Apple Stuffed Chicken

Now that it's actually starting to feel like fall here, I'm experimenting with new recipes using fall fruits like pears and apples. I chose the latter for this dish because in my searching I found pears are most often paired with pork! I'm more of a poultry eater so I had to bring out (you guessed it!) the boneless skinless chicken breasts.

I really enjoyed making this, mostly because I was snacking on the leftover cheese and apples the whole time! But also because it's one of those it-looks-like-it-was-difficult-and-took-forever dishes so it's perfect for the holidays, date nights or special occasions. 

And the stuffing ingredients can always be swapped out for different tastes, if you don't have (or don't like) apples try broccoli and cheese or spinach and feta or even pepperoni, mozzarella and tomato sauce! The best thing about chicken is it rarely meets a food it doesn't like! Anywho, I think it took me about an hour to finish cooking but I was stopping for pictures and simultaneously making pasta salad, so the actual cook time is probably around 30-45 minutes. Now on to the good stuff..

So to get started I made my stuffing with about 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and half of a large honeycrisp apple but any apple should work

I made up a little spice/seasoning mix using various ingredients then added all but about a tablespoon to the apple mixture

Next I butterflied my chicken breasts and topped each piece some of the stuffing

When folding the meat over, I like to try to tuck one flap under the other and use toothpicks to secure it, but the danger with this is once the chicken is cooked, it's swollen so it can be hard to find the toothpicks until you cut or bite into it 😖

Next I rolled each piece in a breadcrumb mixture before adding it to the skillet seam side down. You can skip the breading if you're watching calories and it'll still come out great 

I let chicken cook seam side about 5 minutes on each side then I put it in the oven for another 10-15 minutes

Since I was using a cast iron skillet I just stuck it in the oven. If you're not using an oven safe skillet, line a baking dish with aluminum foil (for easy clean up) and put the chicken on that to finish cooking

Once they were done I removed the chicken from the skillet and added apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, water, the rest of my seasoning mix and my leftover stuffing and let it thicken a little, making a 'gravy' for the chicken. But this is completely optional, I honestly only did it because I had leftover stuffing that I didn't want to waste!

Hopefully that was easy enough to understand! Let me know if you try it and what you used! @ me on twitter/IG @seauxher, til next time ✌️

Apple Stuffed Chicken

Serves 2

15 minutes to prep

25 minutes to cook

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 medium apple, in cubes

1/2-3/4 C cheddar cheese, shredded

1/3 C each Italian breadcrumbs and Panko breadcrumbs (optional)

1/4 C each apple cider vinegar and water (optional) 

1 T brown sugar (optional)

Vegetable oil

Seasoning mix

1 t each of the following: cinnamon, rosemary, brown sugar, garlic powder, onion powder 

half a chicken bouillon cube

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small container combine all seasoning mix ingredients

2. In a bowl mix together apples, cheese and all but one tablespoon of seasoning mix***

3. Trim the fat off the chicken and butterfly them

4. Top each with stuffing and roll and tuck until you can't see any stuffing. Use toothpicks to secure the seam 

5. Heat vegetable oil over medium heat. *if using, coat the chicken in the breadcrumb mixture and add to skillet

6. Place chicken, seam side down in the skillet and cook for five minutes on each side***

7. Place chicken in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes or until the juice runs clear

***Optional steps

2a. On a plate mix breadcrumbs together

6a. Once chicken is cooked, remove from skillet and add apple cider vinegar, water, brown sugar and any leftover stuffing plus the remaining seasoning. Allow to thicken then spoon over chicken breasts