• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sprinkles and Sprouts

Great food with grocery store ingredients

  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
Home > Meal Type > Main Dishes > Easy Garlic Chicken Parcels (Make Ahead)

Easy Garlic Chicken Parcels (Make Ahead)

Updated: Mar 29th 2020 • Published: Nov 23rd 2015 • 44 Comments

Jump to recipe button JUMP TO RECIPE
JUMP TO VIDEO
a silver knife and fork being used to cut up a chicken parcel, with text overlay at the bottom

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.

a puff pastry chicken parcel being cut open to reveal the chicken breast and the garlic butter

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.

two cooked puff pastry chicken parcels on a baking sheet

Jump Menu

  • How to make chicken parcels
  • How to make the garlic butter
  • How to ensure the chicken inside your parcel is perfectly cooked
  • How to wrap chicken parcels/How to fold chicken parcels
  • How long to cook garlic chicken parcels in oven
  • Garlic Chicken Parcels

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.

A Garlic chicken parcel on a white plate with boiled potatoes and salad

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.

table view showing two plates of dinner and two glasses of wine.

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!

split picture showing how to fold the chicken parcels

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.

two chicken parcels sat on a lined baking tray

Enjoy x

RECIPE NEWSLETTER

Signup and get my FREE soup cookbook.

By clicking submit, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Why not pin this recipe for Easy Garlic Chicken Parcels. Pin it here.


close up on the chicken breast within the garlic chicken parcel
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
4.5 from 8 votes

Garlic Chicken Parcels

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.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time30 mins
Total Time40 mins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Modern British
Servings: 4
Calories: 694kcal
Author: Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts
For more great recipes follow me on PinterestFollow @sprinklessprout
Need Metric Measurements?Use the options below to toggle between cups and grams (if relevant)

Ingredients

US Customary – Grams
  • 1 shallot or 1/4 red onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • large handful fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 stick unsalted butter – softened (see note 1)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp 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

  1. 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

Calories: 694kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 173mg | Sodium: 884mg | Potassium: 503mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 800IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 2.3mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @sprinklesandsprouts or tag #sprinklesandsprouts

If you love food why not subscribe to my newsletter, I will drop you an email every now and then, just to say hi and send you a couple of recipes I think you might love, like these Garlic Chicken Parcels.

RECIPE NEWSLETTER

Signup and get my FREE soup cookbook.

By clicking submit, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Find me on:
Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook 
Let’s share the food love and make the world a tastier place 🙂

Jump to recipe buttonFacebook share iconPinterest share icon

Filed Under: All Recipes, Chicken Breast Recipes, Main Dishes

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Flo says

    Apr 18th 2020 at 9:05 am

    Hi,

    This looks super yum! Do you think I could assemble these and then freeze them?

    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Apr 18th 2020 at 3:00 pm

      I haven’t tried it. But I think it would work.
      Do let me know if you try it 🙂
      Cx

      Reply
  2. Cheri says

    Mar 22nd 2019 at 11:32 am

    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??

    Reply
    • Claire McEwen says

      Mar 22nd 2019 at 12:06 pm

      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.

      Reply
« Older Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I’m Claire,

Claire | Sprinkles and Sprouts

I believe cooking for those you love should be stress free and simple.

Here on Sprinkles and Sprouts you will find delicious meals all made with easy to find grocery store ingredients. Family friendly mains, sensational sides and delicious desserts. Plus a great selection of party food and appetizers.

Read More

RECIPE NEWSLETTER

Signup and get my FREE soup cookbook.

By clicking submit, you acknowledge that the information you provide will be processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Readers’ Favorites

Small close up of pasta in chicken broth braised celery in an oval white dish
a silver spoon dipping into a white bowl of hallandaise sauce tube pasta with a creamy steak sauce in a grey bowl
homemade flour tortilla on a sheet of baking paper close up on a chicken portion coated in peri peri seasonings
a small bowl of red salsa on a blue table close up on a sliced chicken breast with garlic spaghetti
small white bowl filled with linguine topped with shaved black truffle Beef and broccoli takeout style in a white bowl

Footer

All content, recipes and photographs are copyrighted to Claire McEwen and are the property of Sprinkles and Sprouts.
THEY MAY NOT BE REPUBLISHED IN PART OR WHOLE WITHOUT PERMISSION AND PROPER CREDIT.
Contact me to see republishing and syndication rights.

2014-2020 Sprinkles and Sprouts

  • Home
  • About Sprinkles and Sprouts
  • Recipe Index
  • Contact Me
  • Disclosure and Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Cravings Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in