This tender and juicy Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe is going to be a new family favorite! Chicken breasts are stuffed with classic stuffing with cranberries and baked to perfection for the perfect easy comfort food dinner!
Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipe
During the colder months, we always look forward to our family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Big, classic entreés like turkey and ham are just impossible to beat… or so we thought! We developed this Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe because we wanted to satisfy those holiday cravings with an easy and quick dinner.
We especially love making this recipe for dinner when it’s nice and chilly outside. Sitting around the dinner table with the family and eating this before watching a Christmas movie is the best! We get all the festive joy of Christmas dinner a few weeks early, and it feels SO good! Really, is it ever too early to celebrate?
Another huge bonus of this recipe? It’s downright delicious, and kid approved. The combination of the savory stuffing and sweet cranberries is too irresistible for people of any age! If your little one is exceptionally picky, don’t worry! The cranberries are easy to pick right out.
Ingredients
You just need these easy ingredients to make this stuffed chicken breast recipe:
- Stove Top Stuffing Mix: the classic box version
- Chicken Broth
- Cream of Mushroom: cream of chicken or cream of celery also work great.
- Onion
- Celery
- Cranberries: optional, can skip them if you aren’t a cranberry in stuffing fan.
- Chicken Breasts
- Salt and Pepper
- Gravy: for serving. Homemade or from a packet, either way!
If you are a nut fan, you can also add nuts to your stuffing. We recommend using chopped walnuts or pecans.
How to Make Stuffing Stuffed Chicken
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a casserole pan with olive oil or non-stick spray.
Step 2: In a large bowl, mix together the stuffing mix, chicken broth, cream of mushroom, onion, celery and dried cranberries.
Step 3: Arrange the chicken breasts on a cutting board and season with salt and pepper, as desired. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep pocket lengthwise into each chicken breast without cutting all the way through to the other side.
Step 4: Evenly divide the stuffing mixture among the chicken breasts, pressing it firmly into each pocket. Place the chicken breasts in a 9×13 baking dish.
Step 5: Cover the casserole dish with foil or a casserole lid and bake for 20 minutes. The cover will keep the stuffing from browning too much on top.
Then, remove the lid/foil from the dish and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The chicken is done when it’s fully cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. (Make sure you are testing the temp of the chicken breast and not the stuffing.)
Step 6: Serve warm with gravy, if desired! We recommend a brown or chicken gravy with this dish. Enjoy!
What size chicken breasts should I use?
Do not buy huge chicken breasts! The meat will take too long to cook, and your stuffing may brown too much on top during the longer cooking time. To keep your stuffing perfect, reach for standard sized breasts in the grocery store.
Can I sear the chicken?
Absolutely! You can sear the outside of the chicken breasts in olive oil after stuffing them and before you place them in the oven to finish cooking. This way, you’ll get a beautiful browned outside of the chicken if you want a more golden chicken breast.
Should I sauté the vegetables before adding them to the stuffing?
Personally, we don’t sauté the onions and celery before adding them to the stuffing. The veggies will naturally soften as they bake, so there is just no need to heat them up beforehand.
However, if you like your onions and celery extra soft in stuffing, feel free to sauté them in a little olive oil before adding them to the stuffing mixture that we stuff into the chicken breasts.
Tips for the best Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breasts:
- Do not use giant breasts: use standard sized chicken breasts so they do not take too long to cook.
- Stuff your chicken breasts generously: stuff as much of the stuffing mixture as you can into your breasts. The more the better!
- Cover your breasts with foil for the first half of baking. If you don’t your stuffing will likely dry out a little and be crunchy.
What to serve with stuffed chicken breast?
The options are limitless! We like to serve these stuffed chicken breasts with all different kinds of options, any of the below go perfectly:
- Veggies: any roasted/steamed vegetables or even candied vegetables (candied carrots are a favorite!)
- Mashed Potatoes: or sweet potatoes
- Cranberry Relish
- Rolls
- Side Salad
Next time you get a holiday craving, don’t worry about waiting for Christmas or Thanksgiving, you can now have comfort food anytime with these Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breasts. Just don’t forget the gravy for on top!
Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast
This tender and juicy Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe is going to be a new family favorite! Chicken breasts are stuffed with classic stuffing with cranberries and baked to perfection for the perfect easy comfort food dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 box (6 oz.) Stove Top Stuffing Mix
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, optional
- 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- salt and pepper, to taste
- Gravy, optional topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a casserole pan with olive oil or non-stick spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together stuffing mix, chicken broth, cream of mushroom, onion, celery and craisins. Set aside.
- Arrange the chicken breasts on a cutting board and season with salt and pepper, as desired. Using a sharp knife, cut a deep pocket lengthwise into each chicken breast without cutting all the way through to the other side.
- Divide the stuffing mixture among the chicken breasts, pressing it firmly into each pocket. Place the chicken breasts in a 9x13 baking dish.
- Cover casserole dish with foil or casserole lid and bake for 20 minutes. Remove lid/foil from casserole dish and cook an additional 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Serve warm with gravy, if desired!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4 servingsServing Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 383Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 103mgSodium: 1015mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 17gProtein: 40g
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2 Comments
Heidi
March 4, 2021 at 2:26 amI made this stuffing stuffed chicken breast tonight for supper. ABSOLUTELY EASY, DELICIOUS, AND the comments from family was exciting. I omitted the cranberry in the chicken . Served Jelly cranberry s an addition to the plate. Served with a Tossed Salad and Chicken rice which I tossed in 6 OZ jar of drained sliced mushrooms. Instead of cranberry in the chicken I put in another jar of Mushrooms in the stuffing. I also added 1 teaspoon of can Heinz gravy to inside the chicken. When the chicken was done the first 20 Minutes… I sprinkled shredded Mozarella cheese inside each of the chicken breasts. Then just sprinkled LIGHTLY on top of all the chicken for the last 10 minutes. This is DEFINITELY my new meal. I downloaded the free recipe book and viewed it as the meal cooked. GREAT meals and easy on time and budget. Has everything I already have on hand. On the seasoning of the chicken I used salt, pepper, and COMPLETE seasoning mix. Thank you so much for your great ideas. I had such fun making this meal can’t wait to try the next one. I look forward to your email ideas. O thing better than Family sharing recipes with other families. Just like when I was growing up sharing recipes with friends and neighbors. A little walk down memory lane.
HEIDI McCray
Ellen
March 4, 2021 at 12:02 pmHi Heidi, your recipe additions sound so delicious! I love adding a new spin to things and will definitely try this one out. Thank you for sharing!