Company Chicken

Company chicken is one of those retro entertaining recipes that refuses to go away, and for good reason. Wrap boneless breasts in deli ham, blanket them in a cream of chicken soup and sour cream sauce, dust with paprika, and let the oven do three hours of unattended work at a low temperature.

The low-and-slow approach is the whole strategy here. Cooking at just 225°F (107°C) for three hours lets the chicken cook through gently without drying out. The sour cream and soup mixture bubbles into a rich, velvety gravy around the ham-wrapped breasts, essentially braising them in cream.

What makes this a true “company” dish is the make-ahead factor. Assemble everything up to 12 hours before your guests arrive, cover, and refrigerate. When you’re ready, it goes straight from the fridge to the oven, hands-free. That means you’re visiting with your guests instead of standing at the stove.

Pro Tips

• Use thin-sliced deli ham. Thick ham slices don’t wrap well and take longer to heat through. Thin slices cling to the chicken and meld into the sauce.
• Don’t dilute the soup. Use it straight from the can. Adding water or milk thins the sauce too much for this long, slow bake.
• Let it rest 5 minutes before serving. The sauce thickens slightly as it cools, making it easier to plate over rice or noodles.

Variations

• Swiss cheese layer: Lay a slice of Swiss cheese over each breast before wrapping with ham for a chicken cordon bleu vibe.
• Mushroom version: Swap cream of chicken for cream of mushroom soup for an earthier, more savory sauce.