
Let me know how it goes, Claudia!
Shashi says
Recipes like this make me rethink my choice to go more plant based! This is an epic recipe! So scrumptious!
Elle says
Thank you, Shashi!
Jacq says
Prepared this for my parents who came over for dinner and they loved it. I loved how easy it was!
Elle says
Glad to hear so, Jacq!
Sadia J says
Thanks for sharing this amazing.
Elle says
Thank you, Sadia!
Mairead says
Wrapping these stuffed chicken breasts with bacon seals in all the goodness. These chicken breasts are tender, juicy and ever so tasty.
Elle says
Thank you, Mairead!