This is a mid-week speedy stuffed chicken breast recipe with sweet caramelised onions and salty feta served on a bed of risoni (orzo) and asparagus. We sear then bake the chicken, so it’s crispy and juicy.
The asparagus makes this a wonderful spring dish, it's more satisfyingly substantial than a summer salad, but still feels quite light and fresh.
This stuffed chicken breast recipe was inspired by these easy caramelised onions - I love making them because they're so simple and delicious, and thought they'd work delightfully paired with salty feta and stuffed inside a lovely chicken breast.
What's the best way to stuff chicken breast?
To stuff a chicken breast, the best and simplest way is to lay it down flat on a cutting surface, then use a sharp knife to horizontally slice a pocket into the breast. You can see a picture of what these pockets should look like, once opened up, in step 3.
Then you just add your ingredients, in this case caramelised onion and feta, and fold the chicken breast back over.
If you are frying it in a pan (and therefore moving it around), like we are here, you may want to also use a toothpick to thread through the flesh and keep it together. If you are baking it in the oven that's not necessary.
Stuffed Chicken Breast Ingredients
Chicken breast - As we're making one per person, use small chicken breasts if you can find them. If you can only get larger ones, cook one for two people and slice into two to serve. Use skinless chicken breast.
Caramelised onions - We'll use shallots (a sweeter, milder taste than regular onion), with maple syrup and balsamic vinegar for our caramelised onions. If you can't find shallots, white or yellow / brown onions works well too.
Pasta - I used Orzo / risoni, but you can use any short pasta or if you have a bit more time and want a gluten free alternative, Arborio rice is a perfect substitute.
Greens - I used asparagus, but you can use any greens that are seasonal and available, like broccoli, zucchini or peas.
How to make Stuffed Chicken Breasts
1. Preheat your oven to 200 C. Peel and slice shallots into rounds.
- 6 shallots
2. Place a small saucepan over medium high heat, add olive oil and shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Meanwhile, continue to the next step.
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 shallots
3. Slice chicken breasts horizontally, almost all the way through, to make pockets. This is where we will put our filling.
- 4 small chicken breasts (skinless)
4. Once onions have softened, add maple syrup and balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised. Meanwhile, place a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
5. Once the onion has caramelised, lay it inside the “pocket” of each chicken breast, crumble the feta inside and close each breast by folding over. These are our stuffed chicken breasts. Drizzle over a little oil.
Very little kids may find the taste of feta a bit strong, you can use mozzarella for a milder taste or leave the feta out.
- 100g feta
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
6. Place an ovenproof frying pan or casserole dish (a cast iron skillet would be perfect) on high heat, add oil, then sear stuffed chicken breasts for 1-2 minutes each side, taking care to not let the filling fall out. Once seared, put the pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breast.
Meanwhile, continue on to the next step.
7. Add chicken stock cubes and the risoni to the pot of boiling water and set a timer for a minute less than indicated on the packet.
- 2 chicken stock cubes
- 2 cups risoni
8. Remove and discard tough stems from asparagus and slice spears into 3cm pieces.
- 1 bunch asparagus
9. When the risoni timer goes, add asparagus and cook for another minute. Drain pasta then return to the pot (off the heat) and mix through olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- Salt and pepper
10. To serve, divide risoni and asparagus amongst plates, and serve topped with stuffed chicken breasts. Drizzle over any chicken juices left in the frying pan.
To serve kids, you can serve their asparagus and risoni separately, and slice baked chicken into fingers.
Hint: Many stuffed chicken breast recipes call for you to secure the chicken with toothpicks or skewers, but we don't need to in this recipe. Feta is a hard cheese and will soften but won't melt, so it should stay inside the chicken pocket as long as you take care when cooking your chicken. You only need to turn it once.
Substitutions for Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Here are some options to vegetarian, gluten free and dairy free diets.
- Vegetarian - Option to sub out the chicken breast for large flat mushrooms and layer onions and feta between these two layers.
- Gluten Free - use a gluten free short pasta instead of risoni, or you can use microwave rice and skip the chicken stock.
- Dairy Free - Sub the feta for something deliciously salty like chopped pitted olives or sundried tomatoes.
Kid-friendly adaptation for Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Here are a few things you can do make these stuffed chicken breasts more appealing to your child.
- Sub feta for mozzarella cheese - Feta can be a strong taste, so you can subsitute feta for mozzarella, or even skip the feta and onions completely if they prefer a plain chicken breast.
- Hold the seasoning on the risoni - You can skip the vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper for little people.
- Serve elements separately - Serve chicken sliced into fingers, asparagus in spears and risoni separately.
Equipment
You'll need an oven, a stove top, an oven proof frying pan (a cast iron skillet is ideal) and a saucepan.
Storage
Store in the fridge for 2-3 days max.
Top tip
Don't overcook the chicken. You just want a nice outside sear to give it a lovely brown colour, and then let the oven do the rest of the work.
Recipe
Chicken Breast with Feta and Caramelised Onions
Equipment
- Oven
- Stove
- Oven proof frying pan
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 6 shallots sub. 1 red or brown onion
- 2.5 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts small
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 100 g feta cheese sub. mozzarella for a milder flavour
- 2 cups Risoni (orzo)
- 2 cubes chicken stock concentrate
- 1 asparagus bunch
- 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 C. Peel and slice shallots into rounds.
- Place a small saucepan over medium high heat, add olive oil and shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Meanwhile, continue to the next step.
- Slice chicken breasts horizontally, almost all the way through, to make pockets. This is where we will put our filling.
- Once onions have softened, add maple syrup and balsamic vinegar and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised. Meanwhile, place a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.
- Once the onion has caramelised, lay it inside the “pocket” of each chicken breast, crumble the feta inside and close each breast by folding over. Drizzle over a little oil.
- Place an ovenproof frying pan or casserole dish on high heat, add oil, then sear chicken for 1-2 minutes each side, taking care to not let the filling fall out. Once seared, put the pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken breast. Meanwhile, continue to the next step.
- Add a chicken stock cube and the risoni to the pot of boiling water and set a timer for a minute less than indicated on the packet.
- Remove and discard tough stems from asparagus and slice spears into 3cm pieces.
- When the risoni timer goes, add asparagus and cook for another minute. Drain, return to the pot (off the heat) and mix through olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
- To serve, divide risoni and asparagus amongst plates, and serve topped with baked chicken. Drizzle over any chicken juices left in the frying pan. To serve kids, you can serve their asparagus and risoni separately, and slice baked chicken into fingers.
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