This Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe is going to be a new family favorite! Chicken breasts are stuffed with classic stuffing, then baked to perfection in this easy comfort food dinner!
Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts
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! This Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe satisfies all those holiday cravings with an easy and quick dinner.
This recipe is downright delicious and kid-approved. The combination of the savory stuffing and sweet cranberries is irresistible for people of any age! If your little one is exceptionally picky, don’t worry! The cranberries are easy to pick right out.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy. This chicken dinner idea comes together in a snap! We’ll be using a boxed stuffing mix to cut down on prep time too.
- Flavorful. Every bite of these stuffed chicken breasts is tender, juicy, and full of flavor! You may have a hard time going back to regular chicken dinners after trying this one.
- Hearty & Satisfying. I love how this recipe hits all the holiday-vibe notes. It fills bellies and is just total comfort food.
- Kid Approved! I tested this recipe with all the kids in my family and it got thumbs up every time. If your child is especially picky, don’t worry, it’s easy to customize this recipe.
What You’ll Need
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need to make this stuffed chicken breast recipe. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.
- Stove Top Stuffing Mix: The classic box version
- Chicken Broth
- Cream of Mushroom: Cream of chicken or cream of celery also works 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 gravy or from a packet, either way!
Variation Ideas
- Nuts. If you are a nut fan, you can also add nuts to your stuffing. We recommend using chopped walnuts or pecans.
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.
How to Make Stuffing Stuffed Chicken
Are you ready to make this awesome stuffed chicken breasts recipe? Here’s how to do it:
- Prep your tools. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a casserole pan with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Mix up the stuffing. In a large bowl, mix together the stuffing mix, chicken broth, cream of mushroom, onion, celery and dried cranberries.
- Slice open the chicken breasts. 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.
- Stuff the chicken. 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.
- Cover and bake. 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.
- Continue baking uncovered. 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.)
- Serve warm with gravy, if desired! We recommend a brown or chicken gravy with this dish. Enjoy!
FAQs
Here are some great questions I’ve received about this easy stuffed chicken recipe:
Can I sear the chicken breasts?
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 Goes with Stuffed Chicken Breasts?
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!)
- Potatoes: I recommend these sour cream mashed potatoes or these mashed sweet potatoes.
- Cranberry Relish
- Rolls or Cornbread: This classic cornbread is fabulous with stuffed chicken, and these crescent rolls are always a hit.
- Side Salad: My current favorite is this cucumber tomato 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
Ingredients
- 1 box, 6 oz. Stove Top Stuffing Mix
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom
- ½ cup diced onion
- ½ cup diced celery
- ½ 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 9×13 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!
Video
Nutrition
More Chicken Dinner Ideas to Try
Looking for more easy dinner ideas using chicken? Check out these reader favorites:
Can I freeze the stuffing mixture to use at another time? I only cooked 2 breasts since it is just me and hubby.
Thanks
Sure you can freeze it! I would recommend moving it to the fridge to thaw for 24 hours before stuffing chicken with it again.
How much chicken broth and cream of mushroom?
Hi Steph! 1 cup chicken broth and 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom. If you are having trouble finding the recipe (it’s always located at the bottom of the post), you can hit the “Jump To The Recipe” button at the top of the post!
You are a very bright individual!
I was cleaning out my freezer and found 2 huge chicken breasts I had forgotten so I put together what I had for this recipe. I’m glad I did! Lucky me I had some turkey stove top stuffing left from Thanksgiving I never used.
I followed the recipe best I could except for the gravy which was ok because my chicken was nice and moist. I’m not a big fan of gravy on meat so, seeing it looked lonely, I found a can of whole cranberry sauce. I dolloped the cranberry sauce on top and it was a huge hit!
I love it when I can clean out my freezer and cupboard and find a good recipe too! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it Darlene!!
I made this and it was so good, I wonder if this will work as a casserole, maybe add some soup to the chicken and then top with the stuffing mixture?
that sounds delicious! Please let us know how it turns out 🙂
could you use fresh cranberries?
Yes you can use fresh cranberries!
I 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
Hi 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!