Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken – Chicken breasts are stuffed with a garlic herb goat cheese and pan fried until they are cooked through. These are perfect for fun, yet easy weeknight dinner.
Ah, the day after Christmas. It’s always a sad time for me. It’s no longer acceptable to blast Christmas tunes and binge on cookies and chocolates. I just remind myself that I just need to get through January and then I can open up the chocolates again just in time for my birthday and Valentine’s Day.
In the meantime, I’ll use this next month to feature more dinners and savory dishes so we can let our bodies recover from the sugar overload of the holidays. For my first dish, I’ve got an incredibly simple weeknight meal – Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken.
A quick and easy meal
Upon hearing the name of this dish, I’m sure you’re first thoughts were: “Oh wow, that sounds so good! But I can’t make that, especially not quickly.” Well, you got one thing right – this chicken is so yummy! But you’re wrong if you think you can’t make this easily in under 30 minutes.
If you’ve ever made chicken in a skillet, then you can make this chicken. The only differentiating part of this recipe is that the chicken breast is stuffed with a goat cheese spread before it hits the skillet.
How to make this chicken
First, you need to make the goat cheese spread. To do this, you’ll just mix together the soft cheese with minced garlic and fresh thyme and parsley. Typically, I like to use dried herbs but for this spread, I really suggest using fresh herbs to brighten up the flavor.
Once the spread is made, it’s ready for stuffing into the chicken. To do this, you slice a slit in the side of the chicken. You don’t want to make too big or too deep of a cut or else the cheese could ooze out while it sears. Then, you’ll spoon a little into the slit of the chicken and spread it into one even layer. Make sure to only add 1 tablespoon or else the excess cheese will ooze out once it gets warm.
The chicken is then seasoned and seared in a hot skillet until it’s cooked through. Since the chicken hasn’t been flattened or fileted, this will take about 8 minutes per side. Do not touch the chicken before 6 minutes have passed – this will prevent the chicken from getting beautifully brown.
Tips & Tricks:
- Make sure you use room temperature goat cheese when making the spread. If the cheese is too cold, it will be hard to mix with the herbs and garlic.
- You need to use a large skillet for this recipe to fit all the chicken at once. If you can’t fit all the chicken, you’ll just need to cook the breasts in two batches.
- My key to cooking chicken perfectly is to use a meat thermometer. In the past, I would cut the center of the chicken to check if it was done and then the chicken would look awful. The meat thermometer cuts out all that guess work and keeps the chicken intact.
- The stuffing doesn’t look like a lot before the chicken is cooked but trust me – once the cheese gets warm, it expands and fills up the chicken breast.
Goat Cheese-Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 3 ounces soft goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 cloves garlic
- 4 chicken breasts
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add goat cheese and herbs. Grate garlic over the cheese and mix together. Set aside.
- Using a sharp knife, slice a slit in the inner side of the breast. Scoop a heaping tablespoon of the goat cheese mixture and stuff it into the slit of the breast and spread it into an even layer. Repeat with the three other breasts. Cover both sides of each chicken breast with salt and pepper.
- Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet. Once the oil is hot. add chicken breasts to the pan, top side down first. Cook for 8 minutes and then flip and cook for another 8 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the center.
- Remove breasts from heat and serve immediately.
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Goat Cheese & Sweet Corn Grits
Goat Cheese Stuffed Sweet Peppers
I am definitely saving this recipe because it i sone of the easiest ways to make chicken that I’ve seen this season. I love the stuffing, too. And great tick with the goat cheese – super helpful!
I always forget all the amazing ways you can cook chicken. This looks so delicious and rich.
I love different ways to make chicken to where its not dry . I bet this makes it so moist.
Such a nice way to amp up that basic chicken night! This sounds delicious.
We make something similar quite often, except we add sun dried tomatoes too.
I love cheese in any form. This is so creamy and looks super delicious. Chicken is surely perfect and yum.
This looks so awesomely delicious. I would totally order this from a restaurant if I see this on their menu. Luckily, the recipe is super simple and can be made easily at home. đŸ™‚
You had me at goat cheese. Won’t lie that is what drew my attention. This stuffed chicken is delicious! Love the pairing with goat cheese! Yummo
This looks incredible! I will have to make it for dinner one night. I love cheese!
I tried your recipe and was delightful the goat cheese filling is so yummy and goes very nicely with the chicken making this for NYE dinner as it was such a good dish
I love goat cheese and it is the perfect filling for these chicken breasts!