This sticky rice stuffed chicken breast is a beautiful thing.
The Key to Cooking Chicken Breast
I’m probably going against the grain quite a bit here, but chicken breast is one of my least favorite foods. While most Americans overwhelmingly prefer white meat, I’m a dark meat girl myself. I just find it to be more flavorful and less dry overall. It’s much easier to mess up a chicken breast than it is to mess up, say, a chicken thigh or drumstick.
But when prepared correctly, the humble chicken breast can work magic. The key is keeping it moist. One way to do that is to sear the entire chicken breast over high heat, just long enough to cook it through. This seals in the juices and is great for slicing over salads or pastas. Another method is to slice the chicken thin, and then sear it very quickly (we’re talking less than a minute here) in a stir-fry type situation.
We have plenty of those. (See: Spicy Chicken Stir-fry, Chicken with Black Beans, and 15-Minute Chicken Curry, to name just a few.)
But the final method I can think of to prevent that woefully dry chicken breast we all know and hate?
Stuffing it.
Exhibit A: Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast:
Doesn’t that look GOOD? Not dry at all.
I’ve found that butterflying the chicken breast, stuffing it, giving it a quick sear in a pan to seal in the juices, and then finishing it quickly in the oven yields consistently great results. I decided to do a sticky rice stuffing (see my OG sticky rice roasted chicken recipe, where I used de-boned chicken thighs. Definitely a bit more work, but available for my fellow dark meat connoisseurs), with bacon, mushrooms, and lots of scallions.
I also seasoned the chicken breast with sand ginger powder, in addition to salt and pepper. This ingredient is optional, but really worth it if you can find it. It adds a wonderful flavor to the finished stuffed chicken breast dish.
Ok, here’s how to make it!
Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast: Recipe Instructions
In a wok over high heat, add the chopped bacon and fry until the bacon is crispy and some of the fat has rendered out.
Add the chopped mushrooms…
And sauté until caramelized.
Stir in the scallions.
Transfer to a bowl along with the cooked sticky (glutinous or sweet) rice. (See our instructions on how to pre-cook sticky rice.)
Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and five spice powder.
Stir until combined.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take your butterflied chicken breasts and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the sand ginger powder if using.
Divide the sticky rice mixture among the four butterflied chicken breasts.
Fold them over to seal, and use a couple toothpicks to secure the butterflied halves together.
In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add the vegetable oil. Sear the chicken breasts on both sides (about 2 minutes per side).
Deglaze with a couple tablespoons of hot water, and swirl it around the pan. Transfer to the oven, and roast for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.
Serve! And remember to take those toothpicks out!
Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken Breast
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon (chopped)
- 8 oz. cremini or shiitake mushrooms (roughly chopped)
- 3 scallions (chopped)
- 2 cups cooked sticky rice (glutinous or sweet rice, see instructions on how to cook sticky rice)
- 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons dark soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (butterflied)
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons sand ginger powder (or galangal powder - optional)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
- In a wok over high heat, add the chopped bacon and fry until the bacon is crispy and some of the fat has rendered out. Add the chopped mushrooms and sauté until caramelized.
- Stir in the scallions. Transfer to a bowl along with the sticky rice. Add the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and five spice powder. Stir until combined.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Take your butterflied chicken breasts and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with the sand ginger powder if using.
- Divide the sticky rice mixture among the four butterflied chicken breasts, folding them over to seal, and use a couple toothpicks to secure the butterflied halves together.
- In a cast iron skillet over medium high heat, add the vegetable oil. Sear the chicken breasts on both sides (about 2 minutes per side). Deglaze with a couple tablespoons of hot water, and swirl it around the pan. Transfer to the oven, and roast for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve!
nutrition facts
In case you haven’t come across this, Chicken breasts can be made moist by soaking in salted water ( I use 1 tspn salt to about 1/2 cup cold water) or juice from a jar of pickles. Soak for a minimum 3 hours then rinse in cold water before cooking. No matter how you cook them, BBQ, oven, grilling etc they will always be moist.
Interesting, thanks for sharing that idea, Carol. I’ve never tried it but I’ll have to give it a shot one of these days!
Wow! What more could you ask for in a pan? The large cuts of chicken, flavorful rice, and seasoned bacon looks so tasty and mouthwatering in these photos. Your tip about keeping the chicken breast juicy with a quick sear and thin cut was really smart especially because chicken is known to get dry, even while in stirfrys or pastas. But I really appreciate how you took the time to fully explain the process for this dish and even included alternate spices to use, like sand ginger. I can’t wait to try this recipe out, especially because it only takes a few simple ingredients!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Tia! Let me know how you like the recipe. :)
I’m so excited to make this! I have the same question as another reader below. Realizing that sweet rice would be optimal, could you substitute sushi or arborio rice, without losing important textural or flavor elements to the dish?
You could substitute sushi rice for this dish––it won’t be quite as sticky, but it will still be delicious!
Nice creative dish! Im tired of chicken breasts/thighs cooked the usual way, this definitely will bring them to another level! Great job on such a delicious and easy recipe!
Thanks Ming!
This looks so very,very good! It will be on my menu just as soon as I can defrost the chicken breasts! Thank yo for posting it!
You’re welcome, Sharon!
Amazing recipe dear Sarah! We also prefer the thighs as they’re fattier and therefore tastier:):) The breast you prepared here, however, is definitely delicious and we’ll be givining it a try really soon:)
One small question though: if we don’t have sticky rice, could we also try this with another small grain – high starch rice?
Thanx for another fantastic recipe! xoxoxo
Thank you guys! Yes, you can substitute another kind of rice for the dish, as long as there is a lot of starch!
Should the cooked sticky rice be cooled or hot before mixing with the scallions? Can’t wait to make this!!
Hey Anita, the sticky rice can be hot or cooled when mixing. Either works!
Wow. This looks amazing.
Hope you like it!
Look so delicious. :-)
Thanks Sue!
Now this is true fusion food! Looks delicious, will have to give it a try.
Let us know how you like it, Ana!