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 made this recipe for the first time last night. We absolutely LOVED it!!!
The recipe is easy to follow and easy to make!!! This will definitely be one of my “go to” recipes!!!
Do you use deli ham or can I use spiral ham I have left over from Christmas?
Leftover spiral ham works great!
Is it possible to make and place in fridge over night, and pop it in the oven the next day after work?
Yes. Enjoy!
Made it just as is – my sauce wasn’t “saucy” but I put it in clumps all over knowing it would melt/spread. Used Costco shredded rotisserie chicken. Did broiler at the end. So easy – comforting and delicious. Thank you
Yes, this is a thick sauce. Using rotisserie chicken is a great time saver! Thanks for that tip.
I never leave comments, but this casserole is absolutely delicious! We ate the leftovers tonight, and if anything it was even more delicious. This may become a weekly dish at our house! My husband is not on Keto, but he loved it, too. I know I will use the sauce on other dishes as well.
Thank you for leaving your comment! I’m so glad you both liked it 😀
I have high cholesterol, and am diabetic. Is there anything you can suggest to reduce the fat and cholesterol? I’m struggling with this diagnosis (3 weeks), and could just cry. I can’t find any recipes that fit this new lifestyle
I’m so sorry Sharon. I am definitely not an expert in this. Have you looked into Trim Healthy Mama? That balances having low fat (healthy carb) and high-fat meals.
May I suggest checking out what Dr Bill Cole has to say about diabetes, cholesterol and inflammation? There is hope but you won’t likely hear the truth from a conventional MD.
Do you mean 4oz of butter (a full stick) or 4T of butter? It’s odd to see a recipe mention butter by the ounce instead of by tablespoon. In your video it looks like you are only using half a stick melted.
4 oz. I do use a whole stick.
I must have misread the recipe without even realizing until now. I have made this 2x only using half a stick and it tastes great!!
I own a soup and sandwich shop. We serve a keto special daily. Yesterday this was our special. Our customers (and myself) absolutely LOVE it. They have requested that I make it daily.
We have a grilled cheese special every Friday and I am making it Chicken cordon bleu with the sauce on the side for dipping.
Thank you for the awesome recipe.
Where is your soup and sandwich shop? Sounds like we need tos too in!!! 🙂
We slow cooked the chicken breasts in broth in order to shred. Followed the recipe. Turned out excellent, Taryn. Family loves it. Thank you!!
This dish is EXCELLENT and SIMPLE! I pre-cooked bone-in chicken breasts, because they’re more moist, in gently simmering water, in the morning.
Wanting to lower the salt content, I used unsalted butter. I used Daiya Cream Cheese (Canada), which is made of pea protein.
When putting the dish together, I wanted to avoid having to clean my food processor, so decided to combine and heat over low heat, all the ‘sauce’ ingredients, including the wine. Served it with Basmati rice and spinach. Yum!
We added a layer of bacon on top of the ham and omitted the salt. Absolutely delicious. My family loves this meal. Thank you
I’m just wondering if I am cooking my chicken beforehand, won’t cooking it in the casserole for 30-40 mins over cook the chicken? Wouldn’t I only need to cook as long as it takes to melt the cheese? Like 10-15 mins?
That depends if you are using hot cooked chicken or cold cooked chicken. I normally make this with leftover chicken that is cold. It takes about 30 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese. Lately, if I want to make this and don’t have cooked chicken already I’ve been using chicken tenders and not shredding them. Just baking until they are mostly cooked, draining any cooking liquid, and then adding the sauce, ham, and cheese.
This is super quick and easy to make – we have added this to our sometimes weekly rotations if not bi-weekly! I do a mix of cooked chicken and rotisserie and it’s a perfect combo. DELISH!
We found this recipe while we were eating keto and loved it so much it has been added to our menu even after stopping the keto diet. The only thing I did differently was added worchestershire sauce to the sauce and omitted the lemon juice (I somehow confused 2 different recipes.. smh). My boyfriend licked his plate clean. Thank you!
Haha. I may lick when my plate clean when making this too 😊
I want to make this tonight. Is it ok not to use butter? Will it still be good without it?
You will need another liquid like chicken broth. I do recommend using the butter though, or some butter, it makes the sauce rich and flavorful.
Did anyone have issues with it being soupy? I had to put it back in the oven because it had so much liquid. I didnt use any wine.
Did you use cooked chicken or raw chicken?
Yes, I sautéed the chicken in olive oil first. It was delicious.
Is this freezeable?
Can I split this recipe and do an 8×8 2x? Freeze one and cook one?
Yes, I’ve had readers freeze this successfully.
Delicious with a few tweaks. I sautéed my boneless skinless chicken breast I’m avocado oil with minced garlic and salt and pepper (will omit salt next time as the salt in the ham really came through after baking). Next I melted the butter and added some garlic ( the Italian in me couldn’t do this recipe sans garlic). Then I pulsed the cream cheese, dijon, butter and lemon juice. I poured the mixture over the chicken and ham. Looked a little dry so I poured some half and half over top. Added cheese and baked. This is a very rich dish. I ate about a half cup of the mixture with steamed broccoli. Will definitely make again. Thanks!
Can I sub the dijon with heavy cream? My husband doesn’t like dijon mustard
Sure. The mustard flavor is very mild in this though.
Absolutely delish and easy! 12 thumbs up with my clan 🙂
Hello. What would be a good substitute for the Swiss? Both my kids and husband hate Swiss. Thanks!
Mozzarella is a good sub. Enjoy!
I use Monterey Jack. It is delish!
I used sharp provalone.
I also used mozzarella!! Kids loved it.