Chicken Chesapeake Recipe

Everyone loves chicken, whether it’s chicken salad, chicken marsala, chicken bites, chicken chipotle, or any other chicken-inspired dish. However, that love for it goes a notch higher when digging into the Chicken Chesapeake. 

This Chicken Chesapeake recipe has been around for a while, and you must have heard about it somewhere. If not, it’s an excellent chance for you to take your chicken game to the next level. 

So whenever you’re craving some sweet and juicy chicken breast, you can resort to the quick and simple Chicken Chesapeake recipe and impress your taste buds with a new chicken variation.

How to Make Chicken Chesapeake 

The Chicken Chesapeake recipe calls for 2 main ingredients 一 chicken breasts and crab meat. The seafood-stuffed chicken is something that makes for an irresistible main dish and helps you elevate a regular chicken. 

Nevertheless, the sauce is what makes the real difference here. The crab filling is an imperial sauce, crab imperial, or Chesapeake sauce. But that’s not the same thing. 

The imperial sauce contains mayonnaise, spices, egg, and seasoning. It becomes crab imperial when you introduce the crab meat into the sauce and bake it into a brown color.

It is a simple-to-make, mouth-watering and delicious chicken combined with spices and stuffed with crab. If you need a delightful and quick fix after a long day, there is no better way to brighten the mood than with this Chicken Chesapeake.

With no further ado, here’s what you’ll need for it.

Ingredients:

(2 servings)

For crab imperial:

• 1 pound of crab meat
• ½ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 8 whole crushed crackers
• Salt and cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
• ½ tsp paprika

For chicken: 

• 5 to 6 large boneless chicken breasts
• 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
• Salt and cayenne pepper

Instructions

The original Chicken Chesapeake recipe doesn’t take much of your time to make. You can whip it up in less than an hour, which makes it perfect for cooking when you’re in a hurry. It is also great if you want to make your family eat healthier. 

Although there are quite several ingredient variations for this dish, all that varies are spices. The main ingredients always remain the same. Besides, you can opt for some optional ingredients like Parmesan or cream cheese.

However, we tried to narrow down the ingredients to the “traditional” ones and use crab imperial for the stuffed chicken breast to make an authentic Chicken Chesapeake.

Step 1: 

Preheat an oven to 350°F and start with the crab imperial. Please ensure the crab meat is free of shells and cartridges and wash it with clean water. 

Step 2: 

Mix all of the ingredients for the crab imperial in one bowl except for the crab meat, salt, and pepper. Next, add the remaining three ingredients and mix them properly. 

Step 3: 

Grease a baking dish and pour the crab mixture into it. Bake for about 20 minutes and let it sit for about 10 minutes once you remove it from the oven.

Crab imperial doesn’t necessarily have to be baked before being used as a stuffing. You can mix the ingredients with the chicken breasts and bake them together to save time.

Step 4: 

Now we move on to the chicken breasts—pound Ziploc-enclosed chicken with a hammer’s flat end to make the thickness uniform. 

Pro tip: to make the chicken more flavorful, marinade it in a mixture of white wine and extra virgin oil. Alternatively, you can pour melted butter over your stuffed breast.

Then take the chicken breast and butterfly them open to create a pocket-like incision at the center of each breast.

Step 5:

Season the breast with salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. Then grease a baking dish and set it aside. 

Step 6:

Stuff 2 tablespoons of crab imperial into the breast pocket you’ve made and keep these on the baking dish. Use toothpicks as binding tools and allow the chicken to bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown. 

You can also use bread crumbs as a coating and let the chicken breast cook in the skillet before transferring it to the oven.

Let it cool for 10 minutes, serve it with the french fries, salad, rice, or garnish with lemon wedges and enjoy as is.

Ingredient Substitution

As we’ve already mentioned, the Chesapeake Chicken recipe for the dish varies. Generally, it contains crabmeat, chicken breast, imperial crab sauce, spices, and seafood seasoning. 

However, you can experiment with the ingredients to create something new and add new flavors to the dish.

1. Cajun Seasoning

Old Bay seasoning is as essential as the crab meat and chicken breasts in this Chicken Chesapeake recipe for some people. Some consider it incomplete without Old Bay seasoning. 

Nevertheless, cajun seasoning uses many of the same herbs and spices as Old Bay, making Cajun seasoning a great alternative to Old Bay seasoning here though the mix of ingredients is different. 

Use it in a 1:1 ratio, and you’ll be good. Note that cajun is a little bit spicier.

2. Soy Sauce

Since Worcestershire sauce might not be that common in your kitchen, soy sauce for the crab imperial in this recipe works great. A 1:1 swap here is the best, even though the soy sauce doesn’t quite have the same tartness or spice as the Worcestershire sauce. 

But it has a similar consistency and dissolves well, so it will blend in perfectly here.

What to Serve with Chicken Chesapeake 

If you’re a fan of chicken staples, you need to know about plenty of sides it could go with. Luckily, chicken breast is exceptionally versatile. You won’t have any difficulties serving it with pasta, salad, rice, or anything else.

Cheese Broccoli Casserole 

Since chicken Chesapeake is quite filling, you need it to be not only delightful but light and refreshing. A veggies-packed cheese broccoli casserole is a perfect side dish for the stuffed chicken breast. 

It has colorful and healthy broccoli and is packed with cheese—the perfect combination for an excellent get-together. 

Potato Soup

There is no better side dish than a bowl of hot and delicious homemade soup. Creamy potato soup is what works best here. It is made of freshly baked potatoes and topped with a rich and creamy sauce. 

However, what makes a difference is the cheddar cheese and bacon bits you use to top the potato soup off. The contrast to the savory chicken breast will be impressive.

How to Reheat Chicken Chesapeake 

The main threat when reheating chicken is drying it out. So if you want your Chicken Chesapeake to feel like day one, follow these tips. 

Reheat Chicken Chesapeake in the Microwave

Microwaving is usually the least recommended method of reheating chicken since it tends to dry it out. However, using a teaspoon of water or olive oil over the neatly arranged chicken breast (on a microwave-safe dish) will be good. 

Additionally, you can cover the breasts with microwave-safe plastic wrap and reheat at 30-seconds intervals.

Reheat Chicken Chesapeake in an Oven

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Let your chicken breasts warm to room temperature and place it in a single layer over a baking sheet. It will allow the hot air to circulate all around the chicken.

Reheat Chicken Chesapeake on the Stove

Reheating Chicken Chesapeake on the stove is not more complicated than the previous methods. But it requires you to use water. Place a large skillet over medium heat and add enough water to cover the bottom.

Once the water starts to simmer, add the chicken breasts, lower the heat and cover the skillet with a lid. Reheat until the water evaporates.

How to Store Chicken Chesapeake 

Knowing how to store Chicken Chesapeake is far more important than knowing how to reheat it since it helps you extend the shelf life of the dish. And though the best way to store it is freezer, you can opt for the fridge option too. 

Store Chicken Chesapeake in the Fridge

Place your stuffed chicken breasts in a clean, dry container or bowl to avoid contamination. Seal the container or bowl with plastic wrap to help lock some extra freshness. It is a good idea to date the storage container. But remember to eat it within 3-4 days.

Store Chicken Chesapeake in the Freezer

Freezing Chicken Chesapeake is all about doing it the right way. Don’t let the cooked chicken breast sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Use duty-free freezer bags or airtight containers wrapped in aluminum foil to keep the chicken in the freezer for 3-4 months.