Air Fryer Stuffed Chicken Breast Recipe
If you're an air fryer owner, you may or may not have experienced much success with your own experiments in what will air fry and what will not. (Spoiler: Not every dish in the world is best when air fried), If you want guaranteed good eats, though, you'd do well to stick to recipes that have been specifically created with an air fryer in mind, such as this stuffed chicken breast.
"I love using the air fryer to get the juiciest chicken that's perfectly cooked every time," recipe developer Kit Hondrum says. She describes this particular dish as "a quick weeknight dinner," but it's equally as tasty "cold the next day as leftovers." Should you have cold stuffed chicken on hand, she recommends that you slice it up and toss it into a salad. As the stuffing includes tomatoes and spinach, it'll fit right in among the leafy greens.
Gather your air fryer stuffed chicken breast ingredients
To stuff the chicken, you'll need three types of cheese: mozzarella (a low-moisture version works best here), Parmesan, and good old cream cheese. You'll also need fresh spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. To season the chicken, you'll need salt, pepper, and garlic powder. As for the chicken itself, Hondrum uses breasts that weigh approximately 12 ounces each, so about 1 ½ pounds of chicken in all. She does note, though, that should the chicken you have on hand come in at a different weight, you can "increase [the cooking] time by 2 minutes for larger breasts and decrease by 2 minutes for smaller breasts."
Prepare the chicken
Begin by cutting a "pocket" into each chicken breast. Hondrum explains that to do so, you will "basically slice [the chicken] in half, but leave the sides intact." Season each piece (on the outside as well as inside the pockets) with salt, pepper, and garlic.
Stuff the chicken breasts
In a mixing bowl, combine the cheeses together with the tomatoes, then stuff some of the mixture into each pocket. Go ahead and throw a few leaves of spinach in there, too. Push the chicken sides together to seal the pockets as best you can. If they won't stay shut, you can always use a toothpick.
Cook the chicken
And now for the air frying. Cook it in the device at 375 F for 11 minutes, then flip the breasts over and cook for about another 11 minutes (adjust the cooking time if your chicken breasts are larger or smaller than what Hondrum calls for).
Hondrum advises checking your chicken with a meat thermometer to see if it's done. Once the thermometer hits 165 F, take the chicken out of the air fryer and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes before you cut into it.
- 2 chicken breasts (approximately 1 ½ pounds total)
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
- ½ cup fresh baby spinach
- Cut a pocket in each chicken breast. Season both the outside and inside with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the 3 kinds of cheese together with the sun-dried tomatoes.
- Stuff the cheese mixture into each chicken breast, then add the spinach.
- Close the pockets as best you can, securing with a toothpick if necessary.
- Air fry the chicken at 375 F for 11 minutes, then flip it and cook for 11 minutes more, or until the meat reaches 165 F.
- Allow the chicken to rest for 5 minutes before you cut it.
| Calories per Serving | 715 |
| Total Fat | 48.3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 22.5 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.2 g |
| Cholesterol | 205.7 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 10.3 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1.9 g |
| Total Sugars | 1.5 g |
| Sodium | 981.6 mg |
| Protein | 59.8 g |
