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Chicken Recipes

Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu

Homemade Ninja Foodi air fryer chicken cordon bleu hot pockets are a great lunch or dinner idea that everyone loves

  • Serves 2
  • Prep 10 minutes
  • Cook 8 minutes
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A hand holds a baguette piece filled with melted cheese and small diced ham, reminiscent of the flavors in an air fryer chicken cordon bleu. A green herb is blurred in the background.

Love this classic dish but wish you could make it an EASY way right at home? Try our air fryer cordon bleu recipe using frozen rolls as our dough and then you can fill your hot pockets with all sorts of things! Sponsored by Rhodes, just one of many easy air fryer recipes on our site.

How to Make Chicken Cordon Bleu in Air Fryer

Yes this frozen bread dough recipeis deconstructed, that is how I make difficult dishes easier. In addition to that I found pre-cooked diced ham, shredded cheese and only had to cut up the chicken. Talk about simple! You just wrap it all up like a pocket and “bake” up to ooey gooey this way.

You can’t really mess with the classics beyond that though right? I mean you want the same ingredients, just easier to make. That is where this homemade hot pocket recipe comes in.

Homemade Hot Pockets with Rhodes Rolls

Ok so we have used these babies for all sorts of things beyond just making them into oven baked rolls. When we first worked with this great company I shared how we made air fryer garlic bread with them.

OH boy were those good, and you should totally make those some other night. BUT if you change their shape you can go well beyond that. Take a peek at our Easter egg bread and you’ll see what I mean by that.

This used the same philosophy where I defrosted them and combined a few in order to roll them out and make the “dough pocket” I needed. I have also just followed the directions to make small slider rolls and made a chicken cordon bleu sandwich out of them.

rhodes dinner rolls recipe

How to defrost frozen rolls

Let me explain what I mean by that. When you buy a bag of Rhodes yeast dinner rolls they come looking like this (above). Of course they are rock hard and you’ll need to soften them up.

It will take about 1.5 hours to get them to the right consistency. You’ll need 4 for each chicken pocket you’re going to make. If you want smaller versions you could use 2, just decrease timing about 2 minutes for this.

  1. Put a piece of parchment paper on your countertop and spray it quickly with non stick spray you can lay out enough.
  2. Make sure you put a piece of sprayed plastic wrap over the top of them or the tops will dry out and get a bit hard. I have made this mistake and you really want to keep them moist.
  3. Then you’ll take your dough and “smush” then into a ball so you can roll it out. I like to use parchment paper for this part too.
Small dough balls covered with plastic wrap, reminiscent of the shape of a delightful air fryer chicken cordon bleu, are neatly arranged in rows on a surface.
rhodes rolls
frozen dough

If you just roll out on your countertop, cutting board or just with a rolling pin without something in between it will likely stick a bit. Roll it out so the dough is the same thickness all the way across and there aren’t any tears. Rips will cause the filling to leak out which is no fun. You can see what mine looked at right here.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Ingredients

Now you can start adding your fillings. You could easily make this with leftover chicken breasts to ensure the meat is done all the way with all of the other ingredients. If you dice them up into small enough pieces you won’t have an issue with that either. The way I describe the size you want is to say that each piece should be no larger than half of the top digit on your pointer finger.

Using a meat mallet to make it more tender will help it cook through as well. I always recommend small/medium size breasts always.

So small bites essentially, as though you were dicing them up for your smaller child to eat. My ham already was cut and cheese was shredded so there wasn’t much else to do beyond that. You can choose to add a squeeze of dijon mustard into the middle or leave that as a dip when serving it, totally up to you. Now let’s talk about the ends.

Unbaked pastry filled with diced chicken, grated cheese, and chicken pieces awaits transformation into a delicious air fryer chicken cordon bleu on parchment paper.
rhodes frozen dough recipe

Do NOT fold them over or the dough will be too thick and won’t cook through in those areas, nobody wants a bite of raw dough. Instead press the ends down like you see here so they are nicely sealed but not too thick. I experimented with a few different methods in my trials of this and by far this was the best method for perfection.

Ninja Foodi Air Fryer Cordon Bleu

Once you get this method down you can fill these babies with all sorts of things I tell you!! Add cheese for a sort of ooey gooey air fryer grilled cheese, add ham, the list goes on and on.

I bought diced ham in the meat section but this is also a great leftover ham recipe after the holidays! Take out that bag of sliced ham with slices of cheese after Easter and make these! You could leave the chicken out for these and just make a ham and cheese melt, I bet your kids will love them.

The great thing is that no matter what you add inside they have a quick cooking time for sure. Just don’t forget the non stick cooking spray in the air fryer basket or these babies will stick.

A close-up of an air fryer chicken cordon bleu, sliced in half to reveal melted cheese and pieces of ham nestled within a golden-brown crust. The text above reads "Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu." The dish is elegantly presented on a white plate.

Here’s a quick rundown of how we made these. Remember, instead of the timely “old fashioned” way of rolling the chicken you’re just going to dice everything up small and throw it in.

How to Make Chicken Cordon Bleu Hot Pockets

  1. Defrost 4 frozen Rhodes rolls for 1.5 to 2 hours per sandwich you want to make. We made 2 so I took out 8 total.
  2. Use your hands to “smush” 4 of them together, then place between two pieces of parchment paper and roll thin making sure there are no holes.
  3. In the middle sprinkle shredded cheese on top, add your diced ham dice breast on a cutting board (can season the chicken with salt and pepper), add meat on top.
  4. If you want to add dijon mustard inside, squeeze some on now.
  5. Pick up the dough and wrap over the chicken ingredients. Press gently to seal on top. Leave just enough on the ends to seal tightly so nothing leaks out. Now you have your “pocket”
  6. Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Spray inside of basket with non stick spray.
  7. Place 1-2 pockets inside with seams facing up. Whisk egg in a cup and brush on side facing up, or spray the chicken wraps with olive oil spray.
  8. Air fry for 4 minutes, then flip over and brush egg wash over the top again. Close and cook an additional 4 minutes or until outsides are a deep golden brown.
  9. Remove and brush melted butter over the top. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice pockets in half.
  10. Of course you should ensure chicken is cooked through before consuming, if diced small to begin with it won’t be an issue.

Alternatives you could make depending on your taste buds are to swap Swiss cheese out for mozzarella or parmesan cheese (but that won’t melt as well).

Recipe card

Air Fryer Chicken Cordon Bleu

Homemade air fryer chicken cordon bleu hot pockets in Ninja Foodi with refrigerated biscuits or frozen dough are a great lunch or dinner.

  • Serves 2
  • Prep 10 minutes
  • Cook 8 minutes
  • Course Entree, Main Course
  • Cuisine French

Ingredients

  • 8 Rhodes dinner rolls (thawed, 4 for each pocket)
  • 1 c Swiss cheese (shredded)
  • 1/4 c ham (precooked, diced small)
  • 1/4 c chicken (raw or precooked, cubed small)
  • dijon mustard (optional, add inside or use as a dip)
  • 1 egg (whisk, use as an egg wash on top to shine)
  • 1 tbsp butter (melted, brushed on top before serving, optional)
  • salt and pepper (to taste)

Method

  1. 1

    Defrost 4 frozen Rhodes dinner rolls for 1.5 to 2 hours per sandwich you want to make.

  2. 2

    Use hands to "smush" them together, then place between two pieces of parchment paper and roll thin making sure there are no holes.

  3. 3

    In the middle sprinkle shredded cheese, diced ham, season meat with salt and pepper and place small cubed pieces of chicken on the very top. If you want to add dijon inside squeeze some on now.

  4. 4

    Fold top and bottom over and press gently to seal. Leave just enough dough on ends to seal tightly so nothing leaks out. Now you have your "pocket"

  5. 5

    Preheat air fryer to 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Spray inside of basket with non stick spray.

  6. 6

    Place 1-2 pockets inside with seams facing up. Whisk egg in a cup and brush on sides facing up.

  7. 7

    Air fry for 4 minutes, then flip over and brush egg wash over the top again. Close and cook an additional 3-4 minutes or until outsides are a deep golden brown.

  8. 8

    Remove and brush melted butter over the top. Allow to rest for 5 minutes. Slice in half (ensure chicken is cooked through, if diced small to begin with it won't be an issue) and enjoy with a dip of dijon if desired.

Equipment

  • 1 air fryer
  • 1 Rolling Pin

Nutrition

  • Serving2 oz
  • Calories329 kcal
  • Carbohydrates3 g
  • Protein21 g
  • Fat26 g
  • Saturated Fat15 g
  • Polyunsaturated Fat1 g
  • Monounsaturated Fat8 g
  • Trans Fat1 g
  • Cholesterol157 mg
  • Sodium393 mg
  • Potassium124 mg
  • Sugar1 g
  • Vitamin A742 IU
  • Calcium442 mg
  • Iron1 mg