Creamy white wine Dijon sauce over cubed chicken, ham, and Swiss cheese: everything I love about chicken cordon bleu in one low carb casserole, at 1.5g net carbs and 47.3g protein. I sear the chicken in batches so it browns, then I whisk the cream, broth, and wine slowly into the melted butter, scraping up the browned bits for the sauce.
Deconstructing classic dishes and dumping everything into a casserole dish is my favorite way to get the same flavor without the work. I do it with my keto lasagna, my pizza casserole, my keto chicken broccoli casserole, and now this one.
Traditional cordon bleu involves pounding chicken flat, layering ham and Swiss inside, rolling it up, breading it, and either pan-frying or baking. I’ve done that version. It works. But for a weeknight dinner, I don’t want to spend 30 minutes assembling individual chicken rolls. This casserole gives you all the same flavors in about half the hands-on time.
The real star here is the sauce. I make it right in the same skillet after browning the chicken, scraping up all those flavor bits from the bottom. Heavy cream, white wine, and chicken broth. Then I stir in Monterey Jack until it’s thick and smooth, and finish with a good amount of Dijon mustard. I tested this once with yellow mustard and it was just flat. Dijon has that sharpness that cuts through the cream, and it’s what makes this taste like actual cordon bleu instead of just chicken in cheese sauce.
One reader (Priya) swapped the Monterey Jack for Gruyere and said her husband thought it tasted like something from a French restaurant. I get that. Gruyere brings a nuttier depth that pairs beautifully with Dijon. Monterey Jack melts cleaner, but either works.
The assembly is simple. Chicken and ham go into the baking dish, sauce poured over the top, Swiss cheese layered on, and into the oven at 350 for 20-25 minutes. I usually pull mine when the cheese is bubbling and just starting to get golden spots on top. If you want a little crunch, sprinkle pork panko mixed with parmesan over the Swiss before baking.
This also works well as a make-ahead meal (similar to how I prep my Caesar chicken). Cook the chicken, ham, and sauce, assemble everything in the dish, top with Swiss, cover tightly, and freeze. When you’re ready, thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed. I’ve done this three times now and the sauce reheats without breaking.
What is chicken cordon bleu?
Cordon bleu means “blue ribbon” in French. It started as a dish of meat (traditionally veal or pork) wrapped around cheese, then breaded and pan-fried or deep-fried.
Over the years, chicken became the more popular choice. You pound it thin, layer in a slice of ham and Swiss, roll it up, bread it, and either fry or bake it. I love the flavors but not the process, which is exactly why I turned it into a casserole.
What to serve with this casserole
Since this is a rich dish, I like pairing it with something lighter. Steamed broccoli or a simple leafy green salad both work well. Here are a few of my favorite low carb sides that go with it:
This is where the whole dish comes together. I make the sauce in the same skillet I used to brown the chicken, which means all those caramelized bits on the bottom get scraped right into it.
The base is heavy cream, white wine, and Dijon mustard, thickened with shredded Monterey Jack cheese. For a little heat, I add red pepper flakes and cayenne, though both are optional. This is a keto-friendly cheese sauce that actually tastes like it belongs in the dish, not just melted cheese poured on top.
I’ve seen other casserole recipes for this dish that use cream cheese or sour cream as the sauce base. Those are fine shortcuts, but they don’t give you the same depth. The white wine and Dijon combination is what makes this taste like real cordon bleu.
Substitutions and swaps
I’ve tested a lot of variations on this recipe. Here’s what works:
Chicken: Any cut works here. Breast, thighs, tenderloins. You can even use leftover shredded chicken or rotisserie chicken to save time. I’ve also made it with leftover Tuscan chicken and it was surprisingly good.
Ham: Bacon or prosciutto both work in place of ham. Deli ham is fine too (one reader used it and said it turned out great).
Heavy cream: Almond milk, macadamia nut milk, or cashew milk all work if you need to cut dairy. The sauce will be thinner, so let it reduce a bit longer. Half and half is another option.
White wine: Skip the wine entirely and add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice after the sauce is finished. You’ll still get that brightness.
Dijon mustard: Yellow mustard or 1 teaspoon of ground mustard powder works in a pinch. But I really do think Dijon is worth having on hand for this one.
Cheese: Try Gruyere in the sauce instead of Monterey Jack for a nuttier, more traditional flavor. For the topping, provolone, mozzarella, white cheddar, or Havarti all melt well. Parmesan makes a great topping too if you’re out of Swiss. I like to use my keto alfredo sauce technique when I want an even creamier base.
How to save time on this recipe
The casserole itself comes together fast, but if I’m really pressed for time, I grab a rotisserie chicken from the store and shred it. That cuts out the cooking step entirely. I’ve also used pre-cooked frozen chicken strips in a pinch. The sauce and assembly take about 10 minutes either way, so the chicken prep is really the only variable.
How to make chicken cordon bleu casserole
Cook cubed chicken in a skillet until golden on all sides.
Add cubed ham and cook for a minute to heat through.
Make the white wine sauce by adding butter, cream, chicken broth, and white wine to the same skillet. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom for extra flavor. Add shredded Monterey Jack cheese and stir until thick and smooth. Then stir in Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper.
Pour sauce over chicken and ham in a baking dish. Top with Swiss cheese and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the center.
Key ingredients in chicken cordon bleu
Chicken: Use any cut you prefer: thighs, breasts, or tenderloins. Traditional cordon bleu calls for breasts because they’re easy to slice and pound thin, but since we’re making a casserole, it doesn’t matter.
Ham: Cube your cooked ham and toss it in the skillet with the chicken. If your ham has a lot of moisture, cook it a bit longer so the casserole doesn’t get soupy. Great way to use up leftover holiday ham. Bacon works as a substitute too.
Cream: Heavy cream gives this sauce its richness. Nut milk works if you’re cutting calories or dairy, but cream gets you closest to the classic flavor. Other recipes use cream cheese or sour cream, but a white wine cheese sauce made with heavy cream is the real deal.
White wine: I used a Sauvignon Blanc, but Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay work too. If you don’t cook with alcohol, skip the wine and add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice after the sauce is finished to brighten it up.
Dijon mustard: A key component for a flavorful cordon bleu sauce. Stone ground mustard and yellow mustard work in a pinch.
Cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes: These add a nice kick to the sauce. Optional, but I always include them.
Cheese: Both Monterey Jack and Swiss cheese are used here. The Monterey Jack melts into the sauce beautifully, and Swiss is a must for that classic cordon bleu flavor.
Cut the chicken thighs or chicken breast into bite sized chunks.
For this step
Chicken (breasts or thighs)
3
Cook chicken
Add avocado oil to a skillet and heat over medium high heat. Working in batches, pan sear chicken until cooked evenly on all sides.
4
Add ham
Add ham to the skillet with the cooked chicken and cook for 1 minute to heat through. Remove all chicken and ham from skillet and set aside.
For this step
Ham
5
Make white wine sauce
Lower heat on the skillet to medium heat. Melt butter in the skillet. Slowly whisk in heavy cream, chicken broth and wine into the melted butter. Scrape the bottom of the pan to break up the flavor bits stuck to the bottom. Let cook for 1-3 minutes. Don’t let boil. Slowly stir in shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Add one handful at a time and stir until melted.
For this step
Heavy cream
Chicken broth
White wine
Monterey Jack cheese (shredded)
6
Add flavor to the sauce
Stir in Dijon mustard, red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Remove sauce from heat.
For this step
Dijon mustard
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt
Pepper
7
Assemble & bake
To a square or rectangle baking dish, add chicken and ham mixture to the bottom. Pour on white wine cheese sauce. Top with shredded Swiss cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
For this step
Swiss cheese (shredded)
Nutrition
Per serving: 1/6 of recipe
Calories
558
Fat
39.1g
Protein
47.3g
Total carbs
1.6g
Net carbs
1.5g
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed. Brands vary, so check labels if you track closely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make this casserole ahead of time and freeze it?
I've frozen this three times now and it holds up well. Cook the chicken, ham, and sauce first, then assemble everything in the baking dish and top with Swiss cheese. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and foil, then freeze. I store the pork panko topping separately so it doesn't get soggy. It keeps for about 3 months in my experience.
How do I reheat a frozen chicken cordon bleu casserole?
I thaw mine overnight in the fridge, then bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until it's bubbling. If I forget to thaw it, I bake from frozen at 350 for about 50-60 minutes, covered with foil for the first 30 minutes so the cheese doesn't burn. Let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes before baking either way.
Can I use rotisserie chicken instead of raw chicken?
I do this all the time when I'm short on time. Just shred or cube the rotisserie chicken and skip the cooking step entirely. The sauce and assembly take about 10 minutes, so you can have this in the oven in under 15 minutes. The flavor is slightly different since you don't get those browned bits in the skillet, but it's still great.
What can I use instead of white wine?
I skip the wine sometimes and add 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice after the sauce is finished instead. It gives you that same brightness without the alcohol. Chicken broth can replace the liquid volume, but the lemon juice is what actually mimics what the wine does for the flavor.
How do I prevent the casserole from getting watery?
The biggest culprit in my experience is ham with a lot of moisture. I cook my ham cubes in the skillet for an extra minute or two until they start to brown slightly. That drives off the excess liquid before everything goes into the baking dish. Also, don't over-thin the sauce. It should coat the back of a spoon before you pour it over the chicken.
What size casserole dish do I need?
I use a square baking dish for this recipe, but any 8x11-inch or 9x13-inch rectangle dish works too. If you go with the larger 9x13, the casserole will be thinner and cook a few minutes faster. I prefer the square dish because it keeps the sauce deeper around the chicken.
What about bread crumbs on top?
I add pork panko mixed with parmesan cheese on top before baking when I want that extra crunch. It's my go-to keto breadcrumb substitute and it browns up nicely in the oven. Regular panko works too if you're not watching carbs. Either way, sprinkle it over the Swiss cheese right before the casserole goes in.
How do I decrease the calories in this dish?
The biggest calorie savers I've found: swap heavy cream for almond milk, use chicken breast instead of thighs, skip the wine and use lemon juice, and go lighter on the cheese in both the sauce and the topping. I've made a lighter version with almond milk and it's thinner but still tastes good.
What can I use instead of Swiss cheese?
I've swapped the Swiss out plenty of times when I didn't have it. Provolone is my closest match: it melts almost identically and keeps that mild, nutty note that reads as cordon bleu. Mozzarella works if you want something more neutral, and Havarti gets extra creamy across the top. When I want a little more sharpness I reach for white cheddar. All of them melt cleanly over the sauce, so I just use whatever is already in my fridge.
What is the sauce on top of chicken cordon bleu?
Cordon bleu sauce is a creamy white wine Dijon sauce. Mine starts with 2 tablespoons of butter, then I whisk in 1/3 cup heavy cream, 1/4 cup chicken broth, and 1/4 cup white wine. I melt in 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack, then stir in 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. That sauce gets poured over the chicken and ham before the Swiss cheese goes on top.
What cheese is best in cordon bleu casserole?
Swiss is the classic cordon bleu cheese and what I put on top, 1 1/2 cups shredded. In the sauce I use 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack because it melts clean and smooth. For a nuttier, more traditional flavor, swap the Monterey Jack for Gruyere. One reader made it that way and her husband thought it tasted like something from a French restaurant.
Great for lunches, I portion it into containers right out of the pan. The sauce keeps the chicken from drying out when I reheat it, which isn’t true of most casseroles.
The smell of the wine hitting that butter was still in my kitchen when people started showing up. I made your recipe for a small dinner and served it right out of the skillet I baked it in. Mine needed longer than I planned for the top to brown, so give yourself a buffer if guests are already there. Thanks!!!
The ham is what makes it cordon bleu instead of just creamy chicken. I use a full 8 oz and brown it an extra minute in the skillet before adding it to the dish.
Steam coming off the pan when the wine hits the butter, that’s when you know the heat is right. Give it a full minute to reduce before the cream goes in, otherwise the sauce comes out thin and separates in the oven. Chicken needs to go in dry, not straight from the package. Wet chicken at high heat steams instead of browns, and that color is what carries into the sauce later. Pull it at about 80% done in the skillet, the oven handles the rest. Ham goes in for one minute, not more. Push past that and it tightens up. Monterey Jack runs faster than you’d expect, so check the edges around 22 minutes.
Thank you Brandon, the dry chicken tip is the one I’d underline. Wet chicken steams instead of browning, and that browning is what ends up flavoring the sauce.
I tried this on my last batch. The cheese got this slightly caramelized edge at the corners and pulled away from the dish a little, which I liked. Mine was ready at 75 seconds because my oven runs hot, so I was hovering and pulled it early. Crispy top and creamy Dijon sauce underneath? So much better than the regular baked. Stealing this for the freezer reheats too – I bet it brings the top back.
Cream sauce sounded like the part that was going to trip me up (first time making one), but it’s just butter and white wine whisked into cream. Thought the Dijon would overpower everything, it doesn’t. Less fussy than the rolled version and the sauce has more presence without the breading muffling it.
Yeah, that Dijon ratio threw me off too when I was testing it. It mellows out once it hits the cream and simmers for a minute. And totally agree. It was muffling the sauce in the original.
I’ve tried three other keto versions of this and every one was a whole project. Rolling the chicken, pinning it with toothpicks, breading that kept falling off. This casserole format just sidesteps all of that. The white wine Dijon sauce is what the others didn’t have, and it’s the whole reason this tastes like actual cordon bleu instead of just chicken and ham in a dish.
Made this four times in the last two months, and this last batch I finally used chicken thighs because that’s all I had. I expected it to be a little off but the thighs pulled all that white wine Dijon sauce in and got so much more tender than when I use breast. Going thighs every time now, the original is already good but something about that swap made the whole thing richer.
My mom made chicken cordon bleu for every birthday growing up. Thought going keto meant giving that up forever. One bite of this put me right back at her table.
My daughter picked out every piece of ham from her serving (she’s on some kind of ham vendetta lately), ate all the chicken and sauce, and then came back for more. That white wine Dijon situation is doing something. Adding it to the rotation.
One thing I noticed: blooming the Dijon in the butter for about 30 seconds before adding the cream made the sauce noticeably deeper and less sharp. Tried it both ways back to back. The bloom version won without question.
My son kept saying it tasted familiar and spent half of dinner trying to figure out where he’d had it before. Landed on a restaurant we stopped going to a few years ago. It’s the Dijon cream sauce, I think.
I’ve made cordon bleu three different ways, stuffed, rolled, that breaded sheet pan version everyone pins, and this casserole just wrecked all of them. The Dijon sauce with the white wine does something to the ham that I keep trying to articulate. Haven’t touched my other versions since.
Dijon sauce is the star, but whoever’s using just the optional red pepper flakes is selling themselves short. I doubled them and it hit completely different. Snow day staple now.
