Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
This Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole will knock your socks off. It is so much easier than a traditional rolled and breaded cordon bleu and has even more flavor. With chicken, ham, and swiss in a creamy dijon sauce, you won’t miss the breading one bit. Since you aren’t coating or stuffing the chicken it is quick and easy. This is pure comfort food and an easy main course dinner. This easy recipe is low carb, keto, gluten free, grain free, sugar free, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly.
I love chicken cordon bleu. But it’s always breaded.
This has been on my to-do list since my husband and I went to a fundraiser back in May. They had the best chicken cordon bleu ever. I knew I could make the same flavors into a killer casserole.
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My casserole version was a hit with my family. I wasn’t sure if the kids would like the swiss cheese (honestly, I’m not a huge swiss cheese fan) but it worked so well with this flavor combination there were no complaints.
What is Chicken Cordon Bleu
Here is a little history on this iconic dish (thank you, Wikipedia):
A cordon bleu or schnitzel cordon bleu is a dish of meat wrapped around cheese (or with cheese filling), then breaded and pan-fried or deep-fried. (Veal) cordon bleu is made of veal pounded thin and wrapped around a slice of ham and a slice of cheese, breaded, and then pan fried or baked.[1] For chicken cordon bleu chicken breast is used instead of veal.[2]Ham cordon bleu is ham stuffed with mushrooms and cheese.[3]
The origins of cordon bleu as a schnitzel filled with cheese are in Switzerland, probably about the 1940s, first mentioned in a cookbook from 1949. The earliest reference to “chicken cordon bleu” in The New York Times is dated to 1967, while similar veal recipes are found from at least 1955.[6]
What to serve with Chicken Casserole
I suggest serving this with a green salad or green vegetables such as garlic broccoli or roasted asparagus. You can also serve with keto mashed cauliflower.
What kind of sauce goes with Chicken Cordon Bleu
We love this creamy lemon sauce on our Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole. It is rich with the butter and cream cheese and the lemon juice, mustard, and white wine really help the flavors to pop.
Sometimes I just make the sauce and drizzle on chicken tenders or vegetables.
How to Make Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
First Step: Layer chicken and ham in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
Second Step: Make the sauce and spread it on top.
Third Step: Layer on the cheese.
Fourth Step: Bake until hot, bubbly, and golden.
What to serve with Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu
This is a very rich casserole. Butter. Cream Cheese. Swiss Cheese. You get the drift. So I serve this with lighter side dishes like a green salad, oven-roasted green beans, steamed cauliflower, or roasted asparagus.
Tips & Tweaks
I’ve had readers sub in other mild cheeses like provolone, mozzarella, or Havarti so feel free to tailor this to your family’s tastes.
One of the most important things for this recipe to make sure the chicken is nice and juicy. If the chicken is moist this will be moist and flavorful. If you are started with dry chicken I recommend making 1.5 times the sauce to compensate. Or even doubling it.
You can even save a step by baking chicken tenderloins, draining the cooking liquid, and then proceeding with the recipe. No shredding required!
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Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole – Low Carb
Ingredients
- 6 cups shredded cooked chicken (from about 2 lb chicken)
- 6 oz ham cut into bite size pieces
- 4 oz butter melted
- 6 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp white wine (optional)
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 oz swiss cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Put the chicken in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer the pieces of ham on top.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer combine the melted butter, softened cream cheese, white wine (if using), mustard, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until a thick sauce forms. Spread this sauce over the chicken and ham in the baking dish.
- Lay the slices of swiss cheese on top of the sauce. Bake for 30-40 minutes until hot.
- I broiled it for 2 minutes at the end so the cheese would get more golden and bubbly. If you decided to do that do not leave it unattended. It's very easy to burn the cheese topping.
Video
Notes
- If you have a bottle of dry white wine open it adds a nice flavor. But I wouldn't open a new bottle just for this recipe. Unless you are planning on having a glass while you cook.
- If your shredded chicken is on the dry side you may want to double the amount of sauce or add in 1/4 cup of chicken broth and mix the sauce into the shredded chicken before adding the toppings.
- You can use chicken tenderloins instead of shredded chicken. Just cook, drain the cooking liquid, and then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Nutrition
Originally Published August 31, 2016. Revised and Republished with a new video on May 6, 2019.
I followed the recipe measure per measure and it was great. Shared it with friends at work. It was easy, yet impressive. Thanks.
Absolutely LOVED this! I used 2oz butter and 2oz beef broth and served with roasted asparagus. I will make mashed potatoes next time. Can’t wait to try it again! Thanks for the recipe!
Super easy and very good. I used my Instant Pot to cook the chicken while I whipped up the sauce. When the chicken was done, I diced it instead of shredding it. Layered a nice shave ham from Publix on, then the sauce and thick layer of swiss. Very yummy!
Not sure if this has been addressed previously, but how much is considered one serving? In cups or oz, maybe? 🙂
Sorry, I haven’t weighed or measured it that way. I just cut through the cheese to make 8 squares. Each square is 1 serving.
We followed this exactly except only used 1.5 pounds of chicken and a little less ham. My husband is the carb free guy, so I poured this casserole over white rice and put peas on top (which he also doesn’t eat). Absolutely delicious and we both had a great meal.
I made this last night and it was delicious. My 6 year old daughter loved it. Next time I will make double or 1.5x the sauce (so good!). I melted the butter, softened the cream cheese, and used a hand immersion blender to mix the sauce. No problems. Thanks for the recipe.
You got the right idea, but I had to make a few tweaks.
I used boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin slices. I pan seared them with a very small amount of evoo, S&P….and a teaspoon of garlic. I didn’t have any roasted chicken & wasn’t about to run out and get one & I hate boiled chicken unless it’s in one of my 20 variations on chicken soup! Sorry, just a bit picky about my chicken.
The sauce was fantastic, but making it in a blender is not my idea of easy. A small food processor would have been much easier. It’s to thick to come out of blender easily. However, after making this, it was a bit dry, so I would add 1/4-1/3 cup more dry white wine or chicken stock. I added asparagus to make it a one stop dinner. I also added some thyme. The last 20 minutes, I added smashed ritz cracker crumbs mixed with some fresh Italian parsley & more melted butter (evoo can be subbed for butter)….stirred that together and covered the top with the crumb mixture. After a total of 40 minutes in the oven, I set it to high broil for 2 minutes to give the crumb topping a nice golden color & extra crunch. I used Black Forest ham because it’s what I had. I’d make it again with my list of tweaks.
That sauce was tasty by itself. I can think of a few things I could use that for.
Overall, it was very good!
I think you have a whole new dish here!!
Not sure it’s fair to give a four-star rating when you made a totally different dish!
Thank you, Laurie. I agree completely! Or sometimes people leave 3 or 4 stars when they haven’t even tried the recipe yet.
Started doing a HFLC diet and found this – it was AMAZING. I wanted to lick my plate clean afterwards! I had read some of the comments so I decided to make one and a half times the amount of sauce (but did not mix it into my chicken). I used rotisserie chicken breast meat, and a maple baked ham from the grocery store instead of deli ham, and it was perfect. Will definitely add this into my rotation! Thanks!
I made this for dinner this week using neufchatel, light butter, and the leanest ham I could find to cut down some on the calories. It was absolutely delicious. My sister said it was amazing, better than any chicken cordon bleu that she has ever had, and told me that I absolutely have to make it again. Our mom and I definitely agree….absolutely delicious. My church is having a potluck reception for the new minister tomorrow and I am making it again to take to the potluck tomorrow. Thanks so much for the recipe!!!
Do you suppose I could substitute dairy-free yogurt (in a lesser amount) for the cream cheese? My dairy allergic husband could tolerate a bit of cheese on top if he pops can enzyme pill, but cheese on top of cheese would do him in. 😉 Consequently I can never make all these luxuriously cheesy dishes…
Dairy free yogurt might make this watery. I use mayo as a sub for creamy components of casseroles sometimes. I might try a combo of the df yogurt and mayo. You could even throw an egg yolk in to help thicken it.
I just made this and found that it was incredibly rich and kind of greasy. However, I did really like it and will try to make it again. I read several comments about the sauce separating without a blender. I don’t have a blender, so I just grabbed a friend and we took turns whisking the sauce. It either still didn’t get mixed well enough, or it’s just going to be this greasy no matter what.
I do want to reiterate that we loved the recipe and will definitely be trying it again after making a couple of tweaks (like using a blender) that I think will help. I might also experiment with neufchatel cheese to cut back on the richness a little bit. Although I’m doing the keto diet, I still try to spread out my fats throughout the day as my body doesn’t process fat bombs very well.
I made this and it came out very oily, I was wondering if anyone else experienced this or may know how to cut the oilyness a bit?
Did you blend the melted butter and cream cheese? If they aren’t thoroughly incorporated they can separate.
I’m sorry to use the reply section for my question but I didn’t see a comment button. I was wondering since Chicken Cordon Bleu is usually covered in bread crumbs, I was thinking about sprinkling some on top of the casserole. Should I mix them with butter before I put it on top? We’re not on the Keto diet. Also if I wanted to add a starch to it would you recommend laying a serving of the casserole on top of a bed of rice or egg noodles? Thank you!
Hi Katherine, You can definitely mix bread crumbs with butter and sprinkle them on top. I prefer this with mashed cauliflower so maybe mashed potatoes as your starch? Enjoy!
It was definetly a success.. My husband has been in this keto Diet for about a week and i am worried he has not been not eating well just because i didnot know anything about it. so i jumped on Pinterest and like always it saved my life!! Lol .. This recipe is excellent, very delicious and best of all he loved it and filled him up!!
I made this last night and it was a hit! I used the pre-shredded rotisserie chicken breast that comes in a big package from Costco. I can halve the package and use it for my other recipes. And the rotisserie chicken adds so much flavor, it doesn’t need to many other seasonings besides salt. I want to play around with the seasonings next time I try it, but it is good as is.
Super easy to make and super easy clean up.
It’s beyond hard to find recipes that my wife would like but she LOVES this one. Thank you so much!!
This serves 8. Do you think they would be 1 cup portions or a little more?
I’m sorry but I haven’t actually measured. It’s easy to cut it into 8 pieces. They fall apart a bit but cutting through the cheese helps to measure how big each serving should be.
The nutrition facts says 2g of carbs, is that for the entire thing? Can’t wait to try this !!!
No, that is for one serving. 1/8th of the casserole.
Oh my! This was a hit at my house. Had a wonderful taste and was easy to make !
This has made it into my regular rotation, thanks for the great recipe!
The only thing I don’t love about this recipe is cleaning the blender after making the sauce! 😀 So I’ve switched to using my hand-held mixer instead and it works just as well and is much easier to clean up.
It is so easy to clean a blender. Fill 1/2 full with hot water from faucet, add 1 drop (or 2 drops if large blender) of dish detergent, close it and set back on the motor and blend for a minute. Dump water, rinse out with clean water and you are done.
You also need to take it all apart to dry the blades with a towel so they don’t rust at the base of them. When I make this recipe I will try using a mixer. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
If I were to make/assemble this 24 hrs in advance, would that be ok? Would you just put it all together and put it in the fridge? Thanks!
Sorry wasn’t sure if my comment went through before!! Thank you!
Yes, that would be fine!
How much cottage cheese to use if substituting that for the cream cheese?
The same amount, 6 oz, which is 3/4 cup.
Thank you!!
Hello! Do you think I could make/assemble this 24 hrs in advance, put it in the fridge, and then bake it? Looks delicious and I can’t wait to try!
Yup! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do 😀
If i made this up the night before, would you just cook it longer? or would it be be better to make the night before and just reheat in the microwave? Thanks 🙂
Maybe just 5-10 minutes longer since it will be cold. I would bake it right before serving if you can. Although, leftovers still taste great!