Chicken cordon bleu is quickly cooked to crispy perfection in the air fryer. This classic chicken recipe is always a crowd favorite, and now it's ready to serve in a fraction of the time. Chicken breast is rolled with ham and cheese and breaded with panko and parmesan before being air fried.
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Chicken cordon bleu might sound like fancy French food, but the reality is is that this is a super quick and easy weeknight meal that you can serve up any day of the week!
Cooked in the air fryer, this traditional chicken cordon bleu recipe is easy to prep and quick to cook. The chicken is perfectly juicy and tender and the panko breading is extra crispy.
Perfect for a family meal, but tasty enough to serve to company. It's so easy to make this classic chicken recipe with our trusty air fryer!
Be sure to try my Air Fryer Chicken Fried Rice and Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs too!
Why you will love this recipe!
- Healthier: Traditionally, to get the breading super crispy, the chicken cordon bleu is fried. Cooking it in the air fryer means you need way less oil to get the same crunchy texture.
- Make ahead: If you are serving this to guests, you can easily prep the chicken ahead of time and then just quickly cook it when you are ready to serve.
- Quick and easy: Simple to prep and quick to cook, you can be serving these up in less than 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- Chicken: Chicken breasts are best to use for this recipe. Use larger breasts that are easier to roll.
- Salt and pepper: To season the chicken.
- Mayo and dijon mustard: This adds flavor to the chicken and helps to keep it nice and juicy during cooking.
- Ham: I use black forest ham.
- Cheese: Traditionally Swiss cheese is used for chicken cordon bleu, but any sliced cheese will work well.
- Flour and egg: To dredge the chicken breast.
- Panko and parmesan: Panko makes for a super crispy coating, and I like to add in a little parm for extra flavor.
- Oil: For browning and even cooking. Any high heat neutral oil will work well, like vegetable, canola or avocado.
How to make air fryer chicken cordon bleu
- Cut the chicken breast in half and pound thin (photo 1).
- Top with mayo and mustard, a slice of ham and cheese (photo 2).
- Roll up the breast and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill (photo 3).
- Dredge the chicken and coat in the breading (photo 4).
- Air fryer til cooked through, golden brown and crispy (photo 5).
Recipe Variations
This is a pretty traditional chicken cordon bleu recipe, sometimes you just shouldn't mess with perfection! If you like, you could season the chicken breast with dried herbs for a different taste, or use a different type of cheese or ham for the filling.
Frequently Asked Questions
This classic dish is thought to have been adapted from a French dish called veal kiev, which was popular in Paris in the late 1840s. Veal was replaced with chicken in Moscow. The dish became popular in America in the 1960s.
Cordon bleu translates to 'blue ribbon', in France, the blue ribbon was the highest order of knighthood, so they must have thought it was pretty tasty!
Chicken cordon bleu and Kiev are really similar. In a Kiev recipe, the chicken breast is stuffed with garlic butter instead of the ham and cheese, but they are pretty much prepped and cooked the same way.
Chicken breasts are best to use for this recipe. Cut them in half and then pound them to an even thickness. Thighs are smaller and have a less even shape, though can work in a pinch. You will need to cook them for an extra few minutes til they are fully cooked through.
Traditional chicken cordon bleu is fried, heat a good amount of oil in a skillet on a high heat and cook on both sides til cooked through and golden brown.
You can also oven bake the chicken at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes. Like the air fryer, it's best to spray some oil on the chicken to help it brown.
Serving Suggestions
This air fryer chicken cordon bleu is great when served with a thick and creamy dijon or white wine sauce. It's great served up with favorite sides like:
- Roasted White Asparagus
- Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
- Red Skinned Mashed Potato
- Creamy Tarragon Mushrooms
Make Ahead, Storage and Reheating
You can roll the chicken breast with the ham and cheese and cover with the plastic wrap up to a day ahead of serving. Once breaded, they can keep covered in the fridge for a couple of hours before being cooked.
Once cooked, this recipe is best served straight away so that the chicken is nice and juicy, but, leftovers will keep well for 3 days. Reheat in the air fryer at 360F for 5 to 8 minutes to heat through.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- For best results and ease, use large chicken breasts. If using smaller ones, you may want to secure them with toothpicks to hold them together.
- When you pound the chicken breasts, cover both sides with a piece of plastic wrap so that it doesn't stick and rip.
- Wrap the stuffed breasts tightly in the plastic wrap so that they hold together.
- Don't be tempted to over do the cheese and ham. If you add more slices they will be difficult to roll.
- Panko breadcrumbs make the coating super crispy, though you can use regular if that's what you have to hand.
- If you don't have an oil spray bottle, pour a little oil into your hands to coat the chicken before cooking.
- If you have an instant read thermometer, when cooked the chicken should register at 165F. The chicken should be an even white color when it is cut into.
- Let the cooked chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving to let the juices redistribute.
This air fryer chicken cordon bleu recipe is sure to impress! So much quicker, easier and healthier to cook, every bite is super tasty and flavorful.
More Chicken Recipes
- Crispy Fried Chicken Parmesan Sliders
- Bacon Wrapped Cranberry Brie Stuffed Chicken
- BLT Chicken Avocado Salad
- Chorizo Chicken
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Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large chicken breast
- salt and pepper (for seasoning)
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- ½ tablespoon mayonnaise
- 2 slices ham
- 2 slices Swiss cheese (or other sliced cheese)
- ¼ cup flour
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- oil
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breasts in half to make two thinner whole pieces.
- Place a large piece of plastic wrap over a chopping board and place one of the pieces of chicken in the middle. Pull over the plastic wrap over the top of the chicken to cover it.
- Use a mallet or rolling pin to pound the chicken out so that it's thin and even.
- Season both sides with salt and pepper and lay it back on the plastic wrap.
- Mix together the mustard and mayo and spread some of it over one side of teh flattened chicken. Top with a slice of ham and cheese.
- Roll up the chicken breast into a pinwheel and use the clingfilm to wrap it and secure tightly. Repeat with the other bit of chicken.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Add the flour to one bowl, beat an egg in another and add the panko and parmesan to a third.
- Take the chicken out of the fridge and unwrap. If it doesn't hold together you can secure it with a toothpick, but remember to remove before serving!
- Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, coating well all over on each layer. Set to one side.
- Preheat the air fryer to 350F.
- Once hot, spray the basket with oil and place in the pieces of chicken. Spray the tops again with oil.
- Set to cook at 350F for 18 minutes. Halfway through cooking, spray again with oil to make it extra brown and crispy.
Notes
- For best results and ease, use large chicken breasts. If using smaller ones, you may want to secure them with toothpicks to hold them together.
- When you pound the chicken breasts, cover both sides with a piece of plastic wrap so that it doesn't stick and rip.
- Wrap the stuffed breasts tightly in the plastic wrap so that they hold together.
- Don't be tempted to over do the cheese and ham. If you add more slices they will be difficult to roll.
- Panko breadcrumbs make the coating super crispy, though you can use regular if that's what you have to hand.
- If you don't have an oil spray bottle, pour a little oil into your hands to coat the chicken before cooking.
- If you have an instant read thermometer, when cooked the chicken should register at 165F. The chicken should be an even white color when it is cut into.
- Let the cooked chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving to let the juices redistribute.
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