Frugal Friday: Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms - Healthy Meal or Fancy Hors D'oeuvres

I was running low on dinner ideas a few weeks ago, and we were low on ingredients in the house. Carley was out playing Bunco, so I decided to get creative with my dinner. While this is normally a clue that the entire contents of our kitchen will be dirty on the counter, this meal turned out to be simple and delicious.


The picture does not really do these treats justice. I tried to pile some left over Melba toast in the middle as a garnish, but it just looks like crumbs :) Carley commented that the real thing looked good enough to be served at a fancy dinner or cocktail party.

"Chuck"en Stuffed Mushrooms... yeah, I said "Chuck"-en

Ingredients that you will need per serving:

• Chicken breast or thigh, 100g or roughly 3.5oz., trimmed of fat, skin and veins - We usually buy frozen chicken breasts. The 6 lb. bag usually costs about ten dollars and change at the superstore, or about 50 cents per serving.

• Fresh button mushrooms, 5 to 10 depending on size - We picked these up at the local superstore as well.I asked Carley the price, and she seems to think they are about $3 a pack, and the recipe uses about a third of the package, or $1 per serving.

• Melba Toast, crushed - 1 cracker or 2 rounds. At $2.25 a box, this comes in at about 15 cents per serving.

• Chimtot's super special seasoning blend (I talked about this last week, but it is 1 part pepper, 1 part garlic powder, 4 parts salt.) - Staple

• Lemon juice (fresh, bottled... however works for you) or  cider vinegar, whatever you prefer  -  Staple

• Cider Vinegar - Staple

• Paprika or Cayenne pepper -  Staple

• Cooking oil (I use EVOO) or Bragg's amino acids as you prefer to cook with - Staple

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, brush oil (or spray with cooking spray) onto a baking sheet
2. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. 
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Pop the stems out of your mushrooms and finely dice them throwing out the tough ends.
5. Finely dice the chicken.
6. Combine the chicken, diced stems, crushed Melba toast, seasoning blend and lemon juice in a bowl and allow to stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until the toast has absorbed the liquid.
7. Fry the mixture until the chicken is fully cooked and any moisture has cooked off.
8. Remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool.
9. Fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing and place on the baking sheet.
10. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the mushrooms are hot and liquid starts to form underneath.
11. Remove from the oven, sprinkle on Paprika or Cayenne for color and additional flavor.
12. Serve and enjoy.

I actually ate this as a meal, and found it to be quite satisfying.  All together it comes in at less than 250 calories and less than two dollars and fifty cents a serving! Frugal and healthy, just the way I like it! 
There is also plenty of room to alter this recipe to your tastes. You could add a bit of Parmesan cheese,  Pecorino Romano or cream cheese to make the filling more creamy. You could use mint, parsley or oregano to give it a different, more Italian flavor and a different color. You could use a nice italian sausage, or cook the mixture in Marsala wine... the possibilities are quite numerous!


Feel free to share this recipe with others, try it yourself or pint it to one of your boards :) If you do try it, let me know what you thought.


 Send me your favorite frugal and figure-friendly recipes and I may include them in a future post!