Gala Chicken Breasts

This is the kind of stuffed chicken breast that makes a Tuesday feel like a dinner party. Chicken breasts pounded thin get rolled around a tarragon-and-Dijon-spiked egg salad filling, baked until juicy, and brushed with lemon butter for a buttery, herbaceous finish.

The egg-salad filling is the clever play. Hard-cooked eggs in chicken sounds odd until you taste it: rich, creamy, and herbal, with the chives and tarragon doing most of the perfume work. Tarragon’s faint anise quality is what makes this taste French rather than potluck.

Pounding the chicken to ¼ inch is non-skippable. Thicker breasts won’t roll neatly, and they’ll bake unevenly with raw centers and overcooked edges. Use a rolling pin between waxed paper or plastic wrap as the recipe instructs, and aim for uniform thickness across the whole piece.

Tucking the side edges under the roll is what keeps the filling from leaking out during baking. Seam-side down in the pan locks it shut even more firmly.

Brush the lemon butter generously. The chicken breast can dry out during the 30-minute bake, and the butter brush keeps the top moist while contributing flavor.

Pro Tips

• Use Dijon, not yellow mustard. The flavor profile is completely different and yellow mustard tastes wrong here.
• Chop the hard-cooked eggs finely, almost minced. Big chunks make rolling difficult and create weak spots in the filling.
• An instant-read thermometer should hit 165°F (74°C) in the thickest part. Pull the moment it does.
• Assemble the rolls up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerate. Bake straight from the fridge, adding 5 minutes.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of finely chopped capers or cornichons to the filling for briny depth.
• Swap tarragon for dill for a Scandinavian-leaning flavor.
• Wrap each rolled breast in a slice of prosciutto before baking for a salty, crispy outer layer.