Say the words “goat cheese” and I am all in! This recipe for Crispy Chicken with Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomatoes takes your plain old chicken to flavor country! It is a boneless skinless chicken breast, pounded thin, and filled with a mixture of goat cheese, mayo, garlic, and sundried tomatoes. It then gets rolled up and topped with a crunchy panko breading mixture.
My husband does not feel the same way as I do about goat cheese. He wants nothing to do with it…but he loves fish and it’s not my favorite- so we are even!
Last time he was out of town I made a couple of these and ate them the entire time he was gone. And I loved every single bite!
How to Make Crispy Chicken with Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomatoes
If you love watching cooking shows you can pop over to Pinterest and watch me make this in a 30 minute episode of Pin TV!
Pounding The Chicken
You are going to start by pounding your chicken breasts very thin, about ¼ inch. I like to do this one of two ways:
- Place the chicken in a Ziplock bag on a hard surface. I use a rolling pin, or meat tenderizing mallet like the one linked here. Do this one breast at a time.
- Place the chicken on a solid cutting board. Butterfly it open by cutting it lengthwise, cover the top of the chicken with plastic wrap. Pound the chicken to the desired thickness using a meat mallet or wooden rolling pin.
Crispy Chicken Filling
Make the goat cheese and sun dried tomato filling by mixing together the mayo, goat cheese (it will be easier to mix the goat cheese if it is not straight out of the fridge), fresh garlic, sun dried tomatoes, basil, and a pinch of salt & pepper. You can set that aside for now.
Filling the Chicken
Lay the chicken breasts flat and spread a few tablespoons of the goat cheese mixture over the chicken, covering about ¾ of the surface. Roll the chicken breast over the filling, lightly, making sure the filling does not squeeze out of the sides of the roll up.
Place the breasts seam side down on the sheet pan.
It is ok if some of the cheese mixture gets on the pan while you are rolling them up. It is a messy process, but I promise it turns out beautiful.
Some of the filling will spill out during baking process and it gets all golden and gooey…. those are the super delicious parts you will want to make sure and serve with the chicken…. or sop up with a piece of bread.
Time to Bake
Now season each chicken roll up with a little olive oil and kosher salt and pepper and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes.
While that cooks you can put together the super delish crispy topping. It couldn’t be easier, you stir together the 4 ingredients and season with a little salt and pepper. Make sure the mayo is distributed evenly in the panko bread crumbs.
Pull the par cooked chicken out of the oven and top each breast generously with a HEAP of the panko bread crumb mixture.
Carefully put the chicken back into the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crunchy.
The final cooking time depends on how thick your chicken is! Make sure your chicken reaches 165 degrees internal temp before removing from the oven.
Bread Crumbs vs. Panko Bread Crumbs
Panko bread crumbs are the traditional bread crumbs bigger brother. Where traditional bread crumbs are processed into a finer powder, the panko crumbs are a bigger, drier, and crunchier.
Can I use regular breadcrumbs instead of panko bread crumbs? The answer is unfortunately no, for this recipe. I am sure there are a lot of recipes that the two are interchangeable but this is not one of them. You want the light crispy texture of the panko crumbs.
Make This Recipe Your Own
Here are a few additions you could try to change this recipe:
- Add toasted pine nuts to the goat cheese mixture for a little nutty crunch.
- Get your greens by adding spinach. I would recommend using frozen- thawed spinach that has been completely drained of liquid. Then add it to the goat cheese mixture.
- Put a few chopped artichokes in the goat cheese mixture.
Side Dish Ideas
Crispy Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sun Dried Tomatoes is pretty filling so no need to go crazy with the side items. I like to make a Caesar Salad or Big Italian Salad and my Oven Roasted Asparagus or Green Beans.
More Delicious Chicken Dinner Ideas
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Crispy Chicken with Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomatoes
Equipment
- meat mallet or wooden rolling pin (something to pound the chicken thin)
- parchment or foil
Ingredients
Chicken
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts fresh, not frozen
- olive oil
- kosher salt and black pepper
- non-stick spray
Goat Cheese Filling
- 5 ounce goat cheese log if possible pull it out of the fridge 20 minutes early to soften
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil drained and chopped
- 1 plump garlic clove minced
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- black pepper
Crunchy Topping
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- pinch of salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Cover a rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray.non-stick spray
Prep the chicken
- Pound the chicken breasts to about ¼ inch thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Set aside.Pro Tip: butterfly the chicken open and then pound it thin. You can watch me do this by clicking through to the Pin TV episode.4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Goat Cheese Filling
- In a medium bowl mix together all the ingredients for the goat cheese filling. Stir until it is well combined and there are no clumps of goat cheese remaining.5 ounce goat cheese log, ½ cup mayonnaise, ⅓ cup sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil, 1 plump garlic clove, 1 teaspoon dried basil, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, black pepper
Assembly
- Spread a few spoonfuls of the goat cheese mixture evenly over the flattened chicken breasts, covering about ¾ of the surface.
- Lightly roll the chicken over the filling, like a burrito, try to keep all the filling inside the chicken roll. Lay the chicken rolls seam side down on the prepared rimmed baking sheet. *** This will be messy, but don't worry it will turn out beautifully!
- Season the outside of the chicken with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper.kosher salt and black pepper, olive oil
Baking
- Place the chicken in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the ingredients for the Crunchy Panko Topping. Stirring well so the mayo coats all the panko.1 cup panko bread crumbs, 2 tablespoon mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon dried basil, pinch of salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes
- Remove the chicken from the oven and top it generously with the panko bread crumb mixture. You want this to be a pile of crunchy topping on each chicken breast.
- Carefully place the chicken back in the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes until the topping is golden brown and crispy and the chicken is cooked thru to 165° internal temp.** This time will vary depending how thick your chicken is! Make sure the chicken is cooked through before serving. Check with an instant read thermometer.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes:
If nutrition facts are provided they are calculated as an estimate to the best of our knowledge.
Sheryl Murphy
I’m wondering how these would cook in an air fryer; any thoughts? This looks absolutely delicious. I love goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes! I had never thought of putting a crispy topping on my chicken so I’m looking forward to trying that; but that gets back to my original question about the air fryer. Thanks for sharing!
Susie Weinrich
I have only used an airfryer a handful of times. If you can lay some foil or something under the chicken it will work. Some of the filling spills out and gets all caramelized and yummy during cooking and I could see that being a mess in the airfryer without some foil.
If you try it, definitely report back so others will know too! Thank you for your question!
Holga
Oh that came up so so perfect:) so perfect, that my husband bought everything today, asking to cook more :)))
But truly, so simple, so flavorful. Absolutely adding to my dinners’s rotation :)) thank you