Baked Chicken Saltimbocca Recipe

There's always room for improvement and experimentation with classic recipes. Tasting Table recipe developer Jessica Morone puts that notion to the test with this baked chicken saltimbocca recipe. The Italian staple is a savory treat for poultry lovers — its name means "jump in your mouth" in Italian, a hint at its delicious nature. 

All the same, it too can be enhanced in new and exciting ways. Morone comments, "I love all the flavors in this dish," and highlights that it "is definitely not your traditional chicken saltimbocca." "I did a lot of things differently here," she says and explains, "I kind of merged a chicken cordon bleu with a saltimbocca." 

To create this tantalizing twist on the dish, she outlines a few steps, such as, "Rolling it up, adding breadcrumbs on top, and baking it in the oven in a white wine sauce." Ultimately, she says, "It's delicious, it works, and it's my favorite way to make chicken saltimbocca." That's enough of an endorsement for us!

For this recipe, you'll need thin-sliced boneless and skinless chicken breasts. Morone notes that she "just bought chicken breasts labeled 'thin sliced' in the package from the store," and adds, "[It] is a super easy way to get the right thickness." However, if you can only find standard chicken breasts she says, "You will need to pound or slice them until they are ¼-inch thick."

Next, get salt, pepper, sliced prosciutto, sliced provolone, dried sage, and dried parsley. For the sauce, you'll need white wine, lemon juice, and chicken stock. Finally, grab some butter and get panko breadcrumbs to coat the chicken. 

Each ingredient plays a role in the rich flavors of the dish. Morone describes, "The prosciutto makes it flavorful and adds a little bit of saltiness, the provolone makes it creamy, and the sage gives it a nice earthy flavor. The combination of wine, chicken broth, and lemon juice gives the sauce a nice complex flavor and keeps the chicken from getting dry at all while it cooks."

First off, pat the chicken breasts dry with a paper towel, then sprinkle salt and pepper to season both sides. Lay one slice of prosciutto over the middle of each chicken breast, then top each one with a slice of provolone. Season the top with dried sage and dried parsley. One by one, tightly roll the stuffed chicken breasts, tucking in the sides so the filling doesn't splay out. Wrap each roll with plastic wrap and pop them in the fridge for a minimum of half an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F and prep the sauce. Whisk the white wine, lemon juice, and chicken stock in a small bowl. Choose a baking dish that will fit the four chicken breasts, and pour the sauce into the bottom. When the chicken has sufficiently chilled, remove the plastic wrap and carefully place the rolls in the baking dish.

Brush the tops with melted butter then sprinkle panko breadcrumbs on top. Use your fingers to press them to the surface so they stick more successfully.

Once the oven reaches temperature, bake the chicken saltimbocca for 30 to 35 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the chicken is nicely golden and the internal temperature of the chicken (not the cheese or prosciutto) is at least 160 F. 

Morone loves the dish's versatility and comments, "There are so many sides you could eat this with." She shares, "I love mashed potatoes with it, but you could do roasted potatoes (you could even try roasting them in the pan with the chicken as it cooks), or you could serve this with any pasta, or salad, or rice, or veggies." She adds, "You could spoon the leftover sauce from the pan the chicken cooks in over any of these things for extra flavor because the sauce is really yummy."

As for leftovers, Morone recommends storing them in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 days. "I just reheat individual portions in the microwave, but you could also heat leftovers in the oven for a few minutes until hot," she says.