Who doesn’t love the taste of Cajun spice?! The taste of Southern Style chicken!
Cajun spice is a blend of salt, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes. You can easily home make or purchase the spice in your local supermarkets. This is generally a low sodium spice so its always an idea when purchasing pre-mixed spice to check the contents levels on the labels.
With the pepper and chilli Cajun spice contains, this recipe certainly helps rev up that metabolism. Not to mention taste! I ditch the deep fried version for a much healthier baked version.
This meal is cooked in “good fats”, contains good fats from the avocado, high protein from the lean chicken and light cream cheese inside to provide the soft middle the oozes out once the chicken is cooked! You could use other feta cheese however it wont go smooth like cream cheese will. A much better option than cheddar or tasty cheese filled chicken.
Ingredients
To make 2 x chicken rolls & 2 x Schnitzels (Just double up the cream cheese and avocado to make 4 rolls)
- 2 x lean chicken breast or 500g (no skin, cut each breast in half horizontally to create 4 chicken breasts, around 125g each)
- 2 tbl cajun spice seasoning
- Tzatziki Dip (can use Greek yoghurt instead)
- 1/2 cup almond meal (can use wholemeal breadcrumbs or rolled oats)
- 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
- 1/2 avocado
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4-6 tbl light cream cheese, depending on size of chicken (or lowest sugar variety)
- Optional: Can add a small amount of garlic, lemon juice or lemon pepper to cream cheese. I did on one and not the other to change it up.
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius, (fan forced). You can grill but it wont be as moist.
Cut the chicken breasts into halves and place aside.
On a large plate spoon tzatziki dip and spread out over the plate.
On a separate plate place the almond meal and quinoa flakes and mix together.
Cut avocado into long slices.
For Schnitzels: Place 1 chicken breast onto the tzatziki dip and press down to coat the bottom side, turn over to coat the other side.
Repeat this process in the crumb mix and set aside on a separate plate. Repeat process for other schnitzels.
For Chicken Rolls: On a chopping board lay out chicken breast. Spoon 2 tablespoons of cream cheese over the chicken across the middle, shortest length of breast, across ways. (Add further spices or pepper now if doing so).
Layer on about 3 slices of avocado on top of the cream cheese. Roll the ends of the chicken over the top of the cream cheese and avocado so they just overlap. You can use a toothpick to hold together if needed.
Roll the chicken roll through the tzatziki dip then roll through the crumb mixture.
On an oven proof tray trickle over half the oil. Place chicken onto tray, rub the bottom of the chicken over it to make sure it doesn’t stick when cooking. Trickle over the remaining oil on top of the chicken.
Cook for 30-40 minutes, again depending on size of chicken breast. Schnitzels take a lot less time than the rolls so keep an eye on them and turn them over earlier say after 5-10 mins.
Turn the rolls over halfway through cooking. again rub over oil to avoid sticking. I turn the rolls 4 times during cooking so each of the 4 sides get crunchy!
Be sure to cut through one roll to ensure it is thoroughly cooked through properly. The inside takes longer to cook so be sure to check!
Serve with Basmati rice, quinoa, vegetables or your preferred healthy side dish.
There you have it, cajun chicken, southern taste, baked healthy and not deep fried!