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!
Why You’ll Love This 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! This stuffing stuffed chicken breast recipe satisfies all those holiday cravings any time of year with an easy and quick dinner. Here’s why you’ll love it:
- Easy: These stuffed chicken breasts come together in a snap! We’ll be using a boxed stuffing mix to cut down on prep time too.
- Flavorful: Chicken breast recipes shouldn’t be dry or flavorless. 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: We love how this recipe hits all the holiday-vibe notes. It fills bellies and is just total comfort food.
- Kid Approved! We tested this recipe with all the kids in our family and it got thumbs up every time. The combination of the savory stuffing and sweet cranberries is irresistible for people of any age! If your child is especially picky, don’t worry, it’s easy to customize this recipe. And the cranberries are easy to pick right out.
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. If you’re looking for other tasty chicken breast recipes to add into your rotation, try our citrusy lemon pepper chicken, creamy cajun chicken, or tangy crockpot BBQ chicken!
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.
- Veggies: Grab some onion and 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!
How to Make Stuffing Stuffed Chicken Breast
Are you ready to make this awesome stuffed chicken breasts recipe? Here’s how to do it. Check out the recipe card at the end of the post for detailed instructions.
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a casserole dish with olive oil or non-stick spray.
- Mix the Stuffing: In a large bowl, mix together the stuffing mix, chicken broth, cream of mushroom, onion, celery and dried cranberries. We recommend using your hands to really mix it well!
- Slice: Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and then cut a deep pocket lengthwise into each breast. Make sure you don’t cut all the way through or your stuffing will fall out!
- Stuff: Divide the stuffing mix into all the breasts, pressing firmly into each pocket. Place them into your prepped dish.
- 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. Then, remove the lid/foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. (Make sure you are testing the temp of the chicken breast and not the stuffing.)
Tips and Variation Ideas
When making stuffed chicken breast recipes (especially for the first time!), we find it’s always helpful to have a few insider tips and tricks.
- Don’t Use Giant Breasts: While it can be tempting to get a larger breast (because more room right?), fight the urge! Grab standard sized chicken breasts so they do not take too long to cook.
- Stuff Generously: Seriously… Stuff as much of the stuffing mixture as you can into your breasts – really pack it in. The more the better!
- Cover With Foil: Make sure you cover the baking dish with foil or a lid for the first half of baking. If you don’t, your stuffing will likely dry out a little and be crunchy.
- Nuts: If you are a nut fan, you can also add nuts to your stuffing. We recommend using chopped walnuts or pecans.
Want to save this recipe?
Email this recipe to yourself for easy access later!
What to Serve 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: We 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: Our current favorite is this cucumber tomato salad!
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Sometimes, we have a single stuffed chicken breast leftover, but it isn’t common! Here’s how to store and reheat your leftovers if you do have them.
- Refrigerate: You can refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: We recommend reheating your chicken in the oven or air fryer. The microwave tends to dry out the stuffing, but it can be used in a pinch.
- Freeze: While you can freeze leftovers for up to 3 months in an airtight container, the texture of the stuffing will be a little different. And it will be dryer. We recommend only making enough that you can eat within a few days.
FAQs
Here are some great questions we’ve received about this easy stuffed chicken breast:
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.
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.
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.
More Chicken Dinner Ideas
- Crockpot French Onion Chicken
- Cajun Chicken Casserole
- Crockpot Mexican Chicken
- Yum Yum Chicken
- Salsa Verde Chicken Soup
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
Want to save this recipe?
Email this recipe to yourself for easy access later!
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!
I had a little trouble stuffing the breasts because I cut through them by accident, but they still taste great. They definitely need a little gravy on top in my opinion.
Total comfort food. Served it with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce on the side and it was Like Thanksgiving in April haha. Will make this again for sure.
Made this tonight for dinner as I had a craving for Thanksgiving haha. Turned out great, wife and kids really enjoyed it too. Served it with mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry sauce!
So good. Thanks so much! ✨
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!