Walnut-Crusted Cranberry Chicken Roulade Recipe

If you're looking for something festive to serve up that isn't turkey, then this walnut-crusted cranberry chicken roulade is just the elegant solution. As the name suggests, you'll find walnuts and cranberries in this rolled meat dish, though you'll also find goat cheese to really amp up the decadence of the dish. "Walnuts and goat cheese are a classic pairing," recipe developer Tess Le Moing explains. "Walnuts have a rich, slightly bitter, and earthy flavor, while goat cheese is creamy, tangy, and slightly acidic." Combined with cranberries, Le Moing describes it as "the holy trinity of flavor," and something tells us that your guests just might say so, too.

Though this chicken roulade certainly looks like something straight out of a professional kitchen, it's really not too hard to whip it up right at home, whether it be for a holiday meal or a Wednesday night one. The combination of juicy chicken along with walnuts, cranberries, and goat cheese will leave you wondering why turkey was ever the star of the holiday show in the first place.

As expected, you'll need chicken to make chicken roulade, and chicken breasts will do the trick for this recipe. You'll need water and salt to brine the chicken, then you'll need goat cheese, dried cranberries, and rosemary to roll up inside of the chicken. The final ingredients include garlic, Dijon mustard, toasted chopped walnuts, and a little bit of black pepper.

Place the chicken in a bowl with the water and 2 tablespoons salt. Brine for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

While the chicken brines, make the filling. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the goat cheese, dried cranberries, and rosemary until the cranberries are thoroughly chopped.

In a small bowl, mix together the garlic and Dijon.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Remove the chicken from the brine and place in a ziplock bag. Pound from the center out with a meat mallet until the meat is ½ inch thick.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and season the chicken with ½ teaspoon salt and pepper on both sides.

Spread the goat cheese mixture evenly on the chicken.

Roll up the chicken and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, seamed-side down.

Spread the Dijon mixture on the top of the chicken.

Top the chicken with the walnuts, pressing the tops and making sure they're thoroughly coated.

Bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

This walnut-crusted cranberry chicken roulade makes for a great main course, and Le Moing advises saving it for those more special occasions. "This recipe is perfect for a date night or if you want to impress dinner guests," she suggests. So, you can go ahead and cancel those dinner reservations in favor of a home-cooked meal for your special someone, and an impressive one at that. And, of course, it does make for a great alternative to turkey come Thanksgiving while still incorporating another holiday classic — cranberries — right in the filling.

Aside from when you should serve this roulade, there's also the question of what to serve it with. "This chicken is great served with roasted sweet potatoes and a side salad," Le Moing says. Again, there's room for flexibility, and just about any classic holiday side dish will work well alongside the savory, sweet, and creamy flavors that this roulade has to offer. 

While you don't want to veer too far from the flavors offered up in this walnut-crusted cranberry chicken roulade, there is still plenty of room for customization. For starters, you can skip the mallet-pounding step by purchasing a slightly different type of chicken at the store. "You can buy the chicken breast already thinly sliced at the grocery store," Le Moing explains.

If you're looking for ways to switch up the filling, Le Moing has plenty of suggestions there, too. For instance, you can simply buy a log of cranberry goat cheese, which resolves you of having to blend the cheese and cranberries together separately. "If you want to make a more dramatic filling, you can add a ¼ cup of cranberry sauce to make the goat cheese turn pink," Le Moing suggests, adding, "Feel free to experiment with other dried fruits like apricots and figs."

Finally, you might not be too keen on walnuts, and there's wiggle room there as well. "You can even sub the walnuts with pecans," Le Moing says, just be sure that those are finely chopped if you do make the switch.