Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Quinoa and Peppers. Boneless chicken breasts stuffed with quinoa and bell peppers and roasted in the oven.
I eat a lot of chicken: boneless and bone-in chicken breasts and thighs, chicken legs, chicken wings, ground chicken, and chicken sausage. You get the idea. Cooking chicken can be very simple, or complicated, depending on what your going for. For the most part, with busy schedules, finding the time for complicated chicken recipes is just not something everyone can do. That being said, cooking chicken breasts the same way, over-and-over again, can become boring and the chicken will be unexciting to eat.
One way to mix-it-up, when it comes to preparing chicken breasts, are to stuff them. That is where this recipe for stuffed roasted chicken comes into play.
Stuffing the chicken will increase the difficulty level slightly, but the reward are super juicy chicken breasts stuffed with a delicious filling. The difficulty arises because you will need to butterfly-cut the chicken breast in order to stuff them. If you have done this before, than this recipe will not be very difficult for you. If you have never butterfly-cut a boneless chicken breast before, than this recipe will present an increased level of difficulty.
It is not super difficult to butter-fly cut a chicken breast, it is just one of those things that you need to do a few times to get comfortable with it. When you butterfly-cut the chicken, you are cutting the chicken breast horizontally through the middle, but not fully through the meat, in order to split the chicken breast and fold it over like a book.
This technique is useful for boneless chicken breasts because it allows you to create a piece of chicken that is uniform in thickness, which is easier to cook evenly. With the chicken butterflied, you can bread it and fry it for a juicy chicken cutlet, layer ham and cheese on the chicken and roll it up to make cordon bleu, or stuff the chicken with a delicious filling.
In this recipe we are making stuffed chicken breasts with quinoa that is mixed with peppers, onions, and garlic.
NOTE
Before beginning the recipe remember to read the “Invent Your Recipe” section below for additional suggestions, recipe combinations, or ingredient alternatives.
How to Make Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Quinoa and Peppers
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
Preparing the Quinoa:
- Prepare the quinoa according to the package instructions for 1 cup of quinoa.
Preparing the Chicken:
- Clean and trim the fat from the chicken breasts. Next, butterfly cut the chicken breasts and set aside.
Preparing the Quinoa Stuffing:
- In a large skillet add in the extra virgin olive oil and bring to a high heat. Next, add in the garlic and sauté until golden, about 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add the onion, bell peppers, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.
- Next, add in the cooked quinoa and cook for 2 minutes, ensuring to mix all of the ingredients well. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Stuffing the Chicken:
- On a large cutting board lay out chicken breast. Add enough stuffing to cover one half of the chicken breast (about 2 tbsp.) and then fold over the remaining half of the chicken.
- Next, using the butcher’s twine, tie the chicken together to hold in the stuffing and then place on a baking sheet.
- Repeat this process until all of the chicken is stuffed, tied, and placed on the backing sheet.
Cooking the Chicken:
- Season the top of the chicken with ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. black pepper.
- Place the chicken into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees.
How to Serve Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Quinoa
- Place the stuffed chicken breasts with quinoa on a serving tray or large plate. Serve with a side of rice or roasted potatoes.
More Chicken Recipes To Try
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Spinach and Artichoke Chicken. Chicken bites sautéed with garlic, diced tomatoes, artichokes and spinach.
Baked Chicken Recipe
Baked Chicken and Garden Vegetables. Vegetables from the garden seasoned and baked in extra virgin olive oil with chicken.
Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe
Perfect Whole Roasted Chicken Recipe. A whole chicken seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika and roasted over a bed of vegetables.
The Recipe
Stuffed Chicken Breast with Quinoa
Ingredients
- 4 boneless chicken breasts
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 bell peppers diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- butchers twine
- water for the quinoa
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
Preparing the Quinoa:
- Prepare the quinoa according to the package instructions for 1 cup of quinoa.
Preparing the Chicken:
- Clean and trim the fat from the chicken breasts. Next, butterfly cut the chicken breasts and set aside.
Preparing the Stuffing:
- In a large skillet add in the extra virgin olive oil and bring to a high heat. Next, add in the garlic and sauté until golden, about 1-2 minutes.
- Next, add the onion, bell peppers, ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally.
- Next, add in the cooked quinoa and cook for 2 minutes, ensuring to mix all of the ingredients well. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Stuffing the Chicken:
- On a large cutting board lay out chicken breast. Add enough stuffing to cover one half of the chicken breast (about 2 tbsp.) and then fold over the remaining half of the chicken.
- Next, using the butcher’s twine, tie the chicken together to hold in the stuffing and then place on a baking sheet.
- Repeat this process until all of the chicken is stuffed, tied, and placed on the backing sheet.
Cooking the Chicken:
- Season the top of the chicken with ½ tsp. salt, and ¼ tsp. black pepper.
- Place the chicken into the oven and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken is 160 degrees.
To Serve:
- Place on a serving tray or large plate. Serve with a side of rice or roasted potatoes.
Invent Your Recipe
Nutrition
Invent Your Recipe:
Boneless chicken breasts can get a little boring to cook and to eat. How many times a week can you bake chicken breasts and really enjoy them? Well, for a change of pace, sauté some vegetables and stuff them into the chicken breasts before baking. A just like that a fancy stuffed chicken breasts recipe.
For this recipe I am adding quinoa to the mixture for some extra heartiness and texture. As an alternative to stuffed chicken breasts with quinoa, I have used brown rice and couscous before as part of the stuffing.
For the vegetables, I kept this recipe simple with the peppers and onions. But one of my other favorite combinations is mushrooms and spinach sautéed with garlic in extra virgin olive oil.
For more great ideas like this stuffed chicken breasts with quinoa and peppers dish, check out this page here.
For even more inspiration check out our Pinterest page.
