If you want to impress your family or guests, this is the recipe for you! A stunning stuffed chicken breast dish! These chicken breasts are so tender and juicy, and filled with delicious festive flavours.
I can’t say enough about this recipe, it is elegant, abundance of flavours, so colourful, festive and is absolutely delicious. By stuffing the chicken breasts with brie and cranberries, it creates such tender and juiciness to the chicken breast, so much so, it melts in your mouth. This recipe would be a show stopper at any dinner party. You can prepare the chicken breasts ahead of time, and the cooking only requires 15 minutes while your guests are having a glass of wine! 🙂
HELPFUL TIPS
- Make ahead cranberry sauce – whether you have leftover cranberry sauce in your refrigerator or in your freezer, like I do when I make too much for the holidays. If you happen to have cranberries, I suggest you make the sauce ahead of time, and set it aside when you are ready to stuff the chicken breasts. Follow the instructions on the package to cook the cranberry sauce, or if the package doesn’t give you directions, then add your choice of liquid and enough sugar but I would recommend not over doing it, you still want a tangy flavour and cook them a low boil for 10 minutes until the cranberries have popped and some of the liquid has dissolved. I tend to add half of the amount of sugar that the package calls for, since I prefer a tart rather than a sweet cranberry sauce. As well, I have added orange juice instead of water for a citrus flavour.
- Hormone and antibiotic chicken or organic: are my go to when purchasing meat or poultry. It’s healthier, tastes better
- Onion – green onions or shallots both will give a mild onion flavour
- Garlic – is a must for this recipe, it adds that pungent flavour we all love
- Brie – was my choice for a soft, mild cheese flavour, and it melts so nicely
- Seasonings – a must for flavour; salt brings out the flavours of the other ingredients, and sprinkle paprika on the top of the chicken breasts for a smoky flavour and to give the surface a nicely golden colour
HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
DON’T be intimidated when it comes to making this dish. It’s very easy and doesn’t take hours to make either. The best part to this recipe is, well, yes it tastes incredible but it will impress your family or if you decide to serve this at a dinner party. So here we go, I will show you how.
I start at the full rounded side of the chicken breast and using a sharp knife, I carefully slice in the middle of the breast just passed the center, being careful not to cut through to the other side. Have your stuffing ingredients ready, first add the sauté spinach, onion and garlic mixture, then the brie and then cranberry sauce. Season with paprika, salt and pepper.
Heat a skillet over medium heat, add more olive oil is required. Carefully place the chicken breasts top side down. Allow to cook for a minimum of 5 minutes, then using a metal spatula, carefully turn over each breast and cook for another 5-7 minutes. I placed a lid on once I turned it over, this prevented the heat from escaping, and helps to cook the chicken breasts. Another option is to place them in the oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes. But you will need to use an oven proof pan. Also, you can thread through toothpicks at the opening of each breast, if some of the filling is escaping.
Once you remove the skillet from the heat, allow the chicken breasts to rest for 5 minutes with the lid on. The brie will melt and the flavours will absorb into each other to give this dish that perfection we all hope for when we make a lovely meal.
This dish is filling and I would suggest to keep in simple and serve it with a salad. Here I served it with my Winter Spinach Pomegrante Salad.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Green onion: can be easily substituted with shallots; you could always replace it with red onion and maybe add a little less since it has a stronger flavour then shallots
Brie cheese: you can use feta, goat cheese, or ricotta and mozzarella would be fine, but the first three options would be the best alternatives
Cranberry sauce: tends to be the main attraction to this recipe, however, if you don’t have any on hand, a tomato chutney or sun-dried tomatoes
Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach, Brie and Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 (1 lb) boneless, skinless chicken breasts (hormone/antibiotic free)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 green onion, chopped
- 2 cups organic spinach
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 oz brie cheese, cut into slices
- 1/4 cup cranberry sauce
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Make ahead: In a medium sauce pot, add 3 cups (24 oz.) of rinsed cranberries, add 1 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Cook over medium heat, until the cranberries pop, and most of the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet, over medium heat. Add green onions, and spinach, sauté until spinach has softened. Add garlic and sauté for about one minute. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Take each chicken breast, and using a sharp knife, slice lengthwise along the side that is firm and avoid slicing all the way through. Open up the breast and add half of the spinach, garlic and onion mixture in the opening. Then add a slice of brie and about 2 tbsp of cranberry sauce. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.
- Heat the skillet over medium heat, and add more olive oil if needed. Carefully place each chicken breast in the hot skillet, top side down. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the top is nice a crispy, then turn using a metal spatula and then cook for another 5-7 minutes, with a lid on. At this point, you should see the cheese melting, and there should be no pink in the chicken. Remove from the heat, and keep the lid on, and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve with a salad.
