These chicken breasts, stuffed with asparagus and cheese, are moist, delicious, surprisingly easy to make, and so pretty when you slice them!
This recipe is a really simple way to stuff chicken breasts. You butterfly the chicken, put the filling inside, and fold the chicken back over it. It’s very pretty when you slice it perpendicular to the asparagus, so you see chicken with dots of green asparagus in each slice. One of the perks of this recipe is that the filling is flavorful and juicy which makes the chicken breast, which can sometimes be dry, more juicy too.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
- Butterfly The Chicken Breasts
- The Asparagus Filling
- Stuffing The Chicken Breast
- Do You Need Toothpicks?
- The Topping
- Baking Time and Temperature
- Can You Use Chicken Thighs?
- Other Variations
- More Chicken Recipes
- Podcast Episode: Baking Asparagus Stuffed Chicken
- Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
Butterfly The Chicken Breasts
This stuffed chicken breast recipe is easy to make, but you need to start by opening up the breasts so they can be stuffed. I’ve seen recipes that cut a little pocket into the chicken breasts, but I think it’s much easier if you use my butterfly method, and you can adding more filling this way too! Yum!
You butterfly the chicken by cutting it in half thickness-wise, but you don’t cut all the way through. You want it to open up like a book. I find it’s easiest to do that using a sharp knife in one hand, while gently pressing down on the chicken breast with the palm of my other hand, to keep the chicken flat as I go. Start at the thinner edge of the chicken breast and work your way through to the thicker side, leaving that side still attached over there. Then it’s easy to fold it back over the filling.
The Asparagus Filling
Now that you’ve got your chicken breasts butterflied, you can make that delicious creamy, cheesy asparagus filling. For the filling, you mix up softened cream cheese, Swiss (or mozzarella cheese or any shredded cheese that melts well), lemon zest, and some seasoning. I usually just use garlic powder, salt, and pepper, but you could use an Italian seasoning mix if you prefer some herbs in there as well.
The asparagus is not going to be mixed in there though. Instead, just trim the tough ends off of the asparagus spears. We’re going to lay those inside our butterflied chicken as full stems so that we get that pretty sliced effect I’ve told you about.
Stuffing The Chicken Breast
Open up those chicken breasts, like a book, remember? Then spread the cheese mixture onto the full surface of your chicken (like, if that butterflied piece of chicken that you just opened up was a book, you’d spread filling onto both the left and the right page of that book).
Then, lay three asparagus spears onto one side of the chicken (the right page of the book), and then fold the other side over top (fold the left page over, closing the book). Now your chicken breast is stuffed!
Do You Need Toothpicks?
I find that when I stuff and bake chicken like this, I don’t need toothpicks to secure them. The cheese filling can melt out a bit, but since the cream cheese isn’t oozy, it tends to stay right in the chicken breast really well. You’re welcome to secure with toothpicks though if you prefer to keep things a little tidier.
The Topping
There’s a breadcrumb topping that gets added to the chicken before baking for some nice crunch. You can leave it off though if you wanted a bread-free version of this dish. Then you’ll just lightly oil the tops of the chicken breasts before baking so that they brown a bit in the oven.
Baking Time and Temperature
Arrange your asparagus-stuffed chicken breasts on a baking sheet and put them into a preheated 425°F oven until the internal temperature is 165°F, about 25 minutes. Let them rest for 5 minutes, and then slice perpendicular to the asparagus spears for a truly lovely presentation. And they’re so moist and delicious too!
Can You Use Chicken Thighs?
You can use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of breasts, but they tend to be smaller than chicken breasts. You will use about half as much filling per chicken thigh.
You’ll start by unrolling the chicken thighs if they’re in bundles. (Often, the butcher cuts out the bone and then wraps the chicken back around where the bone was. You want to unwrap that so it’s flat). Set them de-boned-side up so that the nicer side is on the bottom. Add the filling and 2 asparagus stalks to each thigh. Fold the thigh over the filling and then you can use the optional breadcrumb topping, if desired.
The cooking time and temperature doesn’t change if substituting chicken thighs.
Other Variations
It’s really easy to slightly switch up this recipe by changing out the vegetable. Try using roasted red peppers (you can make air fryer roasted peppers!), sliced bell pepper, chopped sun-dried tomatoes that had been packed in oil (or rehydrated in boiled water), or slices of fresh tomato. Other great options include uncooked spinach leaves, sautéed mushrooms, or finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower.
Let me know in the comments what you decide to use! You can also try my Baked Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a creamy spinach and Parmesan filling, or this Air Fryer Stuffed Chicken Breast with ham and Cheddar cheese.
More Chicken Recipes
Do you cook chicken frequently? You’ll want to look through our collection of over 70 delicious and easy chicken recipes here. Or try these reader-favorites:
Podcast Episode: Baking Asparagus Stuffed Chicken
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make this recipe, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
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Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breasts Recipe
These chicken breasts, stuffed with asparagus spears, cream cheese, Swiss Cheese, and savory seasonings, are moist, delicious, and surprisingly easy to make. And, they’re so pretty when you slice into them!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 12 spears of asparagus, trimmed
- 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
- 2 tsp. lemon zest*
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, divided
- 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper, divided
- 4 (6-7 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tsp. olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, Swiss cheese, lemon zest, 1/4 tsp. of the garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.
- Carefully slice a chicken breast horizontally, almost all the way through, but stop before cutting it in half completely. Open the chicken breast like a book so you have a flat, larger surface. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
- Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese mixture evenly over the inside of each opened chicken breast. Place 3 asparagus spears on one side of each chicken breast. Fold the other side of the chicken breasts over the asparagus, enclosing the filling inside. They should now look like stuffed chicken pockets with asparagus tips poking out.
- Arrange stuffed chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir in the oil until well-combined. Divide the breadcrumb mixture over the tops of the stuffed chicken breasts, pressing down lightly to help it stick.
- Bake until an instant read thermometer stuck right into the center of a piece of chicken reads 165°F and the breadcrumbs are browned, 23 to 27 minutes. If breadcrumbs get too brown before chicken is cooked, tent loosely with aluminum foil.
- Transfer chicken off of baking sheet and let rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Serve each portion whole, or slice perpendicular to the asparagus spears for a pretty presentation showing chicken dotted with asparagus.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*If you don’t have lemon zest, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of lemon pepper and then omit the 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper from the filling. Alternatively, a good pinch of ground coriander or dry oregano leaves gets some of the same citrusy tang.
I just want to thank you for being so explicit with your recipes. I’m not a cook, but I love following recipes, and you make it easier by going into so much detail! I can’t wait to try this stuffed chicken.
You’re welcome, Linda. I’m so glad that it’s helpful for you. Let me know how you end up liking the recipe, I really loved this one!