This cajun chicken really packs a punch in the flavor department and it’s relatively easy; which is everything I need in my life right now.
Since I’ve had to be gluten free, I’ve been trying to make my food as flavorful as possible in the hopes that I won’t miss the fact that there is no gluten on my plate. But, I also want it easy because I am not currently in the stage of life that I can spend hours making dinner.
Because of this, I feel like I’m in the rut of the same five dinner ideas that I’m just rotating through. I make my sheet pan sausage and peppers a lot because Devon and I both love it and because it’s insanely simple. I also make pork loins a lot and chicken but I feel like I need to change up the flavors of each so they don’t get super boring.
This chicken dish is everything I needed this past weekend. It was different, flavorful and easy.
If you’ve been here any length of time, you know we appreciate spice in my house…a lot. Especially cajun seasoning and flavors; they have a nice kick of spice with a little bit smokiness, it’s just perfect. For this dish I used McCormick’s Cajun seasoning (which we essentially keep on heavy rotation in our house, but you are welcome to use any cajun seasoning you like) as well as cumin for some depth of flavor, along with pepperjack cheese and sautéed peppers and onions. If you’re not a spice fan; you’re going to want to avoid this at all costs. But, if you are a spice fan; this has your name written all over it.
Did I mention it’s easy? Because it’s really easy. The best part, is at the end it looks like a lot more work went into it than really did.
Basically, all you have to do is dice the onions, peppers, and garlic and saute it until they’ve softened, about 5 minutes.
Set them aside, off the heat to let them cool for a couple minutes; just to make them easier to handle.
Take your chicken breasts and butterfly them open. You want them to lay pretty flat, but you don’t want to slice all the way through the breasts.
Season the chicken well with the dry rub and salt and pepper. Season the outside and the inside.
Load one side of the chicken breast with the sautéed veggies and pepperjack cheese.
Carefully fold the other side overtop and secure with toothpicks. Then pop the chicken into a baking dish with some chicken broth at the bottom and cook at 375 for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temp of 165F.
In the last five minutes of cooking, top chicken breasts with the remaining pepperjack cheese and let it melt and get a little brown over the top.
This is the kind of chicken dish that would be great with any side dish. I served this with rice, but it would be great with pasta (as everything would be) or just veggies.
This chicken was super flavorful and all of the stuffing kept everything super moist (I’m sorry if you hate that word) and juicy. Definitely an easy winner and something that we will be having again!
Cajun Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts butterflied
- 1 Red Bell Pepper small diced
- 1 Green Pepper small diced
- 1 medium Yellow Onion Small diced
- 4-6 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cup Pepperjack cheese shredded
- 1 cup Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth
Seasoning Mix
- 1.5 tsp Cajun Seasoning
- 1 tsp Paprika
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Poultry Seasoning
- 1 tsp Dried Basil
Instructions
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Heat olive oil in a skillet or cast-iron pan (I prefer cast-iron) and add in peppers, onions, and garlic to saute for 5-10 minutes on medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. This mixture is just meant to soften and reduce; they don't really need any color on them. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
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Butterfly chicken breasts. You want to go into the chicken far enough that the breast will lie flat while opened, but you don't want to cut all the way through the chicken. It's best to start the cutting on the thicker side of the breast to even out the surface area.
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Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and the seasoning mix, making sure both sides are nicely coated.
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Add sauteed mix to one side of the butterflied breast and top with some of the pepperjack cheese.
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Fold the other side over the filling and secure the sides closed with toothpicks (may need 2-3 depending on the size of the chicken).
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Pour chicken broth into baking dish and place chicken in the broth/dish. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
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In the last five minutes sprinkle remaining of pepperjack cheese on top of the breasts and put it back in the oven to allow cheese to melt and brown slightly.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
Recipe makes enough for four breasts; however I only made three because I knew that's all we would eat. Feel free to adjust measurements based on amount of chicken you are making.
