Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Yesterday morning, I decided to get up early and start on dinner because I knew I would be home late. Eric and I are trying to save every dime right now with building this new house. It days like yesterday that make it very easy to go through a drive-thru. So I decided to try a new recipe, Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole, and get started on it before work.

I first cooked the chicken and shredded it. I cooked mine in a skillet with a little olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on the chicken. I then started layering the chicken, ham, and cheese as the recipe called for. I then wrapped the 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and placed in the fridge until I got home. You would be surprised how much time this knocked off preparing dinner. Eric was off yesterday and helped me get dinner ready. So he washed and prepped the asparagus for me, and I finished the sauce and topping for the casserole. 

For the asparagus, I cooked them on 350 degrees for 20 minutes. If your asparagus is thin, I would only cook them for 15 minutes, but these bad boys were thick so I cooked them a little longer. All I did to prep them was sprinkle olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper over them. Very easy and yummy! 

This dish could feed me and Eric for three meals. It makes a lot. I am probably going to freeze the left overs. Eric loved this recipe!  

Ingredients

Casserole:1 lb cooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded
13 slices fat-free lean ham slices (about 10 oz)
10 thinly sliced fat free Swiss cheese

Sauce:
4 Tbsp light butter
4 Tbsp whole wheat flour
3¼ cups skim milk
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1½ Tbsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp black pepper

Topping:
¼ cup light butter
1½ cup Panko breadcrumbs
1½ tsp garlic powder
1½ tsp fresh parsley, minced
¼ tsp black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• Line the bottom of the baking dish with shredded chicken. Next, layer ham slices. Lay the Swiss cheese on top of the ham.
• For the sauce: Over medium heat, melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Continue to whisk mixture while slowly adding milk — stir until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, whisk continuously. Side note—Heat milk in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Then slowly add to sauce pan, whisking as you pour.
• Add lemon juice, Dijon mustard, paprika, and pepper. Bring sauce to a low simmer again, whisk continuously. Once it has reached desired thickness, remove from heat and pour sauce evenly over the casserole.
• For the topping: In a small sauce pan, melt the butter and stir in Panko breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and pepper. Sprinkle topping mixture over the top of the casserole. Lightly mist top of casserole with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes until topping is golden brown.

Happy Eating! 

Original Recipe- http://www.skinnymom.com/chicken-cordon-bleu-casserole/