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Cheesy Hasselback Chicken Recipe

Name: Cheesy Hasselback Chicken
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 thick boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 4-6 oz. deli-sliced ham cut into strips about 1″ by 2″; 4 slices cheese cut into strips about 1″ by 2″ (colby jack, pepper jack, cheddar, provolone, etc.); seasoned salt; freshly ground black pepper

(6 votes)
53 Comments3 minutes
March 6, 2023
Andi GleesonJump to Recipe

Dinner Poultry All Time Favorite Recipes

I have brought you Hasselback Potatoes and Hasselback Pesto Bread, but there is a new recipe in town: Cheesy Hasselback Chicken!

You can’t beat a dinner that looks fancy but only uses a few ingredients. This hasselback chicken definitely fits the bill! You can have stuffed chicken ready for the oven in only about 10 minutes, and your family or guests will ooh and ahh when they see this pretty chicken on their plates.

This Cheesy Hasselback Chicken is easy enough for a weeknight dinner but fancy enough for guests!

I got the idea of hasselback chicken from hasselback potatoes, and of course this all made me wonder where that name came from. I was sure it was somehow inspired by David Hasselhoff, but I was sadly mistaken. I guess you can’t find time to sell Lean Pockets AND develop potato recipes…

Actually, hasselback potatoes originated in Sweden at a restaurant called Hasselbacken, thus the name. This hasselback chicken, however, originated in my kitchen, and I can’t wait for you to try it!

Cheesy Hasselback Chicken - A delicious, elegant chicken dish ready in 30 minutes!

I made the ham and cheese-stuffed chicken pictured here with colby jack cheese for the kids, and I used pepper jack for the grownups. You can use just about any melty cheese you’d like! I’m such a spice lover that I might slide some pickled jalapenos between the ham and cheese next time to kick up the pepper jack a little. This is so easy to make, so tasty, so pretty, so… Just try it, OK?!

Cheesy Hasselback Chicken

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.5 from 6 reviews

Print Recipe

You won’t believe how easy it is to make this fancy, delicious chicken dish!

Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

4 thick boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4–6 oz. deli-sliced ham cut into strips about 1” by 2″
4 slices cheese cut into strips about 1″ by 2″ (colby jack, pepper jack, cheddar, provolone, etc.)
seasoned salt
freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Slice slits about 1″ apart in chicken breasts almost all the way through, leaving the bottom surface connected. Slide strips of ham and cheese into each slit.
Sprinkle chicken liberally with seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Place on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve and enjoy!

Author: Andi Gleeson
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 20
Category: Dinner, Poultry
Cuisine: American

Looking for more cheesy goodness? Check out these recipes…

Irresistible Cheesy Pesto Bread #pesto #garlicbread — Irresistible Cheesy Pesto Bread

Easy Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti - Your family's new favorite dinner! — Irresistible Cheesy Pesto Bread

Andi Gleeson

Andi Gleeson is a passionate blogger and mom based in San Francisco who focuses on easy and delicious dinner recipes.

53 comments

I can not WAIT to try the Hasselback Cheesy Chicken! I am 19 days out of a gastric bypass and I do believe I have just found my first real meal! Looking forward to more ymmy, healthy recipes!

Oh thank you! I hope your recovery is going well and that the recipe works out for you!

My maiden name was Hasselback, so finding recipes with that name in them is surprising. Recipes my mother never knew!!

Oh how nice! You should slice and stuff everything you cook to stay true to your name :) Thanks, Jeanette!

Made this tonight with a bacon and cheese! I browned slightly to get a nice crust on it before I baked it. Also made a “gravy” mixture with a can of cream of mushroom soup, little bit of chicken broth, sauteed mushrooms, onions & garlic and poured on top about half way through the cooking time. Was so juicy and tender! Thanks Andi! :)

Thanks, Katie! You really took this one to the next level! I’m sure your version was delicious.

Excelente plato. Por favor compartamenlo. Gracias.

Muchas gracias, Ingrid!

Happy Friday! Just letting you know I featured this recipe in my Deliciously Healthy Low-Carb Recipes Round-Up for April 2015. Great recipe; I hope a lot of my readers will click over here and try it!

Thank you so much, Kalyn! You’re the best! I’ll share it all over the place :)

Can’t wait to make this. Looks and sounds so good. Thank you

Thanks, Gina. I hope you love it!

I made these for supper yesterday. I didn’t have ham but did have bacon. Cut the strips into 4ths. They were delicious! We are eating leftovers tonight. Yum!

You can never go wrong with bacon. I’ll have to try your version next. Thank you, Dalene!

to avoid cutting all the way thru the chicken breast when slicing across – lay the breast along side a wooden spoon handle. Cut just to the wooden handle.

Great tip, Judy. Thank you!

Hi Andi,
Can I use shredded cheese on this very delicious looking plate?

Hi, Eliana. Sure, shredded cheese would work! If you are going to just sprinkle it on top instead of putting it into the slits, you might want to add it halfway through so the cheese doesn’t get overcooked. Hope it turns out well for you!

This recipe has been in my pinterest board for months, and tonight I finally made it. It was delicious! I added a drizzle of honey on each chicken breast too. So good. Thank you for this!

I’m glad it disappoint once you finally got a chance to try it. The honey is such a clever and tasty addition! Thank you, Mica!

I had planned on making this as is but we ended up buying pepperoni instead of ham so what I did was dipped the chicken in olive oil and then Italian breadcrumbs and then put the pepperoni in the slits, after reading the comments about cheese melting I just put shredded mozzarella on top the last 5 minutes. Looks great! Thanks for the inspiration!

Ooh I love your pizza chicken version! That sounds so good, Jamie!

I’m actually surprised at how good this was considering how simple it is. I didn’t have any ham so I just used cheese and then sprinkled the chicken with a bit of red chili flakes. Would definitely make this again. Thanks for the idea!

I’m glad you liked it! I’m often amazed at how good recipes can be with only a few ingredients. I hope you find other recipes to try here too. Thanks, Shari!

Hi Andi, once again a hit at the dinner table. All I had was shredded cheddar jack so I sprinkled that on top, hit it with a little Tony’s Cajun. It’s another keeper!

That is great to hear, Erik! Thank you! Cajun seasoning makes everything better if you ask me :)

The variations in cheese are great. I used hormel thin sliced ham cold cuts (sandwich meat).

Gourmet has never been so simple and quick. Especially with the cost of beef these days!!!

I’m so glad you liked it, Laz! Thanks for taking the time to let me know :)

Going to make this tonight, was thinking about sprinkling breadcrumbs over the chicken!
Let ya know how it comes out!

I hope you enjoyed it, Nicole. The breadcrumbs are a great idea! Thanks for your comment :)

This was GREAT! My mother-in-law came over and I had no clue what to make, so I made this. Big hit even with my two young kiddos! Thanks for the great recipe!!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave this nice comment, Thailia! I am so happy to hear that your family loved this chicken recipe. Have a great week!

Andi you had me at chicken in 30, love this idea!

Thank you, Emily! If a recipe is ready in 30 minutes and involved cheese, I’m a happy cook :)

Looks delicious. I have zero creativity in the kitchen so I’m always impressed with quick and easy meals like this one! Finally stopping by for #SITSBlogging. Happy Saturday!

Hi, Anitra! Thanks so much for stopping by. I am waaaay behind on the SITS comment challenge. I never got the original email, and by the time I found out it was happening and got a friend to forward it to me, I was already behind. I figure people will be just as happy to get a comment in the next week or so, and I’ll get through the list eventually! I hope you are having a good weekend :)

Hello, can you make this with turkey as well, using the exact same temperatures and cooking time?
(I don’t eat ham)

Hi, Sarah! Yes, turkey would work for sure. Happy New Year!

Thanks for the idea – this leads to so many possible variations.

Hi, Elizabeth! I’m glad you like the recipe. Enjoy stuffing a variety of foods in your chicken breasts ;)

It was delicious! But my cheese melted all over the pan. How do you make yours look so pretty?

Hi, Megan. I had a little cheese melt over the edge but it mostly stayed in the chicken. What kind of cheese did you use? I hope you still enjoyed it anyway!

I used pepperjack cheese that I cut from a block. It didn’t look pretty, but it was still amazing. I will make it again soon.

Pepperjack sounds delicious, but maybe it is meltier than the cheddar I used. Glad you still enjoyed it!

The whole family loved this and even the finicky eaters. Thanks

So glad to hear it, Brent! Thanks!

Going to make this tonight because it looks so good.

Thanks, Brent. Let me know how you like it.

I made this tonight and it was an instant hit. Thank you for this one!!!

I’m very glad to hear it, Josh! Thanks so much for letting me know. You just made my day! Hope to see you back soon :)

Looks great Andi—and so easy too. I think I’ll try it tonight.

Thanks, Lori! I think you will really like it.

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