Chicken cordon bleu might sound fancy, but it’s pretty simple. It’s a chicken roll filled with ham and cheese; the whole thing is covered with panko breadcrumbs. When done right, you get a lot from this dish – cheesy center, juicy meat, and crunchy crumbs.
But even with that, chicken cordon bleu doesn’t feel complete without a tasty side dish. Read on to find out what to serve with chicken cordon bleu.
1. Dijon Cream Sauce
Among all sides and sauces, nothing is more classic with chicken cordon bleu than Dijon cream sauce. Its simplicity allows it to add moisture and creamy, subtle flavors without overwhelming the chicken cordon bleu’s flavors. Some recipes make it with a few ingredients only, but this one’s unique as it includes white wine for a hint of complexity.
2. Honey Mustard Sauce
The usual Dijon cream sauce is excellent, but a bit of honey does the trick if you want to add a fresh twist. This honey mustard sauce is as creamy as the traditional chicken cordon bleu sauce but much sweeter and tangier. That’s because aside from honey, you’re also adding apple cider vinegar, thus, really turning things around.
3. Mornay Sauce
Another sauce usually paired with chicken cordon bleu is bechamel. But instead of using a traditional recipe, you might prefer this Mornay sauce. It’s essentially bechamel but with cheese, which makes it creamier and more savory. You can add any cheese you like – gruyere, parmesan, swiss, and more – and it will significantly affect the dip’s final taste profile.
4. Creamy Mushroom Sauce
If you prefer a sauce with a more savory, umami flavor, follow this recipe for creamy mushroom sauce. Admittedly, it’s a bit unconventional for chicken cordon bleu, but that makes it perfect as it introduces a unique twist to the meal. It takes only 20 minutes to prepare and cook, and you can use any brown or white mushroom you like.
5. White Wine Cream Sauce
Joining the fray of white sauces is this white wine cream sauce, which is creamy, moist, and subtly flavored. It has all the qualities that make white sauces the traditional pairing to chicken cordon bleu. Ingredients are similar to the Dijon cream sauce but without mustard to overshadow the wine’s taste. Thus, the sweet, sharp flavors come across more clearly, setting this recipe apart.
6. Radish Salad
This radish salad is a good option if you want fresh, crisp, and unconventional flavors with your chicken cordon bleu. It has raw and roasted radishes, each offering subtle sweetness and other unique tastes and textures. There’s also a medley of creamy beans, nuts, capers, mint, and other ingredients, which are all then brought together by a lemon vinaigrette.
7. Arugula Salad
If you prefer leafy veggies over root crops, prepare this arugula salad instead. Arugula has peppery fresh flavors, and this recipe combines those with parmesan cheese, dried cranberries, nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and honey. All these varied textures and tastes constitute a well-balanced and light profile that compliments the otherwise protein-heavy and flavorful chicken cordon bleu.
8. Brussels Sprout Hash
Plain, steamed Brussels sprout is a typical side dish for chicken cordon bleu but if you want something more flavorful and elevated, try making this hash. It consists of bacon, Brussels sprouts, caramelized onions, sweet potatoes – instead of starchy potatoes – spices, and coconut aminos. You can add eggs, but that’s optional and more appropriate for breakfast.
9. Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan
Broccoli is another classic vegetable side dish that can be cooked in many ways, one of which is roasting. Roasting gives the veggie a beautiful browning and unique flavor, amplified when the broccoli is tossed in oil, lemon, and other ingredients before cooking. Then, the final dish is sprinkled with parmesan cheese to bring everything together.
10. Maple Mustard Green Beans
Maple mustard green beans taste like their name – roasted green beans flavored with a maple mustard mixture. This maple mustard mix consists of two kinds of mustard – grainy and Dijon – combined with maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Thus, the roasted beans have a complex flavor profile with hints of sweetness, spiciness, and savoriness.
11. Zucchini Potato Bake
This zucchini potato bake recipe offers everything a chicken cordon bleu needs. These include the creamy sauce, cheesy flavors to match the chicken-cheese roll, and nutrition from the zucchini. It’s similar to a potato au gratin, with creamy top sauce and beautifully arranged slices. However, including zucchini introduces fresh flavors, textures, and nutrients that elevate the recipe.
12. Roasted Asparagus
A side of roasted asparagus is perfect if you want a simple yet flavorful and nutritious side dish. This recipe, in particular, has the veggies roasted in the oven for convenience and health benefits. Seasoning is minimal – olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and optional garlic powder. Make sure your asparagus is fresh for the best flavors and crispy texture.
13. Avocado Cucumber Salad
You can make this avocado cucumber salad if you’re running against a tight clock, as it takes only five to ten minutes to complete. The ingredients are simple: cucumbers, avocado, green onions, lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. The final flavors are fresh, citrusy, and creamy – they might be untraditional for chicken cordon bleu but sometimes new is what you need to bring everything around.
14. Potatoes Au Gratin
Chicken cordon bleu is perfect with mashed potatoes. But if you want something similar but fancier and more flavorful, make these potatoes au gratin instead. It’s like the zucchini potato bake above, minus the zucchini slices. Thus, you get an overload of creamy, cheesy, and starchy flavors to match your chicken rolls.
15. Glazed Carrots
Moist, sweet, and tender glazed carrots are impeccable with chicken cordon bleu. Their contrasting qualities allow them to draw out and complement each others’ flavors – all at the same time. Plus, making this recipe doesn’t take a lot; you just need a pan, a stove, some carrots, butter, brown sugar, and salt.
