Herb & Cheese Baked Chicken

I snagged this recipe from my super duper good friend Meg's cooking blog over at Food-Tastic-Sisters.  I love her cooking blog because she puts individual pictures up of every step of the recipe. They all look amazing!  There are so many recipes of hers I want to try.  Go take a look, you won't regret it! :) 


The only thing I would do differently next time is not use the Dijon mustard on the chicken I am serving to my kids.  They both didn't like the tangy flavor, which was a total bummer.  On the other hand, my husband and I both loved it! 

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 to 1 1/4 cups Panko breadcrumbs (must be Panko!!)

1/3 C. grated Parmesan cheese (a FAT handful)

2 tbsp. chopped flat leaf parsley

1 tbsp. chopped rosemary

1 tbsp chopped thyme

1 tbsp. chopped sage

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast (only 3 are pictured)

Olive oil, for drizzling

salt & pepper

about 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

**Meg says for best results use FRESH herbs.  I am sure she is 100% correct; however, I only had dried herbs and it still tasted pretty yummy.  I just decreased the amount by half for the dried herbs.  :) 

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2.  Melt butter in a saucepan on medium heat.  When butter gets bubbly, add minced garlic and cook for two minutes stirring constantly.  It will brown up beautifully. 

3.  Pour the Panko bread crumbs into a dish (I used a casserole pan).  Pour the butter over the bread crumbs.  Stir and let cool.

4.  Add the cheese and all the FRESH herbs.  Mix well.

5.  Place the chicken on parchment paper.  Rub a little olive oil on both sides.  Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. 

6.  Add a little squirt of Dijon mustard to each chicken breast.  Spread the mustard, covering only ONE side. 

7.  Then take chicken, mustard side down, and press into the breadcrumb mixture.  Repeat for all pieces of chicken.  The breadcrumbs should only cover ONE side.  Once covered, I realized  the hefty amount of breadcrumbs that were left over.  So, I took an additional 3-4 tbsp of the breadcrumbs and placed it on top of the chicken.  Then, gently patted it down.  Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until juices run clear. 

 

Meg says (and I agree) that it was tangy, garlicky and crunchy.
The panko breadcrumbs hold their crispy texture and add a nice crunch to the tender chicken.  She paired the meal with Curried Cauliflower Soup (which can be found on her recipe blog, see link above). 

 

 

Source:Food Tastic Sisters