Chef John's Chicken Kiev

Absolutely 5 stars (and then some) on this one! A lot of prep work but OMG the end result is so incredibly decadent it's beyond words. I served this to a private group of friends and everyone, I mean EVERYONE, just about fainted from either the butter or the incredible taste! Paired with a mixed salad and mashed potatoes...If you don't try it, you will never know. 5 Thumbs up Chef John! You hit this one out of the ballpark!

to stick the flattened chicken breast meat together more effectively, I would suggest that you add a touch of cornstarch (preferably organic!) to areas that you're sealing- it really makes a difference in how well the chicken holds together. I also use this for saltimbocca, and other stuffed chicken breast dishes. Flour works as well, but will affect the flavor, and may come loose.

I have been using allrecipes for years (9? 10?), and this is my first review. That should tell you how great the instructions were for making this dish. It was perfectly seasoned, perfectly spiced, perfectly timed, and the "how to" was perfectly explained. I have made this dish ONE TIME and it turned out divine. I am a pretty good cook, but I didn't think I could pull off cooking a wad of butter inside a chicken wrap without having it melt all over the place, but Chef John has explained things so that even the most novice cook could pull off a masterpiece. THIS RECIPE IS AMAZING; DON'T CHANGE A THING.

Terrific and delicious recipe. I followed it exactly as directed and it turned out amazing!! Thank you Chef John for the rolling technique as well, the delicious center stayed put until the final reveal. I'll definitely use that technique with other stuffed chicken recipes. Yum!

Chicken Kiev is my husband's favorite recipe! I've been using a very old recipe, which sometimes worked but wasn't always reliable. I'm so glad I found this one! The only change I would make is adding a little tarragon to the garlic butter. I love the taste of the tarragon with the other ingredients.

OMG! What a decadent Chicken Kiev. Chef John you did it again! A little more prep, but the ending results was magnificent. :-)

Look no more for another chicken kiev recipe! There are other kiev recipes with more reviews, but this is the absolute best! My family loved it as it tasted like something that you would be served at a 5 star restaurant. Make sure you use fillets rather than the entire breast as it will take literally forever to pound it out into a thin layer. I didn't use a mortar and pestle for making the butter but I'm ordering one because I can only imagine that it'll make the filling taste even better. I froze the patties the night before and battered, fried, and baked the day of serving.

I would give this 10 stars. Delicious doesn't even begin to describe how this tastes. I do have to admit I did change 1 thing, I ground up my chicken in my food processor. When ever I pound out chicken breasts and try to fill them, I always lose the filling no matter what I do. Ground chicken was much easy to work with. The only bad thing was that the meat was sticky so I was wetting my hands a lot. The taste was exquisite, the absolute best I have ever had. The butter, garlic and parsley combo is perfect and the pinch of cayenne just brings it over the top. I didn't think the prep was really that bad, I think it was well worth it!!! Thanks Chef John :)

Thanks for the great recipe, i followed the instructions literally and it turned out great. It takes much time but not much effort though. For me i found it easier to prepare the buttery filling the night before serving to save time Second tip is to hold the shape of the chicken ball while in oven i used the cupcake tin and when the ball leaked some of it's liquid filling it just absorbed by the crispy skin. Great recipe

This was my first attempt at making Chicken Kiev and I followed eh instructions exactly for fear of messing it up. When you follow a Chef John's great video instruction, you really just can't go wrong. They came out absolutely perfectly! My husband was impressed and he thought it was delicious. I served it with roasted baby red potatoes and grilled asparagus. It does take a little bit of time to to do these, but well worth it!

This is much better when you use tarragon instead of bland parsley in the butter mixture. Also, it helps to chill the butter very thoroughly. It's wonderful served over the best rice. Cut into it, and the wonderful butter pours over the rice and flavors it.

Made this today, and it was so, so good! Want to make it for a 12 person dinner party next month, and wondered if I could do everything except the baking the day before to make my life easier? Would I just have to add a bit more time to the cooking because they were put in the frig overnight? Would love to hear back if you know!

This was amazing!! It is definitely a bit of work, but so worth it!! I did everything it called for and just dipped it in a touch of corn starch (from some of the other suggestions) right before I dipped the chicken ball into the flower. It really is a thing of beauty when it comes out..... my family loved it and I will definitely make again!

Wow, delicious! Finally I know how to make the chicken stay wrapped around the garlic butter -- video is very helpful.

Fantastic recipe. I reviewed these before after the first time, now I make up eight at a time freeze them and bring them out for the final cooking stage. I have also made them with chicken thigh fillets which seems to be a better size for the kids and experimented with different fillings. Always using butter but with blue vain, cheese slices and spinach as one filing, diced tomatoes, two tables of tomato paste, bacon and slice cheese as another (tastes a little like chicken parmigiana,) and the traditional garlic with parsley and a couple of cheese slices mashed in. This makes for a thicker filling like the frozen packet shop bought ones. I have also removed the deep fry bit and opted for a light shallow fry. It means you have to turn them a couple of times but I am hoping they might be slightly healthier...?? Overall this is a fantastic recipe and while fiddly, you are sure to impress and enjoy.

A little time intensive, but not hard and well worth the time. This is the best recipe that I have found for Kiev. Fixed it for a dinner party and they all raved about the butter, herbs after cutting in. The quick fry made the difference of retaining the juices. Very gourmet and fancy looking. Impress your friends, this is a winner.

Awesome recipe. I follow it to a “T”up to the actual cooking. I fry according to the recipe to brown them, then I stick them in the fridge overnight. Next day I bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 45 minutes. Great way to make a day ahead!

To my surprise, given my limited kitchen smarts, this turned out exactly as described in the video - looked and tasted great.

This is a great recipe. The first time I tried it I used the chicken breast and didn't have much luck keeping them together. My son suggested ground chicken which is much easier to work with. It comes in 1lb packages. Simply cut in half, massage into a ball and flatten out like a burger. When you add the butter and fold over, you can create a perfect ball that is completely sealed. Once breaded, it looks like it could be restaurant quality. Also, I freeze mine a little longer.

I have made , and it was delicious

Easy instructions to follow and it turned out great!

Was definitely tough, but so worth it! My family loved them. Followed the recipe as posted.

This recipe is Delicious!!! Yes, it's definitely time consuming but worth every bite! Make sure you flatten the chicken breast evenly so it cooks thoroughly. But to solve that problem I fried and baked it a bit longer

I added green onion and bacon in the middle. So yummy!! Definitely a winner dinner in my house

Did not get the chicken to seal the delicious butter sauce but still tasted very good

It was a long process to prepare this. I made more than the required butter and garlic mixture and froze for next time.

Took a long time but it was fabulous!

Too much work, too little taste. Used to order in restaurants and loved it. Needs Parmesan or something

I love this recipe and so does everyone in my family. If you are looking for what to do with chicken filets look no further, this one is a winner.

There is no way to mess up this recipe! If you watch the video and follow the instructions. 10 stars all the way around! We are already thinking of other things to stuff chicken with! It's AMAZING! And btw we bought a mortar and pestle just for this recipe!!!

After a few chicken roulades experiments pounding chicken breasts I came back to this recipe! It is awesome, I followed the video step by step, I even happened to use the identical mortar and pestle (bought it on Amazon a couple of months ago without knowing!!). It is tasty and a gorgeous way to elevate chicken breasts. I used the leftover butter and.egg wash to whipe up a delicious potato purée as side dish. I am a tiny better and gratified cook now :)

This was an absolutely phenomenal recipe! I never knew chicken could taste this great. I followed the recipe pretty much to the T; however, I did not have any fresh parsley on hand so I replaced the two tbsp of fresh parsley with 1 Tbsp dried parsley and 1 Tbsp Greek Seasoning from our local NOLa Greek Festival. Every bit of effort is beyond worth it. My husband complimented me for days, regarding how well this turned out, and even my picky-eater 9yo loved this! They can't wait for me to cook it again and I can't wait either. This is def a keeper for sure!

Absolutely scrumptious! It is a bit time consuming, so I made several batches of the herb butter to keep in the freezer for future use. Made this exactly as written, but air fried at 400 for 30 minutes in a Breville toaster oven with an air fry feature. Placed just enough foil under the chicken breast to catch butter if it didn't hold solid. It held beautifully! Can out crispy on the outside and moist and flavorful throughout. Will be making this again!!

I made this last night for the first time and DEFINITELY not the last time. OMG it was awesome. I made it just as is with a few minor additions. I added Taragon to the butter mix. (glad I did) and to the flour for breading, I added paprika and seasoned salt. Other than that I made it step-by-step exactly as stated. If you have only read the recipe and not watched the video, I urge you to watch the video. When I read the recipe it sounded like too much trouble. When I watched the video I thought, "oh, I can do that". Everything came out perfectly. My husband asked that I make his "Cordon Blue" so I stuffed his with ham and blue cheese as he requested. He said that was even tastier (he tried both) THank you, CHef John, this will become a staple for our dinner menus.

Tasty but a bit too greasy from the butter. Also a bit time consuming to make although not difficult. If you like the taste of parsley and garlic, nice!

This was a winner! My husband loved it and it was so moist and juicy! I will definitely be making this dish again and the video was most helpful!

I too have made this and it's delicious; I intend to make it for a dinner party soon. I would prefer not to be cooking with oil in front of my guests; could I pre-fry the chicken and then finish it in the oven later?

First time ever making chicken Kiev. Although it was labour intensive, it was well worth the effort. Thank you Chef John!

This was amazing! John is right...This is not an easy recipe but it was worth it! Everyone LOVED this dish. My fiancé has to be one of the pickiest eaters alive...he couldn't rave enough about this. I didn't change anything in the ingredients. I did leave the chicken in the freezer a little bit longer than it said and I took them out one at a time to dip. I also made John's mashed potatoes. Simple and great. Watch the video on this one. Very helpful. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have turned out if I didn't have that guide.

Absolutely amazing!!!

Top Notch Chef John's description is spot on. Chicken Garlic Butter nirvana. Accept no substitutes!

Exceptional! We substituted Parsley with Thyme and loved it. Will absolutely make again. A lot of prep work, but an exceptional reward at the end!

I have made this for years. This is an excellent recipe but I suggest using 1/4 teaspoon of chopped green onion tops (green part) with the butter/garlic mixture. It is so delicious and the butter spurts out over the chicken when you cut into it. Oh my!

AMAZING!!!! Have passed this on to so many people! Everyone is amazed at how good they are. So much easier than the old recipe I used that required a bunch of toothpicks per chicken ball. Thank you so much chef john! P.S. FOLLOW THE RECIPE!!!!

While it takes a bit of effort, the end result is incredible. Chef John's video really made it easy to prepare. I never make changes to any first attemp and this was no exception. It was perfect as is. If there were more stars I'd give them. My wife who dislikes chicken, and always drowns it with ranch dressing; didn't touch the bottle and ate 2 serving.

I found this recipe perfect exactly as written no need to tweak or change anything.I always try the recipe first the way it is.This was great thank you Chef John

Great recipe, followed directions and turned out flawless! Only change I made was I added shallots to the butter. Thanks!!

I made this recipe as written and it turned out great. I make a pretty good chicken cordon bleu and I've always wanted to try making chicken kiev. It's true it's not a quick easy recipe, but it's not difficult either. It just has a lot of steps, so if you've got the time, this recipe is worth the effort and the love that's required. I enjoyed myself immensely during the entire process from beginning to end. Yum!

Chef John your easy outflow of instruction peppered and slated with some dose of humor make cooking very easy to grasp not to mention the result is to die for. thks

Wow, I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly. Another great dish by Chef John. He is now my go to for great tasty recipes. My husband who is not a fan of boneless chicken was extremely happy and said I could put it in the monthly rotation! That means 5 stars!

chicken breasts were larger than specified and took longer to get the pink out. Dinner guest thought it was king of spicy (the dash of red pepper?) but I didn't think so. Flattening chicken breasts is an acquired skill but the meal turned out quite well. Chef John for President!!!

This was absolutely amazing!!!! I didn't change a thing...I enjoyed all the steps, and the whole process was pretty simple. The only thing I might do next time is let the butter soften just a bit before blending with the garlic and parsley, should make that whole process much easier. My BF said it was better than any Kiev he had in the Ukraine and could not get over the flavor! He was crazy for the butter sauce! This is now his favorite dish....and yes, there was a bit of a buttery-goodness that exploded when he cut into it....so perfect! Thank you Chef!

Didn't change a thing and it came out perfect best recipe for this dish i have ever tried !

The flavor is fantastic, and I don't think this is difficult at all. I thought for sure the filling was going to leak out, but it stayed in place perfectly. I'm not a "finesse" cook, or one who does presentation well, but this impressed; the eye, the nose, and the mouth. This was a real treat!

My favorite from childhood. Great version. Will try pounding breats thinner and smaller cuts next time. Shouldn't need baking time then. My son's new favorite recipe, minus the cayenne. Thank you!

Followed the recipe but the butter leaked on one of the chicken. I've made this in the past using a different recipe, and wrapped both ends in before rolling it. They seemed to stay intact better that way. Other than that, it was a good recipe.

This is an awesome recipe, my wife and I loved it!

Came out great! Ingredient proportions are a little off.

Made this tonight served over rice and it was delicious. I had to use dry parsley as I was out of fresh and I do not own a mortar & pestle so I just minced the garlic and stirred everything together well. I also had to bake mine a little longer but I did use big chicken breasts. The detailed instructions made it easy. Will definitely make again.

This was so awesome! Made exactly as written. Served with garlic Parmesan mashed potatoes!! Will make many more times.

I prepared this dish exactly as directed. Not only did it turn out amazing, but now I have a better method for preparing the chicken for other Chicken Kiev recipes I love.

Awesome! Watch and follow the video.

I stuffed it with spinach/mayo mixture. Worked well!

I picked up this version from a mystery novel some 50 years ago and, because I have severe arthritis in my hands, make it only for special occasions. I pound the chicken breasts into 1/8" pieces (very carefully or they'll break away), salt and pepper, then put a finger's worth of mixed butter and parsley into each piece of breast, wrap them up (tucking in the ends), then put them in the freezer for about an hour or so to set the meat. In the meantime, I've taken a stick of Saltines, put it into a freezer bag, and crushed the crackers into fine pieces with a rolling pin. When the meat pieces hold together well, I dip them in a beaten mixture of milk and egg then drop a few at a time into the bag of crumbs until they are well coated. When they've all been coated well, I put them back into the freezer for another hour. When I'm satisfied that they're holding up well, I ease a few at a time into the deep fryer. They're done when golden all over, about 4-5 minutes. Let them drain for a minute, serve, and let your guests cut into the meat. Once the butter and parsley mix oozes out over and into the meat, you'll hear nothing but oohs and aahs. The leftovers are terrific the next day -- if you have any. I allow for two breasts per person. The next time, I'll try adding some garlic and use tarragon instead of parsley, taking some good hints from Chef John and others who reviewed his recipe. Mike Costello, Santa Fe NM

It was very good - I think I got really lucky and made it correctly the first try! The only issue was that I used 6 chicken cutlets but didn't adjust the other ingredients - still very tasty but I'm sure it would be even better!

This has to be by far the best Chicken Kiev I have ever tasted (if I don't say so myself). The prep time to make this is well worth it!! From the filling to the battered chicken...absolutely awesome!!! Definitely will be making this recipe again!! Thanks Chef John!!

Love this recipe, am making today again, it works and is delicious. I do double the butter as huge chicken breasts. Thank you for sharing. The photo I had with butter oozing was too big to upload.

Prodigious - it's a reminiscence of the whole my life!

I loved this labor intensive recipe. I did not make one change! Interestingly I didn't see any butter running out when I cut into it, like I saw in some photos. I don't know where it went, but the meat was tender and it was delicious.

Pretty spectacular. We followed the directions exactly and it turned out great, except for the smaller one. The meat in one of the folds was still pink and uncooked. It was probably more frozen than the larger one and needed another 2 minutes in the oven.

Lots of work to prepare but man is this good!! Definitely will make again using larger chicken pieces

My rendition started with bare chicken and Cajun magic. The rest was the same as the recipe and we loved it. Thanks for sharing this one!

Lot of work....but it was DELICIOUS!!! Chicken was tasty and super tender.

No changes and it worked perfectly. Guests raved about it. Amazing! Great job as usual Chef John.

Wow, I made this last night and followed the recipe exactly. Another great dish by Chef John. He is now my go to for great tasty recipes. My husband who is not a fan of boneless chicken was extremely happy and said I could put it in the monthly rotation! That means 5 stars!

I’ve been making chicken Kiev for special occasion dinners for years and this recipe very close to my own version. The major difference in my recipe is that I just crushed corn flakes instead of panko. Much better flavour. And I always deep fry til cooked but am willing to try finishing in the oven. As long as the chicks is properly sealed, it’s probably great done this way. And takes the guess work out of “is it cooked”. Ain’t nothing worse than having the butter seep out during the cooking process and cutting into dry chicken. But there ain’t nothing better than cutting into the chicken and the butter oozes out

Excellent!! I felt like I was a gourmet chef in a fancy restaurant! I’m going to try some cilantro with the parsley next time. Also, I am curious to know if I can freeze it after the deep fat fry step. I’ll try it.

Turned out rather nice. Will definitely make this one again . . .

At summer camp my kids have what they call “squirty chicken.” It took me awhile to figure out what they were talking about until I came upon this recipe for chicken kiev. This is as close as I can get them to camp the rest of the year.

the very best ever, the prep work ie freezing is the secret, brilliant.

Great instructions! Wonderful results

Unfortunatly most my butter came out (Might cook them upside down next time) but even so the flavour was already cooked in and they were great and still moist . Will definatly give these another try

So good!!! I've never had Chicken Kiev before but am sooo glad I tried this recipe. I watched the video first which was definitely helpful. I followed the recipe exactly except I used my microplaner for the garlic--I would still be crushing it with my mortar and pestle if I hadn't deserted that method! Time consuming but really not difficult. I will certainly make this again.

Excellent recipe! My parsley wasnt quite ready to snip, so I used basil instead. Was fantastic!

Sooo much work but sooo worth it!

Thank god for videos, I made the chicken kiev and it was a big hit. My in-laws are libanese and they loved it. I will do it again soon.

I followed Chef's directions as written, and the dish came out exactly as shown in the pictures and video. Everyone was impressed with the results, including myself.

This is really a great recipe. I've found and made others that use toothpicks to hold the Kievs together and they really are a pain. I'm so pleased that this recipe has no need for the toothpicks. This is a great step-by-strp guide. My Kievs turned out beautiful and tasted great; not one leaked.

Really nice dish. The chicken was very tender. I had the oil too hot and it browned way faster than I intended. Other than that, the dish was not as difficult as it seems. Was a bit time consuming.

Absolutely fantastic recipe. Kind of pain though, because now my family makes me cook it all the time!

It was tasty, but I had issues getting the rolled chicken to seal up. Will try again with some better pieces of chicken.

I did forget the cayenne pepper but was amazing. I will definitely make this again and not forget it. I did also add some lemon zest to the butter. Thank you for this recipe!

A lot of steps… not sure I'd make it again, at least not for a while. But it was good! I made as directed, but found it tough to get the chicken to the right thickness. Then when I folded it up, it didn't quite stay put. The freezing step helped, though, and it fried quite nicely . I baked for about 22 minutes. When we cut into them, only one had the butter gush out. But they all tasted great!

This is a keeper. I did not pound the chicken thin enough and it still held together during the batter and deep frying process. Credit to you Chef John for the timing on the refrigeration and freezing. Takes about two hours from beginning to end. My wife loved it.

Quick and easy. My house guest, an accomplished cook, made it for dinner one night. It was delicious, I'd add a little more garlic and it would be perfect for my taste. My compliments to the Chef!

Extraordinary. I prepared for my family of 8. My timing wasn't great...we ended up eating around 8:00 p.m. but everyone said it was worth the wait.

No changes were made turned out great

I love this recipe, it's hard but the result is SO worth it. I've accomplished this 4 times so far, successfully, but each time I seem to have a mini-melt down. The hardest part I have is pounding down the chicken thin enough without breaking through. If I leave the chicken too thick, then the seams don't seal.

This method was PERFECT! It did not unfold or leak! I accidentally put a bit too much salt in the butter, but that is on me. It was otherwise perfectly crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. I would highly recommend!