These Garlic Chicken Parcels are easy to make and look super impressive, plus they are make ahead! Individual puff pastry parcels (using pie crusts) are filled with juicy chicken and oozing with garlic butter. Serve with potatoes and salad for an easy weeknight family dinner, half the recipe and serve them just for two on a date night. Or they are fancy enough for entertaining and can be prepared ahead of time and then just popped in the oven to cook when you sit down for appetizers.
Easy chicken dinners that please the whole family are always a winner! And these Garlic Chicken Parcels fit the bill perfectly.
I don't know about you, but my kids just LOVE garlic butter, so when they cut these chicken parcels open and the garlic butter flows out, they just love it. Plus the garlic butter keeps the chicken breast nice and juicy, which means the kids love the chicken too.
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How to make chicken parcels
These garlic chicken parcels are wrapped in puff pastry and then baked in the oven.
The pastry gets deliciously golden and crisp, plus it keeps all the delicious garlic butter inside. Some does soak into the pastry but that just makes it even better!
Which pastry to use?
You can buy sheets of puff pastry in the frozen section of the grocery store. Allow them to just defrost before you use them, but keep them on the sheet of paper as it makes it much easier to use.
How to make the garlic butter
To make a really great garlic butter you want to start with soft butter. You should be able to push a finger into it without any resistance.
You want to get the butter out of the fridge well in advance, but don't be tempted to melt it in the microwave. You get liquid butter quicker than you can say, "where's the garlic?" and once you have liquid butter, it never seems to taste the same.
How to use a microwave to soften butter
- Chop the butter into small cubes and place in a non-metallic bowl. Make sure the bowl is large enough for the butter to be nice and spread out. This ensure it will soften quickly and evenly.
- Half fill a microwave-safe large measuring cup/jug/bowl with water. (about 2-3 cups of water)
- Microwave the water for 3 minutes until boiling.
- Carefully remove the water from microwave and immediately place the bowl of butter inside.
- Close the door, to trap in the hot air, and leave for 10 minutes.
- Your butter will be soft but not melted.
- NOTE: You don’t switch the microwave on once the butter is in there. It is just shut inside with the hot air created by the water.
Which butter to use for garlic butter
For this recipe you want to use unsalted butter and then add salt. This is because with salted butters the salt content does vary, which most of the time doesn't matter as you can taste the dish and adjust your seasoning. But here the butter hits raw chicken and then is sealed away until you cut into the garlic chicken parcel. At this point it is too late to adjust seasoning.
So using unsalted butter and adding your own salt means you are fully in control.
How to ensure the chicken inside your parcel is perfectly cooked
To ensure you get a nice neat parcel and perfectly cooked juicy chicken, you want the chicken inside to be uniform thickness.
To do this you want to cut the thin pointy end off the chicken - this creates a sort of chicken breast square.
You can stash these pointy ends of the chicken breast in the freezer ready for chopping up for other dinners.
Recipes to use up your chicken breasts chunks
- Takeout Style Chicken and Snow Peas Stir fry
- Creamy Rosemary Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Chicken a la King
- Popcorn Chicken
How to wrap chicken parcels/How to fold chicken parcels
To wrap these chicken parcels place the chicken square in the middle of your pastry Then add the garlic butter (see above for more info on the butter)
Pull the two opposite corners up over the chicken and pinch together gently. Repeat with the remaining two corners and pinch everything together on top.
Don't worry too much about how you gather the pastry up around the chicken. As long as there are no holes it will work perfectly. Holes are bad as you lose butter! Losing garlic butter would be very bad indeed!
How long to cook garlic chicken parcels in oven
The chicken parcels need to be brushed with egg and then baked in a 390ºF/200ºC oven for 25-30 minutes.
The parcels should be golden brown and crisp to the touch.
Enjoy x
Why not pin this recipe for Easy Garlic Chicken Parcels. Pin it here.
Garlic Chicken Parcels
Ingredients
- 1 shallot or ¼ red onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- large handful fresh flat leaf parsley
- ½ teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 stick unsalted butter - softened (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 4 sheets puff pastry - defrosted
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Peel the shallot/red onion and the garlic then place them in a food processor along with the parsley. Whizz until you have quite a finely chopped mixture.
- Add in the lemon juice, butter, salt and pepper, then whizz well to combine. (If you forget to soften the butter then this will still work but you will need to leave it to whizz for a longer time.)
- Use a spoon to roughly divide the butter into 4 pats and set aside.
- Line a baking tray with cooking paper and pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/390ºF.
- Take each chicken breast and cut off the thinner pointed end, to create a sort of square shape of chicken (see pictures in post) Refrigerate/freeze these pieces for another dish (I have a few suggestions above)
- Lay a sheet of puff pastry out on the chopping board. I find it easiest if I keep it sat on the plastic/paper that is used to divide them.
- Place a chicken square in the centre of the pastry. Spoon over a pat of the butter mixture and then gather up the pastry to enclose the chicken and create a pouch. Gently squeeze the pastry closed.
- Carefully slide the chicken parcel onto a prepared baking sheet.
- Repeat with the remaining chicken pieces.
- Crack the egg into the bowl you used for the butter and whisk with a fork.
- Brush the parcels with egg wash and then bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Notes
- You want the butter to be soft enough to push a finger into it without any resistance. If you haven't softened the butter see the bulk of post for tips on how to quickly soften butter.
Nutrition
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Flo says
Hi,
This looks super yum! Do you think I could assemble these and then freeze them?
Thank you!
Claire McEwen says
I haven't tried it. But I think it would work.
Do let me know if you try it 🙂
Cx
Cheri says
I'm dying to make these.. but question.. it says 2 sticks of butter, does that mean 1/4 cup of butter per parcel?? Seems extreme, but who doesn't love butter??
Claire McEwen says
Hi Cheri,
Oh I do hope you love them as much as we do.
With the butter, sorry that is my mistake (I work in grams and convert to sticks) it should be 1 stick, so half a cup all together (1/8th on each parcel)
I've updated the recipe.
Linda Nesbitt says
How far ahead can these be made? And can they be frozen before they are cooked ?
Thanks
Claire McEwen says
I have made them 24hours in advance with no noticeable difference in the texture of the pastry.
I haven't tried freezing them, but I think as long as the chicken hadn't been frozen before, they would be fine in the freezer. They would probably be better defrosted before cooking as I think if they were cooked from frozen the pastry would burn before the chicken cooked through.
Hope that helps 😀
JP says
I just wanted to confirm that you bake these at 200 as opposed to a higher temperature?
Claire McEwen says
Hi JP,
Yes 200ºC is correct but if you are using Fahrenheit it will be 390ºF. (I will add Fahrenheit temperature to the recipe)
Hope that helps 😀
Jeri says
So I'm going to have to redo my meal plan to incorporate this for Sunday dinner
Claire McEwen says
Oops, sorry!
You won't be disappointed though, this is one of my favourite meals!
Diana says
I love this! My Mom and I used to make chicken bundle as an appetizer at Christmas but it was very vinegary tasting (I was one of the few that liked it!) but this one is wonderful and big enough for a meal! I'm going to try and make the bite (2 bite) size for this Christmas. About your butter problem, just stick it in a zip lock bag (water proof) and put in a bowl of warm water, just like you would warm eggs when you forget to get them out.Thanks again for the great recipes.
Claire McEwen says
I bet these would be great as two mouthful canapés. Do let me know how they turn out 🙂
Great tip with the butter!
Liz Jacobs says
These look so delicious ! Will be making these for lunch on Sunday for the family 🙂
Claire McEwen says
I hope your family love them as much as mine does 🙂
Dini @ The Flavor Bender says
How beautiful does this look Claire?!! You had me at Puff pastry. And Chicken, and garlic! Uggh! Everything about this is delicious!
Claire McEwen says
Hehe thank you Dini, you can rarely go wrong when there is garlic and butter involved 🙂
Kathryn @ FoodieGirlChicago says
These would be perfect for a cocktail party! I love that you included the step-by-step instructions for sealing up the packets. Pinned!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you, I felt I had to include the step-by-steps as I didn't want anyone to lose garlic butter! That would be too tragic 😉
Michele says
I love your step by step pics of making the parcels..... That is so helpful... Pinned this for later!!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Michele. I usually don't take mid-cook shots as my kitchen is always a mess 😉 But I wanted to make sure the parcels were sealed up or people would lose all their butter and that would just make everyone sad!
Hope you enjoy them 🙂
Kevin | Keviniscooking says
These sound wonderful. Love the little packet idea and all basted in that lovely butter! Thanks 🙂
Claire McEwen says
Thank you 🙂
Butter makes nearly everything better 😉
Cristie | Little Big H says
These look gorgeous and really really tasty. Pinning so I remember to make them asap.
Claire McEwen says
Thank you for the pin.
They are so simple and so yummy, hope you enjoy them 🙂
jacquee | i sugar coat it! says
OK, these are totally happening very soon!! Delicious photos!
Claire McEwen says
Thank you 🙂
Hope you love them
Emme says
These are just beautiful! Great photography, by the way. I have never thought about making dough parcels, I want to try it now! Thank you!
Claire McEwen says
I love making parcels, it makes portions easy to serve and you can get everything oven ready earlier in the day 🙂
I hope you enjoy them
Kathi @ laughing spatula says
I'm always looking for new chicken recipes! This sounds like great date night food! Thanks for sharing!
Claire McEwen says
Perfect date night food as long as you are both eating the garlic butter 😉
Amanda {Striped Sptaula} says
These look and sound delicious! Great photos, and I agree with you about using unsalted butter; the salt content really does vary across brands.
Claire McEwen says
Thank you Amanda.
There are so many brands and the taste of each one is so different.
Fareeha says
Wow, this is simply awesome. I just cant seem to take my eyes off it.
Claire McEwen says
Hehe, Thank you 🙂
Tracy | Baking Mischief says
You had me in the description with, "oozing with garlic butter." Yum! I love serving meals that are deceptively easy. You get all the kudos without the hard work! I'm definitely going to have to try these the next time I have guests.
Claire McEwen says
Ha! That would have 'had me' too. I find most recipes are better if they are oozing with butter 😉
And I completely agree, impressive dishes that haven't taken all day and every pan are the best for entertaining 🙂
Ange says
What a great way to jazz up chicken breasts! The pastry would protect them from drying out as well as being delicous! Clever!
Claire McEwen says
I so rarely use chicken breasts, but you are so right, the pastry protects the chicken. And you have the added bonus that the breast soaks up butter like a sponge 🙂
Judy says
There is no lemon juice listed in the ingredients but I see it in the instructions?
Claire McEwen says
Thank you for spotting that Judy. I have updated the recipe 😀
Shelly says
Would this work with chicken thighs?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Shelly,
Although I haven't tried this specific recipe with chicken thighs, I do something similar with a tomato filling and that works with chicken thighs.
You might find the bottom of the pastry is a little wet/buttery as thighs won't absorb the butter like a chicken breast does.
If you try it out please come back and let me know, I am sure plenty of people would be interested to know too.
Have a great day x
Nancy | Plus Ate Six says
I love it - puff pastry, garlic butter and the non-pointy end of the chicken breast 🙂 perfect for any time of the year but especially coming up to the crazy season.
Claire McEwen says
Hehe. Very important to remove the pointy bit 😉