I’ve said it a few times before– I love digging through the stacks of old recipes I inherited from my grandfather. Not only does it have some of his favorites, but also favorites from my grandmother and from my great grandparents. Sometimes, these old, frail recipes are just spot on, and sometimes, they take a little bit of modification to get just right. After giving this recipe a go, I figured out the best way to make it work perfectly, and I cannot wait to share it with you today. If you love pecans, you’re going to love this Pecan Chicken recipe. It’s going to be a dinnertime staple– it’s a little sweet, a lot of savory, and so delicious your whole family will love it! Perfect chicken recipe for dinner.
Start by pounding chicken breasts into a thickness of about 1/4 inch using a meat tenderizer. You’ll want to do this with 6 breasts.
Next, slice cream cheese into 6 even slices, once for each piece of chicken, and place a piece of cream cheese on each chicken breast.
Wrap the chicken around the cream cheese and use toothpicks to hold it in place. I like to make sure I use the same number of toothpicks in each piece, or keep track of how many toothpicks I used, so when we go to eat, we can remove them and no one accidentally ingests or bites one. Let’s not have any choking issues, shall we?
Next comes the fun part. In the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish, slather about 2 Tablespoons of Dijon mustard and 1/2 cup of brown sugar, making sure to cover the bottom really evenly.
Place your chicken on top of the mustard and sugar mixture, then top it with another 2 Tablespoons of mustard, divided evenly over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle the remaining half cup of brown sugar over the mustard.
Top the chicken with 1 cup of pecan pieces, then slip it in the oven at 350 degrees until just done (ours took about 30 minutes, but keep checking because you don’t want to overcook it!)
Seriously, look at how juicy this is. There’s no excuse not to try it (well, unless you have a nut allergy. Then you’re totally off the hook on this one). It’s just perfect for a weeknight because it takes no time. And that whole pounding chicken thing? Perfect for getting some aggression out!
- 6 chicken breasts, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness
- 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, cut into 6 sticks
- 4 Tablespoons Dijon mustard, divided
- 1 Cup brown sugar, divided
- 1 Cup chopped pecans
- Place one piece of cream cheese on each pounded chicken breast and wrap chicken around it, holding the chicken in place with toothpicks.
- In the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, spread half of the mustard and half of the brown sugar to coat the bottom.
- Top brown sugar mixture with chicken pieces.
- Top chicken with remaining mustard and brown sugar, as well as the pecan pieces.
- Bake at 350 until done, approximately 30 minutes, careful not to overcook the chicken.
Tell me about your favorite chicken dish in the comments below!
Yes please!