On the burner, white rice can be cooked to perfection. Rice that has been sautéed first helps keep the rice grains apart. It is crucial to keep the pot covered the entire time the rice is cooking since this traps the steam that is essential for the rice to be cooked properly. The rice can finish cooking in the remaining steam for the final five minutes of cooking time without getting burned on the bottom.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
| Yield: | 4 sandwiches |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
- 1 teaspoon butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup diced smoked ham
- ½ cup diced onion
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ½ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons Dijon mustard
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 cup diced cooked chicken breast
- ¼ cup diced dill pickles
- 4 (1/2 inch thick) slices toasted French bread
- ¼ cup shredded Gruyere cheese
- 1 tablespoon melted butter, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- Combine bread crumbs and 1 teaspoon melted butter in a small bowl.
- Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir ham and onion in melted butter until onion turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in thyme and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until flour has lost its raw smell, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour in 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk. Place saucepan back over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thick, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and add 1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese, Dijon mustard, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine.
- Stir chicken and diced pickle into cheese sauce.
- Place toasted bread slices on the prepared baking sheet. Brush one side of each bread slice with 3/4 teaspoon melted butter. Turn slices over and top each with 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon shredded Gruyere cheese over the top of each sandwich. Top with bread crumb mixture.
- Bake sandwiches in the preheated oven until cheese is bubbling and chicken mixture is hot, 15 to 20 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 384 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 78 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Sodium | 741 mg |
| Sugars | 4 g |
| Fat | 23 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Followed recipe. Everyone liked it, except for the pickles. I would suggest trying half batch, one with the pickles, the other without.. Would be a five star, well less the pickles here.
I’m just becoming a better cook. The flavor was spot on. I made it as the recipe suggested except I toasted the bread first before baking it. It was a bit of a challenge for me as a new cook to make the sauce so my husband (a trained chef)assisted me. Our daughters along with us, all loved it and we would make it again for dinner.
Excellent! I doubled the recipe exactly as written and got 10 sandwiches The only change for next time will be to omit pickles. Chef John..thank you once again!
Made this tonight and deviated only where ingredients were not available. Used home made 40%ww bread and tag ends of cheese as I didn’t have enough Gruyere. I will be making this one again.
This is the best chicken cordon Bleu I have ever eaten. I am not a cook by any means- My family raved too.
Yum! And I really liked the pickles in it.
We made this at soup group. We loved it. The only thing we changed was we left out the pickles. There was extra topping so that will be turned into appetizers for the clubhouse pool party Wednesday night. We will be making this again!
no changes super great!
I love Chicken Cordon Bleu, so I was very excited about these sandwiches. However, I really did not care for them. I do not think it tasted like chicken cordon bleu.
The picture of this looks so yummy but I was a bit disappointed in my final product. I guess I was expecting a more cheesy flavor & texture and didn’t care as much for thick sauce. My husband liked it though.
Not to our tastes.Nothing was “wrong” with the recipe, I really believe it came down to tastebuds and our personal preferences.
This was wonderful. It was easy to prepare, and was a hit for dinner. We will have this often.
We tried this tonight and mt husband is already asking w hen I am going to make this again. I cut my into bite size pieces and think would make a good appetizer at my next cocktail party.
Wow! Chef John does it again! This was amazing. The flavors were perfectly melded, I could taste all the components and not one “took over”. I loved the addition of the pickles, I used a high quality homemade type and finely chopped it like another reviewer suggested. I also used Swiss because that’s what I had on hand. Served this with a nice arugula and spinach salad. I am seriously thinking about making this again tonight!!
This is delicious! I made the recipe exactly except for the French bread-my husband brought home ciabbata (sp?)-but it was still great. My husband voted it a keeper!
Excellent easy recipe. I modified it a little because I’m on a Low-Carb regiment. Instead of the flour and milk for the bechamel sauce I used 2 oz. cream cheese and 1/4 cup cream and skipped the bread crumb topping. Eveything else remained the same. It came out great. For the bread base you can substitute Great LowCarb Bakery or ThinSlim bread (1 carb per slice). My granddaughter loved it too and said it tasted like a gourmet chicken pizza. I was also very good cold. I may skip the pickle or mince it finer next time but that’s just me. The flavors were very well balanced. It’s a keeper.
This recipe was simple and easy to make. I really liked the idea of it. I don’t understand the inclusion of the pickles – they didn’t add anything as far as I could tell but were just odd when you bit into them. And the texture was oddly creamy which I found to be off putting. Overall, not my favorite but wasn’t terrible.
I was looking so forward to trying this recipe, but was just a bit disappointed with the result. It looks delicious – just like the picture – but its taste is a bit bland. For the amount of time it took to make and the cost of the Gruyere cheese, I think I’ll stick to my chicken roll-ups which use chicken, Swiss cheese, ham, and seasoned bread crumbs and then baked and topped with mushrooms lightly fried in garlic olive oil.
Great recipe! We loved the simplicity of the recipe whilst incorporating all of our favourite chicken cordon bleu flavours. We will definitely make this again.
Friday nights before Scout camp-outs are always rushed and I’m constantly looking for quick Grab and Go hand foods that still pack some substance. I used 6″ French Rolls from the bakery and doubled the recipe to make 8 open faced sandwiches. My Husband says “These are great! 5 stars!” I did use the Gruyere cheese which I have never bought before. Both of my sons were holding their shirts over their noses saying they stink, so I was afraid they wouldn’t eat them at all. Well…One son ate 3, the other ate 2. My husband had 2 and then came back in the kitchen and snagged the last one before I got the chance to taste it! I never even got to take a picture of them they were gone so fast! Since Gruyere is so expensive, and according to my 16 y/o smells like stinky feet, I may just use Swiss next time. I’ll have to set one to the side for myself next time before calling in the hoards. According to the guys’ reactions, there will definitely be a next time. Keep ’em comin’ Chef John, you’ve saved dinner more than once at our place.
After two trips to local markets I struck out on the proper cheese. I used a blend of shredded cheeses and,the recipe was a solid 4 stars. The only thing, this recipe, in my opinion, is not half the work of chicken cordon bleu. Very good anyway