Chicken Kiev Recipe

Classic Restaurant Chicken Recipe

Chicken Kiev, sometimes also called Chicken Supreme, is a rich, classic recipe of boneless chicken breast pounded and rolled around seasoned butter, breaded and fried.

It is often served with julienne potatoes and fresh peas. The recipe takes a little time, but when finished you'll have a meal fit for a King (or Queen or Empress).

In fact, it was originally created for Ukrainian Empress Petrovna by a French chef named Nicolas François Appert, so the meal really isn't Ukrainian at all. Seems Russian royalty in the mid-late 1700's developed a preference for French cuisine so they were hiring French chefs or sending their chefs to France for training.

The name for this chicken dish may have been invented after WW ll by New York City restaurants that served it as a regular menu item because, at the time, there were quite a few Russian immigrants from Kiev living in the city. The recipe became a favorite restaurant recipe.

I think Chicken Kiev is a perfect example of French culinary genius - simple but elegant. This is a chicken recipe that makes its own sauce. Slice into the breast and the melted seasoned butter runs onto your plate. YUMMY!

Chicken Kiev Recipe

Favorite Restaurant Chicken Recipe

Preparation time: 45 minutes. Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 ounce butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 six ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
2 egg yolks + 1 1/2 teaspoons water
Flour
2 cups Japanese bread crumbs (Panko) or dry bread crumbs + 1/4 cup more for filling
Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions:

Combine butter, lemon juice, minced garlic, tarragon, parsley, salt and pepper in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a food processor.
Place the mixture on plastic wrap or wax paper and roll into a small log and chill it in the freezer
Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them to 1/8 inch thickness and season them with salt
Place 1/4 of the chilled butter on the wide end of each breast and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs
Roll up each chicken breast around the butter and crumb mixture tucking in the sides as you go; chill the breasts
Combine the egg yolks and water in a pie pan; place 2 cups of bread crumbs in another pie pan; and place flour in a third pie pan
Heat a large skillet with 1/2 inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat (about 375 degrees F)
Roll each chicken breast in the flour and shake off the excess; brush each breast with egg yolk and then roll each breast in the bread crumbs making sure there are no exposed surfaces (dip the ends of the rolled breasts a second time for extra coverage)
Brown the chicken breasts in the heated oil in the skillet sealed side down and then cook on all sides until golden brown (about 4-5 minutes on each side or until heated through - about 165 degrees F)
Set the chicken breasts on a cooling rack placed on top of a sheet pan or large plate to drain

TA-DA! You have just created a Chicken Kiev - a chicken recipe fit for royalty!

Serve the chicken with peas and julienne potatoes if you want to be traditional. I often like to serve this chicken with traditional mashed potatoes or twice baked potatoes.

Whatever you choose, try to keep the starch and vegetable preparation simple so seasonings do not "fight” with the butter sauce you created for your chicken breasts.