Hey, it’s asparagus season! Here in California, asparagus season runs about February through June, and in celebration of this happy time, I’m sharing one of my favorite easy asparagus recipes: Asparagus-stuffed Chicken Breasts. This is a great, simple dinner that’s easy enough for weeknights, but looks good enough to serve for company when you need something foolproof and delicious. It’s also one of those dishes that you have to work really hard to mess up. As long as you have an instant-read thermometer and remember to check on your chicken so you don’t burn or over-cook it, dinner’s going to be great.
Ingredient Notes
Small-to-medium boneless skinless chicken breasts: Stick with smaller chicken breasts for this recipe, about 8 ounces. If using large chicken breasts, your asparagus will burn before the chicken cooks all the way through. Thin asparagus spears: This recipe calls for thin asparagus spears, as that’s my personal preference. You can use medium/average size spears if that’s what you can find, but stay away from the really thick spears. They make the chicken awkward to cut and eat and don’t have the best texture. Panko: If you don’t usually cook with panko, you can typically find it at the grocery store near the breadcrumbs. It has a fantastic crispy crunchy texture that is so good on chicken, but if you want to use regular bread crumbs, you can substitute them here.
How to Make Asparagus Stuffed Chicken
Asparagus-stuffed Chicken Recipe Notes
Toasting the panko in this recipe is optional. It produces a nicer golden-colored crust, and the flavor is a little toastier, but the chicken still tastes great with untoasted panko. To be honest, I usually do this step for guests but skip it when I’m making it on a busy weeknight.
Can I make this recipe in advance and bake it later?
I don’t recommend it, as the panko will get soggy. Instead, you can prep all the ingredients in advance (toast the panko, shred the cheese, trim the asparagus, butterfly the chicken, etc.) and then assemble everything right before baking. If all your ingredients are prepped, the chicken can be assembled and oven-ready in about 10 minutes.
What to Serve with Asparagus-stuffed Chicken Breasts
Asparagus chicken goes very well with orzo (I always serve it with my fav Parmesan Orzo) or rice. You can roast additional asparagus and serve alongside or pair with a different green veggie like Roasted Broccoli, Roasted Green Beans, or Butter and Garlic Green Beans.
My panko keeps burning when I try to toast it. Help!
Don’t worry, you’ve got this. There are a couple tricks to toasting panko without burning it. One, toast it over just medium heat (any higher, and it will burn fast), and once it starts to look like it’s toasting, watch it like a hawk and stir it to keep it moving. Two, cook it only until about 70% of the panko looks toasted and then remove it from heat and transfer it immediately to a bowl. If you wait for every single piece to look perfectly toasted or leave it in a hot pan for too long before pouring it out, it will burn on you. The panko will continue to brown in the oven, so don’t worry too much about getting every single piece golden brown.
Can I halve/double this recipe?
Absolutely. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings in the recipe card (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider.
More Easy Chicken Recipes
Salsa Chicken The Perfect Roast Chicken Chicken Francaise BBQ Baked Chicken Thighs Pesto Chicken Pasta Creamy Asparagus Chicken Pasta
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