Guy Fieri’s Family-Style Chicken Saltimbocca: Italian Classic Gets the Fieri Treatment
“You know with the last name Fieri, you know I make a lot of Italian food,” Guy opens this Big Bite segment, and he’s not kidding. This episode features his personal take on a traditional Italian dish that he’s refined over the years for his family — Fieri Chicken Saltimbocca.
Traditional saltimbocca keeps things simple: chicken breast, prosciutto, sage, butter, and white wine. But Guy wanted to push it further. “My kids want it to go a little bit bigger,” he explains, “and I think that sometimes even the simplicity of the dish can kind of make people feel like it’s not that special. This way I think is special.”
Building Flavor from the First Step
The technique here starts before the chicken even hits the pan. Guy preheats olive oil and adds fresh sage — stems and all — to crisp up and infuse the oil. “They got a ton of flavor,” he notes about those stems most people would discard. The real key is that this sage oil becomes the cooking medium for the chicken, layering flavor from the very beginning.
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For the chicken breasts, Guy takes a practical approach based on what he’s working with. Rather than pounding large breasts into oblivion, he slices them horizontally through the center first. “If I get into pounding it out too much, I get into really tearing the chicken and then you start to really lose the texture of the breast,” he explains. “It’s like ground meat.” A light pound under plastic wrap evens everything out for consistent cooking.
The Fieri Family Twist
Here’s where Guy departs from tradition: after the flour-dusted chicken gets a quick sear in that sage-infused oil, he layers on thin-sliced prosciutto, fresh sage, and provolone cheese. “It’s Americanized,” he admits, “but the kids like it a little bit more. We put cheese on anything, the kids like it.”
Speaking of prosciutto, Guy drops some real talk: “When the recipe calls for like a half pound of prosciutto, you should get exactly a pound. Because between me picking at it, my kids picking at it, my wife picking at it, my dad picking at it…” He also insists on testing a slice at the deli counter, recounting a cooking disaster where someone had cut prosciutto “with a camping ax” — so thick they had to break it down in a food processor.
The assembled chicken goes into a 350-degree oven just long enough to melt the cheese. Similar to how other Big Bite episodes like Eva’s Potatoes showcase simple ingredients elevated through technique, this dish proves that quality components and proper execution beat complexity every time.
Tips Straight from Guy’s Kitchen
Go easy on the salt: The prosciutto and provolone both bring plenty of saltiness, so Guy seasons the chicken lightly and from up high for even distribution.
Watch that oil: “I’m looking for how that oil moves in that pan. Starts to move around in that pan like it’s water — we’re good to go.”
Don’t crowd the pan: Guy uses two pans rather than cramming everything together. “All we’re going to end up doing is steaming out.”
Keep it Italian-style: “We’re not going for big monster amounts where it’s this big heaping gooey cheese running off it — just enough to coat it.”
The finished product had Guy genuinely excited: “This is why the kids love it. You got the saltiness, you got the creaminess, you got the seared off chicken.” He notes it pairs perfectly with simple vegetables like asparagus, letting the rich, layered flavors of the chicken shine. For more home-cooking inspiration from Guy, check out his Shrimp-Stuffed Peppadews from another Big Bite segment.
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