Recipe: Panko-Crusted Stuffed Chicken

You ready for another yummy recipe?

I wont lie to you guys, this one took some work, and from that fact alone, I'm not sure I'd make it again unless I was having company over and doing a big batch.

That being said, it was still really yummy and MG was in heaven eating it.

Panko-Crusted Stuffed Chicken

Recipe via Pinterest

What You Need:

-2 chicken breasts

-1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

-small handful baby spinach, chopped

-small handful cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped

-2 Tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese (not the shaker kind)

-1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

-1/2 tsp minced garlic from jar (or 1 clove fresh, chopped)

-2 tsp olive oil

-Italian seasoned Panko bread crumbs

*I did not have Italian seasoned Panko, so I just used about 1 cup Panko and 1-2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning, and mixed it up.

What You Do:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 

2. In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, spinach, tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan cheese, basil and salt/pepper. Mix well until combined.

3. Rinse the chicken breasts (I forgot to do this) and then cut a horizontal line down the side of each chicken breast, almost through to the other side (you want plenty of room to stuff this yummy mixture). Fill the pocket you just made with the ricotta mixture. Use toothpicks to close the opening so the yummy stuff doesn't fall out.

4. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt/pepper. The original recipe says to dip the chicken in your Panko breadcrumbs but that was too messy. Just put some Panko on each breast, and press it into the meat so it sticks, on both sides.

When I was done making my Italian Panko, it looked kinda like a heart, so I played with my food and made it into a legit heart.  Who said cooking wasn't fun?? :)

5. This is where what I did differs from the original recipe. The original recipe says to heat the olive oil in the skillet on medium-high heat and cook for 3-4 minutes until the one side is brown, and then to flip the chicken, and transfer the skillet into the oven for another 20 minutes.

I used my Ninja. I cooked the olive oil on the Stovetop setting (high) for about 4 minutes (my breast wasn't as brown as it should have been), and then I switched the setting over to Oven at 400 degrees and cooked the chicken inside my Ninja, with the lid on, for 20 minutes. It came out great. If you had a Ninja, do this. If you don't, use an oven-proof skillet.

Once the meat is done cooking, let it rest about 5 minutes before you slice into it!

We ate ours with a spinach and tomato salad (since we had leftovers from the recipe) and it was all superb!

I hope you enjoy!!

Check out some of the other recipes I've made, in my Recipes tab!