Chicken roulade are stuffed with a spinach cream cheese filling and cooked in a flavorful cream-based sauce.
This dish is a simple, delicious family dinner meal idea to add to your weekly dinner rotation.
The idea for chicken roulade came when I was craving beef roulade, but I didn't have beef at home.
You have to know, beef roulade are a typical dish from Central Europe. Austria, Germany, Czechia and Slovakia each have a version of this dish and call them Beef Rouladen in their language (in German Rinderrouladen).
Subsequently, I felt inspired by the flavor-profile of my cream cheese spinach stuffed chicken and came up with a roulade version of that, and that's what this chicken roulade is all about.
By the way, roulade are also known as ballotine!
Ingredients
For the chicken roll:
- Chicken Breast — Each chicken breast is butterflied, flattened and seasoned.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Spinach — Fresh or frozen spinach. If you use fresh, blanch spinach first. If it's frozen, thaw and squeeze out excess liquids.
- Shredded Cheese — I like mozzarella or pizza type shredded cheese.
- Cream Cheese
- Oregano
- Paprika — sweet, hot or smoked.
- Garlic Powder
- Oil — That's to brush over the chicken before roasting.
For the sauce:
- Cream — Heavy cream or table cream.
- Mustard Paste — Best result is with Dijon mustard paste.
- Tomato Sauce — unflavored.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Broth — Veg or chicken broth.
Preparation Overview
Step 1
Flatten butterflied chicken breasts, and season with salt and pepper.
Step 2
Prepare the spinach filling by combining blanched or thawed spinach, shredded cheese, cream cheese, and seasoning.
Step 3
Place on each chicken breast 1-2 tablespoon of spinach filling.
Roll in each chicken breast.
Step 4
Prepare the sauce by mixing cream, mustard, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and broth together.
Step 5
Arrange chicken ballotine next to each other in a baking dish and spread the sauce around the chicken rolls.
Brush each chicken roulade with olive oil.
Step 6
Roast in the oven at 400 Fahrenheit (200 °C) covered for 20 minutes.
Uncover and finish roasting at the same temperature for 10–15 mins.
📖 Recipe
Spinach Cream Cheese Chicken Roulade (Ballotine) Recipe
Ingredients
Chicken Breast
- 3 Chicken Breast butterfly *see Notes
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
Spinach Stuffing
- 1 cup Spinach blanched, *see Notes
- ½ cup Shredded Cheese
- 3-4 Tablespoon Cream Cheese
- 2 Teaspoon Oregano
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- Black Pepper pinch
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
Sauce
- ½ cup Cream table cream or heavy cream, *see Notes
- 1 Tablespoon Mustard
- 3 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Broth veg or chicken
To Roast
- 1 Tablespoon Oil I prefer Olive Oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 400°F (200°C).3 Chicken Breast
- Flatten the butterfly chicken breasts with a meat mallet. Place a clean wrap between the meat and the meat mallet so that the meat doesn't tear.
- Season them with salt and pepper on all sides.1 Teaspoon Salt, ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- Prepare the spinach filling by combining blanched spinach (thawed and drained spinach if frozen), shredded cheese, cream cheese, oregano, paprika, pepper, salt, and garlic powder.1 cup Spinach, ½ cup Shredded Cheese, 3-4 Tablespoon Cream Cheese, 2 Teaspoon Oregano, 1 Teaspoon Paprika, Black Pepper, ¼ Teaspoon Salt, ½ Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Place 1–2 tablespoons of spinach filling on each chicken breast, then roll them up tightly.
- Prepare the sauce by mixing cream, mustard, tomato sauce, black pepper and salt.½ cup Cream, 1 Tablespoon Mustard, 3 Tablespoon Tomato Sauce, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper, ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- Arrange the chicken rolls next to each other in a baking dish, spread the sauce around the chicken rolls.
- Brush each roll with olive oil.1 Tablespoon Oil
- Roast the chicken rolls in the oven at 400°F (200°C), covered with aluminum foil, for 20 minutes.
- Take the dish out from the oven and uncover. Finish roasting at 400°F (200°C) uncovered for 10–15 minutes, or until cooked.
Notes
- Butterfly your chicken, that means to place the chicken breast on a surface and slicing it in half horizontally to create two thinner pieces of meats.
- If you use fresh spinach, you need to blanch your spinach first in boiling water. If you use frozen spinach, thaw and get rid of excess water.
- If you can't get table or heavy cream, use half-and-half, but reduce or skip adding broth (although broth adds flavor) because otherwise your sauce will turn out too liquid. As an alternative, mix soup bouillon powder into your half and half.
Equipment
- Cling Film Optional to place over meat to flatten without tearing into the chicken meat.
- Meat Mallet To flatten butterflied chicken breast.
- 9 x 13" Rectangular Baking Dish to roast your chicken roualde
- Mixing Bowl to prepare the filling and another to prepare the sauce
- Silicone Spatula or Tablespoon
Nutrition
Serving Ideas
This chicken dish is a typical family dinner meal, and you can serve it the same way that you would enjoy a chicken gravy dish.
I, personally, enjoy my stuffed chicken roulade with cooked plain rice, clove flavored rice, cooked buttered pasta or instant wheat berries.
Add to that, steamed, roasted or boiled vegetables to enrich your meal further. That could be broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, or parsnips.
All kinds of mashed vegetable or potatoes or purée can be served with your chicken roulade too because the recipe comes with a sauce. I recommend mashed turnips or, if you prepare this in fall, my carrot pumpkin purée.
Plain bread, buns, or baguette are great too with this dish, or garlic bread.
Storing
To freeze
This dish can be frozen before you cook it. That means prep your chicken roulade as per instruction, except the sauce, and freeze the roulade on a tray in your freezer.
Once hard frozen, place them into a freezer-friendly container and store them back in your freezer. Use them up within 2 months.
Frozen chicken roulade can be thawed overnight in the fridge or thaw them in your oven on a very low-heat setting. Once thawed, prepare the sauce and spread it around the chicken ballotine just as per the remaining recipe instructions.
Leftovers
Keep leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days in your refrigerator. I like to use a glass container which can be used to reheat the chicken in the oven.
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