Ruth’s Chris Chicken–cream cheese, parmesan and lemon stuffed chicken breasts baked in your air fryer.

Ruth’s Chris Chicken
Stuffed chicken breasts are a treat! This recipe is a copycat recipe of the fancy restaurant Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. You’re going to save a lot of money by taking the time to make these at home! The menu I saw had the stuffed chicken breast for a mere $35 🤯.
These stuffed chicken breasts have so much flavor thanks to the cream cheese and parmesan cheese mixture but also because of the fresh lemon zest and juice that brings the flavor to a new level.
I decided to try baking these stuffed chicken breasts in the air fryer and they turned out excellent! I highly recommend trying it. You can also make these chicken breasts in the oven if you don’t have an air fryer. Some of the filling might leak out but it’s okay! They still taste awesome and the messiness is part of fun.
You might also like: Ruth's Chris Potatoes
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken breasts
- Cream cheese
- Parmesan cheese
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Kosher salt
- Dried thyme
- Lemon juice and zest
- Butter
Steps
Make the filling: In a bowl stir together the cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt and thyme. Zest and juice the lemon. Reserve zest for later. Stir the lemon juice in with the filling.

Cut a pocket opening in each chicken breast: Cut an opening about 3 inches wide, then cut 3/4 of the way through the breast to create a pocket without cutting all the way through. Repeat with the remaining breasts.

Stuff: Spoon 1/3 of the filling into each chicken breast. If desired use a few toothpicks to seal the pocket so the filling doesn’t seep out.

Brush with butter: Stir melted butter and lemon zest together in a small bowl. Brush the mixture over the outside of each of the chicken breasts.
Cook: Place the chicken into an air fryer and air fry at 400° F for 12-15 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165° F. Or place on a baking sheet at bake in the oven at 425° F for 30 minutes. You can also cook in an Instant Pot by placing the chicken on a trivet (you must have 1 cup of water below the trivet). Pressure cook for 10 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.

Serve and enjoy! Before serving, cut each breast in half crosswise for serving.

Notes/Tips
- Serve with a side of mashed potatoes and a green veggie like broccoli, asparagus, spinach and green beans.
- I used my Instant Vortex air fryer*.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- This recipe is low carb and high protein.
- This recipe is gluten-free.
- Variation: for even more protein try using creamy blended cottage cheese in the place of cream cheese.

More Air Fryer chicken recipes…
Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken
Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken–a healthier, air fryer version of the classic spicy fried chicken you can order when you visit Tennessee. Pin this recipe for later! Air Fryer Nashville Hot Chicken Greg and I visited Nashville a few years ago and were instructed by a friend that we just had to visit a restaurant
Air Fryer Heavenly Chicken
Sour cream coated chicken rolled in Ritz cracker crumbs and then cooked and crisped in an air fryer.
Keep a Man Chicken (Air Fryer or Oven)
Juicy, flavorful and tender chicken. Make this for your man or your woman and win their hearts forever!
Air Fryer Almost Chick Fil-A Chicken
Homemade chicken nuggets made in your air fryer. They are juicy and tender and really simple to make! They taste just as good as the restaurant.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.


Ruth’s Chris Chicken (Air Fryer Recipe)
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Cream cheese, parmesan and lemon stuffed chicken breasts baked in your air fryer.
Ingredients
- 3 (10-12 ounce) chicken breasts
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 ounces parmesan cheese (about 1/3 cup)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 small lemon
- 2 Tbsp butter, melted
Instructions
- Make the filling: In a bowl stir together the cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt and thyme. Zest and juice the lemon. Reserve zest for later. Stir the lemon juice in with the filling.
- Cut a pocket opening in each chicken breast: Cut an opening about 3 inches wide, then cut 3/4 of the way through the breast to create a pocket without cutting all the way through. Repeat with the remaining breasts.
- Stuff: Spoon 1/3 of the filling into each chicken breast. If desired use a few toothpicks to seal the pocket so the filling doesn’t seep out.
- Brush with butter: Stir melted butter and lemon zest together in a small bowl. Brush the mixture over the outside of each of the chicken breasts.
- Cook: Place the chicken into an air fryer and air fry at 400° F for 12-15 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165° F. Or place on a baking sheet at bake in the oven at 425° F for 30 minutes. You can also cook in an Instant Pot by placing the chicken on a trivet (you must have 1 cup of water below the trivet). Pressure cook for 10 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
- Serve and enjoy! Before serving, cut each breast in half crosswise for serving.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Air Fryer

*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
How does it do heating up? I want to make it for lunch at work. I have a regular air fryer, same time and temp?
I haven’t tried my air fryer for heating it up! but I would lower the temp if I were you and check after 5 minutes
Can you microwave it to reheat?
Yes, that’s what we did
Absolutely delicious. My chicken breasts were a bit thick so it took longer than 15 minutes in my air fryer. Chicken did not dry out at all! Kids gobbled them up!
So easy to prepare too! Win win for me.
★★★★★
yay! Thanks for the 5 stars!
is each breast 10 to 12 ounces.
yes that’s right 🙂
This was great! I had four chicken breasts so I just added one more ounce of cream cheese and kept all other ingredients the same. Chicken was done after 15 minutes. Will definitely be making this again. I love your IP recipes, this was your first air fryer recipe that I have tried. I can’t wait to try more. Thank you!
★★★★★
Thanks Rebecca! So glad you tried it and liked it!
Karen….love your recipes. But, I have an IP Duo Crisp with Air Fryer lid….may I make this recipe in my IP with Air Fryer lid?
Yes you can do that! I would place them on a tall trivet instead of in the bottom of the pot.
great ingredients , my tip cut pocket 1 inch wide. < then rotate knife from left to right to form a pocket. just try it. then stuff it. great ingredients.
★★★★
Thanks so much for the tip!