Stuffed Chicken in Phyllo

Originally posted in December 2008.  I decided to take a newer photo and repost with a slight edit to the recipe.  I remade these recently to share with friends, and as always, they were a huge hit and enjoyed by everyone.  They do reheat beautifully, especially if you have a toaster oven so that they can crisp up again without being over cooked.

Now, for the original post: 

I’m about to share a secret with you. It’s a recipe that my mother-in-law makes every year for Rosh Hashanah. It’s a once a year thing she makes. I fell in love with her Stuffed Chicken in Phyllo the first time I tried it. It looks very impressive when it’s served and the chicken is moist and cooked perfectly. This is something that is perfect for a holiday meal or for serving to guests in the fall or early spring months.

Now, I had to have her actually show me how she rolls the chicken and then wraps it in phyllo dough as I had never worked with it before. Many people are intimidated by phyllo dough because it can rip very easily. She makes a special trip to The Greek Store (yes, that really is the name!) to get fresh phyllo rather than the frozen kind you buy at the regular grocery. If you can get fresh, that is the easiest to work with because it has not had to be frozen and defrosted. If you don’t have a place that sells fresh, go ahead and work with the frozen dough, just buy a couple of extra boxes so that you will have plenty to work with when wrapping the chicken.

As for the stuffing, you could use your own homemade stuffing but we pick up a box of Stovetop to keep it simple. If you are making about 12-15 pieces one box should be more than enough for filling them adequately.

Edited to add a nicer photo than appeared originally on this post.  

I served these last Saturday when we had some friends over for dinner and they were well-liked by everyone – in spite of them not being as browned as I would have liked. They were cooked perfectly! I will be sharing another recipe from that evening later this week.

Check out these recipes from around the food blogging world:

The Dinner Rolls Judy made at No Fear Entertaining would be a wonderful addition to this meal.

A quick dinner of Rigatoni with Sausage and Smoked Mozzarella from Elly Says Opa! Looks like true comfort food.

Happy Holidays and Happy Cooking! More to come from the dinner from last weekend so, check back in to see what else I made!

Stuffed Chicken in Phyllo

Source: Family recipe, Momk

Ingredients

• 8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, sliced in half and then, pounded to about 1/4 inch thickness
• 1 box of Stovetop Stuffing (prepared & cooled - or you can make your own)
• Several boxes of fresh phyllo dough (if you can find it, I have only found frozen, and the extra boxes are key when the sheets rip!)
• melted butter - approximately 1 cup
• plain bread crumbs - approximately 1/2 cup

Directions

1. Lay the chicken breast flat, and put about 2-3 tablespoons of the stuffing toward one end of it. Roll up the chicken breast and set aside in a dish. Repeat with all breasts.
2. Lay out one sheet of phyllo dough, brush with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. 
3. Add a 2nd sheet on top of the first and repeat with the butter and bread crumbs. 
4. Finally, add a 3rd sheet on top and only brush on the butter. 
5. Next, place one of the rolled chicken breasts at one end and carefully enclose it (kind of like making a paper envelope, just keep folding the ends in until you get to the end of the sheet).
6. Brush with butter one last time and place on a foil covered baking sheet.
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven (350 degrees) for 25 minutes. Then, cover with foil lightly to prevent over-browning and continue to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.