This is a very easy, lightened up version of Chicken Cordon Bleu. No rolling them. There’s no reason to fuss with that. I make mine layered and open-faced. And, they’re absolutely fabulous! Each generous serving has 259 calories and 7 grams of fat.
Ingredients
- 4 thin boneless, skinless chicken cutlets (4 oz each), see prep tips
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1½ tablespoons reduced-fat butter
- ¾ cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 4 thin slices deli ham, see shopping tips
- 4 slices light Swiss cheese, (¾ ounce each) see shopping tips
Instructions
- Pound chicken into 4 thin pieces. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Place flour in a shallow dish. Lightly dredge chicken with flour on both sides.
- In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard.
- Coat a large, nonstick pan with cooking spray. Add butter and heat to melt over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts and cook 2 minutes on each side, until slightly golden, then transfer to a dish. Note: If your pan isn’t large enough to cook all 4 pieces of chicken, cook in batches. Heat only ¾ tablespoon butter to cook each batch. Set cooked chicken aside on a plate.
- Reduce heat to medium-low, add chicken broth mixture. Mix around, using a rubber spatula, scraping up any bits stuck to pan. Simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce sauce slightly. Return chicken to pan. Top each piece with 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese. Cover pan and simmer over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- To serve: Use a spatula to transfer chicken to each plate. Spoon remaining sauce over each piece of chicken.
Notes
Makes 4 servings. Each serving, 1 piece chicken topped with sauce.
Shopping Tips
There are several brands of light Swiss cheese available. Also known as Jarlsberg cheese. I used Alpine Lace. Trader Joe’s sells (8 oz.) packages of Black Forest ham. It’s uncured and contains ‘no nitrates.’ In addition, most health food markets sell this type of ham. Or, use your favorite lean ham such as Oscar Meyer or even turkey ham.
Prep Tips
To create thin chicken cutlets: For each chicken breast, place into a freezer-type resealable bag. The freezer bag will prevent tearing so that the mallet does not come into direct contact with the raw chicken. Place the bagged chicken on top of a cutting board to protect your countertop. Pound chicken to its desired thickness, using a meat mallet. Most recipes will suggest a thickness of between ¼” and ½.” Remove chicken from bag. Repeat with the other 3 breasts.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 5-Green
WW Points Plus 6
Shopping Tips
There are several brands of light Swiss cheese available. Also known as Jarlsberg cheese. I used Alpine Lace. Trader Joe’s sells (8 oz.) packages of Black Forest ham. It’s uncured and contains ‘no nitrates.’ In addition, most health food markets sell this type of ham. Or, use your favorite lean ham such as Oscar Meyer or even turkey ham.
Prep Tips
To create thin chicken cutlets: For each chicken breast, place into a freezer-type resealable bag. The freezer bag will prevent tearing so that the mallet does not come into direct contact with the raw chicken. Place the bagged chicken on top of a cutting board to protect your countertop. Pound chicken to its desired thickness, using a meat mallet. Most recipes will suggest a thickness of between ¼” and ½.” Remove chicken from bag. Repeat with the other 3 breasts.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 4-Blue
WW SmartPoints 5-Green
WW Points Plus 6
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 piece chicken with sauce 259 calories, 7g fat, 4g sat. fat, 69mg chol, 40g prot, 8g carbs, 0g fiber, 362mg sod, 1g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 134 calories, 3g sat. fat, 1g sugar, 14g protein |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1chickenCalories: 259kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 40gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 69mgSodium: 362mgSugar: 1gBlue Smart Points: 4Green Smart Points: 5Plus Points: 6
Oh yum! I can’t wait to make this for my family! Nettie
Thanks Nettie.
Enjoy your dinner!
My best,
Nancy
This dish is so easy to make and tastes amazing! So glad I found your site… great receipes. Thanks for what you do.
I’m so glad you found my site and enjoyed this recipe! Thanks Carol.
Have fun skinny cooking!
All the best,
Nancy
Thanks so much for continuing to provided Points Plus values. I find none of the new colored plans match those numbers and I’m still using them to maintain my 2019 weight lost using Points Plus.
I’m happy to still provide Points Plus. Many people that use my recipes are still happy with this old plan.
All the best to you in this new year Judy!
Nancy
This turned out great but I had a few struggles. My chicken pieces were bigger than 4 oz and I had no nonstick pan or cooking spray. I got the chicken flattened and cut into smaller portions The cast iron skillet worked out ok. After it was done, I thickened the remaining gravy with 1/2 tbsp cornstarch and poured it over all the cutlets. It was seasoned well enough for me without adding any salt or pepper. I’ll definitely make it again.
Sounds like you had some challenges but you clearly made it all work. In the end, I’m so glad you enjoyed this chicken dish!
My very best,
Nancy