keto chicken cordon bleu feature 1
Dinner, Low Carb

Classic Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

Swiss cheese rolled up inside black forest ham, stuffed inside a chicken breast and coated with a crunchy crust, this Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu is classically delicious. Serve it to your friends and family alongside roasted vegetables and cheese sauce for a show-stopping meal!

Keto chicken cordon bleu on a plate with garlic sauteéd broccolini and covered with keto cheese sauce.

Chicken cordon bleu has been one of my most favourite entrees, ever since I was a little girl. Every year my Mom would ask me what I wanted for my birthday dinner, and every year was the same answer: chicken cordon bleu.

It was a labour of love for my Mom to stuff a dozen chicken breasts with rolled up ham and cheese, bread them, bake them and make a delicious cheese sauce to pour over top for serving. Of course it was about three times as much work because she used to hand stitch every breast closed using a sewing needle and thread! Not only is that way more work to prepare, but we would all be at the dinner table removing our threads before we ate!

Keto chicken cordon bleu on a plate with garlic sauteéd broccolini and covered with keto cheese sauce.

Why you’ll love this Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

  1. Classically delicious, this dish involves stuffing chicken breast with rolled up ham and Swiss cheese, then we create a crunchy coat using almond flour and parmesan cheese!
  2. You won’t have to skip on flavour to keep it healthy with this Low Carb Chicken Cordon Bleu.
  3. Family approved! This dish is just so tasty, no one will even know it’s low carb!
  4. We use toothpicks to hold the low carb chicken cordon bleu together instead of hand stitching with thread… it’s just a LITTLE bit easier to prep and serve. 😅

Ingredients

All ingredients used in this Keto Chicken Alfredo.

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – boneless skinless chicken breasts can be very pricey unless on sale. It is very simple to remove the bone and skin, and can save quite a bit of money. Watch this video to learn how to do it yourself!

Swiss cheese – I prefer Swiss cheese in my keto chicken cordon bleu because it holds it’s shape fairly well once it melts and also has a nice mild flavour that does not overwhelm the other flavours. Other good choices would be gouda or mozzarella, and you could even add a bit of smokey flair by using a smoked gouda or smoked mozzarella!

Parmesan Cheese – Although there is nothing like freshly grated parmesan cheese, in this recipe I like to use the shelf stable parmesan that comes in plastic shakers because it makes the BEST crust for chicken!

How to make Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

Prep

Before we start prepping the chicken, turn the oven on to 375°. I like to have my station fully set up so that nothing needs to be prepped once the raw chicken has been touched. This means the egg wash and breading are beside the cutting board along with the baking dish and rolled up ham and Swiss.

Grab a medium mixing bowl and add the almond flour, parmesan, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Mix well and then set the bowl beside your work station. Take a shallow bowl or soup plate and crack in the egg. Add 2 tbsp water and whisk well, then set the dish beside your work station with the breading bowl.

Slice the Swiss cheese into four pieces, roughly 3.5″ x 1″ and 1/4″ thick. This is just a rough estimate! Take a slice of ham and roll it around a slice of cheese. Repeat three more times, then set them aside. Grab a handful of sturdy 4″ toothpicks and then you’re ready to build the low carb chicken cordon bleu!

Cutting board with rolled up ham and Swiss cheese.

Build

Take a sharp knife and slice it horizontally through the center of a chicken breast, creating a pocket inside for the ham and cheese. Make the pocket as large as possible without breaking through the other side.

Chicken breast sliced horizontally so that it has a pocket.

Stuff a rolled up ham and cheese inside the newly created pocket. Keep working the breast until the ham is nestled inside without any protruding from the pocket.

Working the ham and Swiss roll into the chicken breast.

Close the opening and seal it shut with toothpicks like shown in the photo below.

Chicken breast sealed shut with toothpicks.

Repeat with the other three breasts.

All four breasts sealed with toothpicks, ready to be breaded.
workstation prepped with the prepared chicken breasts, egg wash, almond flour mixture and baking dish.

Toss each chicken breast around in the egg wash and then in the breading before placing it in the baking dish. Once the four breasts have been coated, dip the top of each breast in egg wash and then again in the breading, so that the top of each low carb chicken cordon bleu has been breaded twice. You may repeat until all of the egg wash and breading have been used up!

keto chicken cordon bleu all prepared, in the baking dish, ready to be baked.

Bake in the preheated oven until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 180°, about 35-45 minutes. Serve each Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu with Keto Cheese Sauce and your favourite keto side dishes!

keto chicken cordon bleu hot from the oven.

Expert Tips

  1. Raw chicken can make you and your guests very sick. Anything that it comes into contact with needs to be sanitized before touching anything else. This includes your hands, knife and cutting board. Do not touch anything after working with chicken before properly sanitizing your hands.
  2. When creating the pocket in the chicken, be careful to keep the knife level, otherwise you could cut too high and cut right through the top, or cut too low and cut through the bottom of the breast.
  3. To get more from your egg wash and breading, use one hand only for the egg wash and the other hand only for the breading! This will keep more for your chicken and less on your hands!
Keto chicken cordon bleu sliced in half to show the ham and melted cheese inside.

Side dishes to pair perfectly with Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

For more low carb recipes make sure to check out our blog on 61 Easy Low Carb Dinners That Are Quick and Family Approved.

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keto chicken cordon bleu feature 2 1

Classic Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

Coated with a crunchy low carb crust, this Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu is stuffed with Swiss cheese, black forest ham and is classically delicious!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Entree, Main Course
Cuisine Canadian, Low Carb
Servings 4 servings
Calories 451 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts *see note 1
  • 4 slices black forest ham
  • 80 g Swiss cheese *see note 2
  • ¾ cup almond flour
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese *see note 3
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ½ tsp ground black pepper
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp water

Optional

  • Keto Cheese Sauce

Instructions
 

Directions

    Prep

    • Heat the oven to 375°. In a medium sized mixing bowl add the almond flour, parmesan, sea salt, black pepper and garlic powder. Mix well and then set the bowl beside your workstation.
    • Crack an egg into a shallow bowl or soup plate. Add 2 tbsp water and whisk well, then set the dish beside your work station with the breading bowl.
    • Slice the Swiss cheese into four pieces, roughly 3.5" x 1", 1/4" thick and 20 g each. This is just a rough estimate! Take a slice of ham and roll it around a slice of cheese. Repeat three more times, then set them aside. Place a handful of sturdy 4" toothpicks on your workstation and then you're ready to build the low carb chicken cordon bleu!

    Build

    • Take a sharp knife and slice it horizontally through the center of a chicken breast, creating a pocket inside for the ham and cheese. Make the pocket as large as possible without breaking through the other side *see note 5.
    • Stuff a rolled up ham and cheese inside the newly created pocket. Keep working the breast until the ham is nestled inside without any protruding from the pocket. Close the opening and seal it shut with toothpicks (see photos above for reference), then repeat with the other three breasts.
    • Toss each chicken breast around in the egg wash and then in the breading before placing it in the baking dish *see note 6. Once the four breasts have been coated, dip the top of each breast in egg wash and then again in the breading, so that the top of each keto chicken cordon bleu has been breaded twice. You may repeat until all of the egg wash and breading have been used up.
    • Bake in the preheated oven until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 180°, about 35-45 minutes. Serve hot with Keto Cheese Sauce and your favourite keto side dishes!

    Video

    Notes

     

    1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts can be very pricey unless on sale. It is easy to remove the bone and skin, and can save quite a bit of money. Watch this video to learn how to do it yourself!
    2. I prefer Swiss cheese in my cordon bleu because it holds it’s shape fairly well once it melts and also has a nice mild flavour that does not overwhelm the other flavours. Other good choices would be gouda or mozzarella, and you could even add a bit of smokey flair by using a smoked gouda or smoked mozzarella!
    3. Although there is nothing like freshly grated parmesan cheese, in this recipe I like to use the shelf stable parmesan that comes in plastic shakers because it makes the BEST crust for chicken!
    4. Raw chicken can make you and your guests very sick. Anything that it comes into contact with needs to be sanitized before touching anything else. This includes your hands, knife and cutting board. Do not touch anything after working with chicken before properly sanitizing your hands.
    5. When creating the pocket in the chicken, be careful to keep the knife level, otherwise you could cut too high and cut right through the top, or cut too low and cut through the bottom of the breast.
    6. To get more from your egg wash and breading, use one hand only for the egg wash and the other hand only for the breading! This will keep more for your chicken and less on your hands!
     
    Nutrition Facts
    Nutrition facts are an estimate only! The ingredients you choose could have different nutritional values than the ingredients I have used.
    Deduct fibre from the total carbs to get 2 g net carbs per chicken cordon bleu.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1chicken cordon bleuCalories: 451kcalCarbohydrates: 4.3gProtein: 57gFat: 27.4gSodium: 855mgFiber: 2.3g
    Keyword keto chicken cordon bleu, low carb chicken cordon bleu
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    14 thoughts on “Classic Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu

    1. Awesome that you can make a healthier version of this meal! It would be a real challenge but we’d love to try make a vegetarian version of this using seitan

    2. Andrea Howe says:

      5 stars
      OMG I’m dying laughing over here…a needle and thread?! I can’t believe this! LOL. Your prep is definitely the way to go 😉 sorry Mom! I’ve always been intimidated to make this because of the stuffing process. Love how you roll up the cheese inside the ham. Genius. Can’t wait to try!

      1. Aleta says:

        Yes it sure was a process!!

    3. Amanda says:

      5 stars
      I love chicken cordon bleu, so I was really excited to find a keto version, so it doesn’t just have to be a special occasion-type meal. The crust had such a nice crisp texture to counter the cheesy, creamy filling.

      1. Aleta says:

        So glad you liked it Amanda!

    4. Heidy says:

      5 stars
      Wow this Classic Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu was to die for delish! I followed the recipe to the letter and it came out perfect. I’m so glad I made this and will be sharing your recipe link with a few friends and family members.

      Have a wonderful evening
      H

      1. Aleta says:

        Thanks Heidy! So glad it turned out so well for you 🙂

    5. Mama Maggie's Kitchen says:

      5 stars
      This Keto Chicken Cordon Bleu looks SO deliciously good. I wish I could eat that right now!

    6. Anna says:

      5 stars
      What a great, classic recipe! Your step-by-step photos made the whole process really easy to follow and the chicken turned out utterly delicious!

      1. Aleta says:

        That’s great! Thanks Anna!

    7. 5 stars
      This is such an exotic and delicious recipe. I can imagine its deliciousness and I am sure its a crowd pleaser. Its on my to do list for the coming week and then i will update you on how it went.

    8. Neha says:

      Such an inviting chicken cordon bleu recipe! I so need to try this out for a weekend dinner party that I am hosting.

    9. 5 stars
      I also loved chicken cordon bleu when I was young! Haven’t made it for ages but going to make your keto version this week. Looking forward to it!

      1. Aleta says:

        I hope you enjoy Jacqueline!

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