Southwestern Chicken Baked in Foil

Southwestern Chicken Baked in Foil

This delicious dish comes from The Joy of Cooking; although, I have added a few ingredients (capers & tomatoes) and changed the ratios up a bit.

This meal definitely has some prep-work on the front end! But, once the chicken packets are assembled, the whole meal just cooks itself! My husband literally gets excited when I make this meal! He loves how the tangy goat cheese and savory sun dried tomatoes pairs so well with the black beans and spicy jalepenos! I don’t like my food very spicy, so I omit the jalepenos on mine! Each packet can be customized! A great quality to have in a meal when you are dealing with picky family members!

2 Chicken breasts
4 oz fresh goat cheese at room temperature
1 Tbl capers
4 sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 Roma tomato, finely chopped
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 c fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbl olive oil
1 tsp red wine vinegar
fresh or jarred jalepenos, sliced (optional)
salt & pepper
Serve with cooked rice

Preheat oven to 375

In a small bowl combine softened goat cheese, capers and sundried tomatoes.

Lay the chicken breasts, smooth side up, on a cutting board. Make an incision about 3 inches long and 2 inches deep in the middle of the thick side of the chicken breast to create a pocket. Spoon half of the goat cheese mixture into each chicken “pocket” and press to seal the edges.

Refrigerator the chicken breasts for 15 minutes while you prepare the bean mixture and the foil packets.

In a medium bowl combine black beans, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, cumin, olive oil and red wine vinegar. Set aside.

Cut two 15 inch squares of foil and crease them in half on the diagonal. Spoon half the bean mixture on one side of each piece of foil. Place the stuffed chicken breast on top of the beans. Generously sprinkle the top of each chicken breast with salt and pepper. If you are using sliced jalepenos, put them on top of the chicken breast.


Fold the empty half of the foil over the chicken to cover. Fold the edge of foil together all the way around closing the packet tightly. Place foil packets on a baking sheet that is covered in foil (saves with clean up if the packets leak!). Bake for 30 minutes.


Divide cooked rice evenly between two dinner plates. Be SO careful when handling the chicken packets!!! A lot of steam escapes when you open them, so, I find it best to do it with a fork while wearing oven mitts! Slide the beans and chicken right on the dinner plate- try to keep the beans on the bottom as best as you can (it looks prettier like this!). Enjoy!