Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with Mushrooms

This Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Sauce is delicious and easy to prepare ahead! It's inspired by the Italian influence on food in São Paulo.

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Sauce starts with tender chicken breasts that are pounded out thin. Then creamy fresh mozzarella is layered inside and the rolled up perfectly. The the chicken is first seared in a pan and then finished in the oven. In the pan, a succulent and savory, delicious mushroom sauce, or molho de cogumelo in Portuguese, is made to pour over top. Each bite gives you the juicy chicken, creamy mozzarella nestled in the center and the amazing mushroom sauce.

This recipe is simple to prepare in advance and then just cook when you are ready!

Brazilian Background for this Recipe

There is so much Italian influence on the cuisine in São Paulo based on the fact that historically, many Italian immigrants settled here.  Italian immigrants coming to Brazil was exceptionally high between 1880 and 1920. More than one million Italians immigrated to Brazil during this time with 70% of them settling in São Paulo. Hence, the abundance of Italian-influence and Italian recipes in the cuisine here! This Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with Mushroom Sauce is a perfect example.

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Ingredients and Swaps

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts – Using a boneless skinless chicken breast allows you to pound chicken out thin so you can stuff and roll them. I always have raw chicken breasts in the freezer as they can last up to 12 months if in an airtight container or packaging.
• Slices Fresh Mozzarella Cheese – I used fresh whole milk mozzarella, but you can also use the deli-sliced mozzarella. Substitutes for mozzarella for stuffing the chicken are provolone, Swiss cheese or Gruyere, monterey jack, or even white cheddar.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – You can substitute with any neutral oil, such as vegetable oil, avocado oil, or even coconut oil. You can also use butter.
• Mushrooms – I used a combination of Cremini Mushrooms (sometimes called baby bellas) and Shiitake Mushrooms. You can use any mushrooms you want though! White button mushrooms would be just perfect, and you buy pre-sliced or whole mushrooms. I don’t recommend frozen or canned mushrooms as they will not give the same flavor or texture.
• Yellow onion – You need about half of a cup diced, so you can use large or small onions to get to this amount. Shallots or red onions will work as well.
• Italian Flat Leaf Parsley - The parsley brings a little freshness and color to the final dish. You can substitute with curly parsley, chives, or even cilantro.
• All purpose flour - Flour is the thickener in this recipe. Rather than making a roux, it gets added directly to the mushrooms and coats them, so that when the liquid is added, it thickens easily without clumping. You can also make a slurry using cornstarch if you want a gluten free option. Simply mix 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with ¼ cup of cold water to make the slurry, then add it in with the broth.
• Chicken Broth or chicken stock - You can substitute with vegetable stock or vegetable broth or even beef stock or broth. You can also use water mixed with a chicken bouillon cube or chicken base.
• Dried oregano – Oregano tastes fantastic with the mushrooms, but you could also use thyme, marjoram, basil or sage.
• Salt – I used kosher salt, but any salt will work.
• Ground Black Pepper – You can use fine or coarse ground black pepper. I like fresh ground, but pre-ground is fine too.

Simple Equipment and Tools

The first thing you need is something to pound out the chicken with. I use a Meat Tenderizer, but you can use any heavy item with a flat surface, such as a rolling pin.

Next you will need a large skillet/frying pan for searing the chicken rolls and making the mushroom sauce. I use my absolute favorite 12″ Ceramic Pan, which is great because food really does slide right off with minimal oil and I don’t have to worry about food sticking and burning. 

Finally, you need a large sheet pan to finish cooking the chicken rolls.

Recipe Tips

The first tip is to ask your butcher if they will butterfly and pound out your chicken to save even more time! This may cost more and take time at the store, but if you are tight on time at home, it could be worth it!

Second tip is to freeze cheese so you always have it on hand for cooking recipes! When the goal is to melt cheese into a recipe, then having leftover cheese in the freezer can be a lifesaver! You should thaw it out in the fridge starting the day before if it's a chunk of cheese. If it's frozen shredded cheese, you can usually just add it frozen if it hasn't clumped.

Third tip is to make extra mushroom sauce and use it for another meal or an appetizer! You can make amazing crostini for bruschetta with this mushroom sauce as a topping!

How to Make Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken

To get ahead, 1-2 days before, you can dice the onion, slice the mushrooms, chop the parsley. Store these separately in airtight containers in the fridge until ready to use.

You can also butterfly the chicken breasts 1-2 days in advance.

Continue to slice through the center horizontally until almost to the other side - do not slice all the way through - and then open the chicken up flat. Do this with all of the breasts.

Pound out the chicken (see image below). Place one of the butterflied chicken breasts between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound it out gently to be an even flat piece about ¼ inch thick. Do this with all of the breasts.

Lay one of the pounded out breasts flat and season the side that is up with salt and pepper. Then layer the mozzarella at one end.

Roll the chicken around the mozzarella and secure the flap with toothpicks. Season the outside of the rolls with salt and pepper. Do this for all of the chicken breasts.

In a preheated large frying pan or skillet over medium high heat, drizzle about a 1-2 teaspoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (to coat the bottom). Sear the chicken rolls on all sides. Turn off the heat and transfer the chicken rolls to a sheet pan and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.

Making the Mushroom Sauce

While the chicken is baking, using the same pan used for searing the chicken, turn the heat back on to medium heat. Add another drizzle (1-2 teaspoons) of olive oil and then add the diced onion. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Add the mushrooms along with oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, until the mushrooms get browned and are cooked down to about half or more of the original size.

Next add the flour and stir to combine. Add the chicken broth/stock and stir until it cooks down and turns into a thick sauce.

Finally add in half the parsley, reserving the rest for garnish.

When the chicken is done, plate each roll with a heaping scoop of the mushroom sauce right over top. Enjoy!!

Stuffed Chicken Variations

Chicken rolls are such a great vehicle for so many stuffing options! Here are just a few ideas.

• Farofa Stuffing ~ That's right, it's the perfect flavorful stuffing. Just add the farofa with the mozzarella. This Farofa Stuffing recipe has bacon, olives, carrots, and so much more!
• Spicy Stuffing ~ Looking to spice up this recipe? You can add some sliced or diced serrano or jalapeno chile peppers on top of the mozzarella before rolling. You can also just use a sprinkling of red chile pepper flakes or cayenne pepper.
• Sun Dried Tomatoes ~ For a bit of bright sweetness layer in chopped sund dried tomatoes and basil.
• Bacon Cheddar ~ Try crisping up some bacon and crumbling it up with shredded cheddar for the stuffing. You can also add a slice or two of crispy bacon with a slice of cheddar and then roll it up like that with the bacon hanging out the side of the rolls.

What to Serve with this Stuffed Chicken

You can serve this Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken with a simple pasta or rice, or try this Brazilian Rice {with Onions and Garlic}.

For a vegetable side, a fresh green salad or Sauteed Kale with Bacon and Garlic {Couve a Mineira} or this delicious Carrot and Bacon Recipe.

And for dessert, how about Brigadeiros! Brazilian Chocolate Dessert Truffles

Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Recipe FAQs

Can I Make these stuffed Chicken rolls Ahead?

You can prep, stuff, and roll the mozzarella stuffed chicken rolls up to 2 days in advance. You can also cook them ahead and store them for up to 5 days. Raw or cooked, both need to be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

To reheat them after cooking, place on a sheet pan in a 350 F degree oven for 10-15 minutes until heated through.

Can I Freeze the Mozzarella stuffed Chicken rolls?

You can prep, stuff, and roll the mozzarella stuffed chicken rolls and then flash freeze on a sheet pan in the freezer for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, you can transfer to an airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 4-6 months. To cook them, I recommend thawing them first in the refrigerator starting 24 hours ahead. If you cook them directly from the freezer, they are not likely to cook evenly on the inside of the rolls and outside. Once thawed, follow the cooking instructions to sear and then bake.