Stuffed Chicken Breasts

 

This was the perfect old fashioned southern Sunday dinner around our house when I was growing up. My Mom was a country cook and oh the things she could do with chicken.  But one of my favorites was when she would make this old fashion southern comfort food…..oh I can still taste it!

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Homemade stuffing (below) or 1 box Stove Top Stuffing mix

1 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons garlic powder

Salt and pepper

Rinse, and pat the breasts dry with a paper towel.

With a slender knife cut a 3-inch pocket along length of thickest side of chicken (or have your meat department do this for you). Season each chicken breast with garlic powder, salt and pepper on both sides.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a heavy skillet, heat the oil and the butter over medium high heat.  When the oil is hot, sear the chicken breasts until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. 

Transfer chicken breasts to a non-stick or parchment lined baking sheet with sides.  Chicken breast will not be done at this point.  Allow them to cool slightly enough to handle them.

Make your stuffing.

I have been known to use StoveTop stuffing mix when I need to speed up this recipe!

Homemade Stuffing

1/4 cup butter
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 pkg. (14 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Herb Seasoned Stuffing

Heat the butter in a 3-quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add the celery and onion and cook for 5 minutes or until tender-crisp, stirring occasionally.

Add the broth to the saucepan and heat to a boil.  Remove the saucepan from the heat.  Add the stuffing and mix lightly.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Stuff the chicken

Stuff each chicken breast pocket with stuffing. Place stuffed chicken breast in baking dish or baking pan with sides and brush with drippings left in skillet. 

Bake in 350 degree oven until temperature of breasts and stuffing reach 165 degrees on instant read thermometer. About 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Set aside while you make the gravy.

Make the gravy

3 tablespoons pan drippings

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or more if need

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Heat the pan drippings in a skillet over a medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour to make a paste. Cook this paste for a minute or two to remove any raw taste of the flour. Whisk in  one-third of the chicken broth. The mixture will get very thick after a moment or two. Add the next third of the liquid, and whisk, making sure all lumps are removed.

Once the mixture has thickened fully, add the cream. If your gravy is too thick to your personal liking you can add more broth to get it to the consistency that you like.  Salt and pepper to taste.

I love to serve this southern dish with creamy mashed potatoes!  Pour gravy over chicken and mashed potatoes!  YUM!

Photography is the property of and copyrighted to ©Welcome Home.