This prosciutto wrapped chicken is a quick and easy way to jazz up baked chicken breasts with so much flavour. So simple to make, chicken breast is wrapped in flavour-packed prosciutto before being sauteed, then baked to golden delicious perfection.
Fancying up basic chicken breasts is so easy with this recipe. With a morish lemon butter sauce, these are easy enough to make on weeknights but fancy enough for a dinner party. They taste absolutely divine.
If you love this, you’ll love this chicken saltimbocca recipe too.
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Ingredients
Just 8 ingredients, including salt and pepper, keeps this prosciutto-wrapped chicken so easy.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
- Chicken breast: Simple, boneless skinless chicken breasts are all you need here. Try to get chicken breasts that are the same size and around 170-200g / 6-7oz, works well. You could use chicken thighs though they are fattier and not really required since you’re wrapping these in prosciutto.
- Prosciutto: I love Prosciutto Di San Daniele for these. Thin slices of prosciutto are best – the thinner the prosciutto is sliced, the easier it is to wrap around the chicken.
- Oil: I use a light flavoured olive oil for these.
- Fresh thyme adds just the right amount of warming, herbal flavour. You could swap the thyme for fresh sage or rosemary too.
- Lemon: You’ll want both the lemon zest and lemon juice from, roughly, a medium lemon or half a large lemon.
- Chicken stock: Chicken stock or chicken broth are great here. Just use your favourite brand or homemade is great too if you have it.
- Butter: I use salted butter in this sauce but you can use unsalted butter and then season the sauce to taste.
How to make prosciutto wrapped chicken
These prosciutto-wrapped baked chicken breasts are super simple to make. I like to use a large non-stick pan for this.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Prepare the chicken
Start by seasoning the chicken, then wrapping it gently in the prosciutto slices. You don’t even need toothpicks as once it begins cooking, the prosciutto will tighten and stick to the chicken.
2. Cook the chicken
Heat some oil in a large frying pan or braiser pan (I prefer non-stick), over medium-high heat, then fry the chicken for 5-6 minutes until they’re looking nice and brown underneath. Flip the chicken over and cook in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes.
The cooking time will depend on exactly how high the heat is under your pan, and how large your chicken breasts are. They’re done when they reach 74C/165F when you poke a meat thermometer into the thickest part.
3. Make the sauce
Set the chicken aside on a plate, then add stock, lemon juice and thyme to the pan. Over medium heat, let the sauce come to a simmer, stirring from time to time, and allow it to reduce by about half.
Add the butter and lemon zest and let the butter melt in, stirring to combine it all. Let it cook for another minute or so. Now, and most importantly, add any resting juices from the chicken to the pan and mix it in. There is so much flavour in those juices.
Serve your chicken with the sauce drizzled over the top.
Tips and tricks
Don’t have the heat up too high or you’ll burn the prosciutto before cooking the chicken part way.
If you have a little extra time, 1-2 hours max, before you cook, you can brine your chicken breasts to keep them even more juicy. Use this brine recipe.
You can get fancy and stuff the chicken breasts with things like cheese and sundried tomatoes. Yum!
What to serve with it
This prosciutto wrapped chicken is lovely served with potatoes like this parmesan smashed potatoes. It’s also lovely served with simply cooked asparagus or these lemon garlic green beans. A simple salad like this asparagus, parmesan and rocket salad is lovely too.
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Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts (170-200g / 6-7oz each)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 8 thin prosciutto slices
- 2 tablespoons mild olive oil
- ⅓ cup chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 3 teaspoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves stems discarded
- 42 g salted butter 3 tablespoons
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Large non-stick frying pan or skillet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan forced)/425F.
- Pat each chicken breast dry with paper towel then sprinkle the salt and pepper evenly all over.
- Wrap 2 prosciutto slices around each chicken breast, covering the chicken thoroughly.
- Heat oil in a large ovenproof frying pan or skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the chicken breasts to the pan and cook for 5-6 minutes until golden brown underneath.If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, use a large pan, then have a casserole dish at the ready.
- Flip the chicken over and place the pan into the oven (or transfer the chicken to a casserole dish if you pan is not oven-proof). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the temperature on a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 74C/165F.If you prefer to cook the chicken the pan, rather than the oven, turn the heat down to no higher than medium and cook for a further 10-12 minutes in the pan, keeping a check to make sure it’s not burning.
- Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- FOR THE LEMON BUTTER SAUCE:Place the same pan over medium heat and add the chicken stock, lemon juice and thyme. Simmer until reduced by half.
- Add the butter and lemon zest. Let the butter melt while stirring, cook for one more minute.
- Add any resting juices from the chicken, to the sauce (so much flavour so don’t let them go to waste) and stir it through.
- Serve up the prosciutto wrapped chicken with the sauce drizzled over the top.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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