you're making mealtime meaningful.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: chicken gets a bad rap for being bland sometimes, but only when it’s not prepared in a delicious, interesting way! Instead of your average, run-of-the-mill chicken dinner, we amped things up for this meal and made an easy, nutritious, one-pan dinner that will have everyone raving. Part of what makes this dish so yummy is the variety of ingredients we used.
As we said, it’s a one-pan recipe that’s got a filling main course (stuffed chicken) and a healthy side included (herbed sweet potatoes) – with this kind of meal, there’s no need to worry about making another side dish, and the fact that all this good stuff cooks on one pan just means cleanup is a breeze! (Though we’re still all for having someone else do the cleanup regardless….) Back to the variety of ingredients here – chicken breasts make up the heart of the dish, but they’re almost outshined by the slices of apple and gouda that we stuffed them with.
Once they bake together, you’ve got delicious melted cheese and perfectly softened apple slices to go with each bite of seasoned chicken. We went with thyme as the main seasoning for the chicken here, then used mainly paprika for the sweet potatoes (which lends just the right amount of smokiness), and the combination of the two, along with everything else in the mix is just so, so good. This dinner is an absolute winner that we’re sure you’ll come back to, just as we have – you’ll see!
Apple-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Yield(s): Serves 4-6
45 minutes
you're making mealtime meaningful.
Ingredients
- Chicken:
- 2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied (cut horizontally as though open like a book)
- 2/3 cup gouda, havarti or cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
- 1 honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon thyme, minced
- 1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Sweet Potatoes:
- 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425º F and lightly grease a large baking sheet with non-stick spray or a silicone baking mat.
- Take butterflied chicken breast and season generously with salt and pepper, then lay out and place 5-7 apple slices on one side of breast, then top with 4-5 slices of cheese.
- Fold other side of chicken breast so that apples and cheese are encased, then drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with thyme. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
- Place stuffed chicken on greased or lined baking sheet.
- In a large bowl, toss diced sweet potato with paprika, thyme and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Transfer sweet potato to baking sheet with chicken and spread into an even layer.
- Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 20 minutes, then stir sweet potatoes and return to oven for another 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are fork tender.
Recipe adapted from Rachel Cooks