Chicken Cordon Bleu .... The Easy Way

I have never been a huge chicken cordon bleu person. It reminds me of cafeteria-type food, not to mention it always looked like a lot of work. However, when I found this recipe, which is a simplified version of normal chicken cordon blue, it actually looked super yummy. Here's the recipe:

*Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cordon Bleu:
3 large chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half length-wise (to form two thinner chicken breast cutlets)
12 slices deli ham
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 to 1/2 pound thinly sliced swiss cheese

For the Parmesan-Dijon Cream Sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or 1 bouillon cube, crushed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs and melted butter. Set aside.

Lay the cut chicken breasts in a single layer in the 9X13-inch dish. Layer each chicken breast with two slices of ham and top with 2 slices of swiss cheese, shingling across the chicken breast to make sure the entire chicken breast is covered with ham and cheese. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the chicken.

Bake the chicken for 30-35 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through completely, the cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden.

While the chicken bakes, in a medium saucepan, melt the 2 tablespoons butter. Stir in the flour, whisking constantly, while cooking the flour/butter mixture for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking quickly. Stir in the chicken bouillon granules and salt. Whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture begins to simmer and thicken, about 3-5 minutes. Once the sauce has bubbled and thickened, remove from heat and stir in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce and Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted. Keep the sauce warm until the chicken is finished baking.

Serve each chicken cordon bleu portion with warm sauce.

Pinterest success! I love when I take a bite of something and am genuinely surprised at how much I like it. It was so good! The sauce was perfect too. And my husband loved it as well, and said, "You should make this a lot." :-)

The only thing I changed from the recipe was that it calls for two slices of ham and two slices of cheese on top of each chicken breast, and I only put one of each on top. This is because I was skeptical of the recipe in the first place and didn't want to over-do it with the ham and cheese. It was great the way I had it, but the chef obviously knows what she's talking about, so I think it would also be good with double the ham and cheese. (It's deli ham, so it's super thin). Maybe next time I'll try it the way the recipe actually calls for it to be made. Still, this turned out great!