Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash is a relatively low-effort meal that feels luxurious. If you’ve never cooked bone-in chicken breasts before, this is the perfect recipe to ease you in. Bone-in chicken breasts offer so much more flavor than their boneless, skinless counterparts, and I love saving the bones for making bone broth afterwards. Delicata squash, one of my favorite fall ingredients, pairs excellently with the salty gorgonzola and flavorful chicken. Everything is topped off with a quick mustard fig pan sauce that comes together in minutes and makes the whole dish.
Ingredients needed to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash
The ingredient list for this dish looks intimidating, but trust me when I say the entire meal comes together more quickly than you’d expect. This recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. You’ll want to look for a cut labeled “split breasts” at the grocery store. These are simply chicken breasts with the skin on and breast-bone still intact. It looks much more frightening than it is, and I promise the breast can be removed from the bone with one knife cut. I’ll give more specific directions on how to do that below! Here’s the full list of what you’ll need:
- Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
- Delicata squash
- Gorgonzola cheese
- Fresh sage
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh garlic
- Shallots
- White wine
- Chicken broth
- Dijon mustard
- Black pepper
Tools used to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash
This dish is primarily cooked in the oven, so you’ll need an oven-safe skillet (I used my Le Creuset cast-iron skillet) and a baking sheet to cook the chicken and squash. You also need a good, sharp chef’s knife, cutting board, liquid measuring cup, measuring spoons, and a wire whisk. However, if you’re using a nonstick pan, I’d recommend using a silicon-coated whisk such as this one.
Other than that, you’ll need a working oven and stove!
How to make Gorgonzola-Stuffed Chicken with Delicata Squash
I know this recipe sounds like a lot of technical work. It really isn’t. You’ll start by prepping the delicata squash, which is fairly simple since you don’t need to peel delicata! You can eat its skin, which is one of the best parts about it. Halve them lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and cut into ‘c’ shapes. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and pop them in the oven while you work on the chicken.
The chicken is the more technical aspect of this recipe, but I promise you can do it. You’ll want to start by familiarizing yourself with the chicken. If you’ve never seen a split breast before, it’s essentially a boneless-skinless chicken breast that you’re used to seeing just with the breast bone and skin still attached. You’ll see that the breast bone is connected at the bottom and side of the breast, so you will ultimately roast the chicken with the bone facing down and the meaty part facing up.
To separate the skin from the chicken breast, you’ll run your fingers underneath the skin and gently pull it away from the meat, creating a pocket that you can then stuff the gorgonzola-herb mixture inside of. Once the breasts are stuffed with the cheese and herbs, you’ll drizzle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, arrange the shallots around them, and roast them in the cast-iron for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the breast.
When the chicken is finished roasting, transfer it to a cutting board to rest, and return the skillet to the stove over medium heat. Remember that the pan was just in the oven, so you’ll need to use an oven mitt to move the pan around (I’ve burnt myself one too many times by ignoring this tip). You’ll deglaze the pan with the white wine, using a whisk to scrape up the caramelized bits from the bottom, then stir in the chicken broth, dijon, and fig jam. This sauce is a wonderful balance of flavors from the savory chicken drippings, tangy mustard, and slightly sweet fig jam. It’s drinkable.
When it’s time to eat, I like to slice the chicken off of the bone before serving. Simply take your knife and run it along the side of the breast bone, working your way underneath the chicken. It should separate pretty easily. Then, I slice the chicken into pieces crosswise and place them back into the skillet with the mustard fig sauce. I then arrange the delicata squash around the sliced chicken, making sure it gets nestled in the sauce too.
This dish is so comforting and delicious, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Looking for other delicious chicken dishes?
Try these recipes from The Ardent Cook!
Red Curry Pulled Chicken with Turmeric-Lime Rice
Quick(er) Chicken Shawarma with White Sauce
Recipe Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
3 large delicata squash
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more
½ cup gorgonzola cheese, room temperature
2 tsp fresh sage, minced
2 tsp fresh thyme, stems removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 medium shallots, halved, skins removed
½ cup white wine
¼ cup chicken broth
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp fig jam
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
Recipe Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the delicata in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Slice each half into half moons about ¼-½ inch thick.
- Arrange delicata on a sheet tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes, tossing half-way through.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine room temperature gorgonzola, sage, thyme, and garlic. Use a fork to mix the herbs thoroughly into the cheese.
- Pat chicken dry with a paper towel, then pull the skin up to separate it from the chicken. Be careful not to tear it completely off, you just want a pocket between the skin and chicken. Stuff the cheese mixture underneath the skin on each breast, using your finger to spread it out into an even layer under the skin.
- Place chicken in a large oven-safe skillet or baking dish, then arrange the shallots around the chicken. Drizzle chicken breasts with a little oil, salt, and pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts. The chicken is finished when the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the chicken and allow it to rest on a cutting board for at least 10 minutes. Return the pan to the stove over medium heat, and add the wine. Use a whisk to scrape up the caramelized bits from the bottom of the pan, then whisk in the chicken broth, mustard, and fig jam. Allow the sauce to reduce for 5-7 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the bone. Using a chef’s knife, run your knife along the side of the breast where it meets the bone and cut, curving around the bottom of the breast until the meat separates. Slice into pieces crosswise, then place chicken back in the skillet with the mustard fig sauce.
- Arrange the delicata around the sliced chicken in the skillet, and serve it family-style. Enjoy!
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