These Creamy Bacon Chicken Breasts are dreamy, ultra creamy, quick and easy. Better still, it’s all made in one pan!
Chicken and bacon are a match made in heaven, and we’re here today to celebrate that fact. This is the cosiest food you’ll ever make and the perfect addition to your dinner rotations! Follow me…
Preparing Chicken Breast (tips)
First thing you’ll want to do is bring your chicken close to room temperature. I find that frying meat straight out of the fridge causes it to seize up and start releasing a lot of moisture. This, in turn, causes the meat to come out tough and dry. Alongside this, you won’t be able to brown the chicken properly because of the excess moisture, meaning you lose out on flavour.
Chicken Cutlets
Another tip when prepping chicken breast is butterflying each breast in two to double the quantity. This not only gives you a 2-for-1 kinda deal, but also means the chicken will cook through quicker and more evenly.
Dredging through flour
I like to coat the chicken in a thin layer of flour before frying it. This will ensure the chicken builds up a nice golden crust. In turn, the crust absorbs the sauce and helps it cling to the chicken, as opposed to just sliding off.
In terms of seasoning, I keep this one really simple. The sauce itself is loaded with flavour and clings to the chicken really nicely. As such, salt and black pepper work just fine for the chicken seasoning.
Process shots: slice chicken (photos 1&2), dredge through flour (photos 3&4).
Crispy Chicken and Bacon
When I originally uploaded this recipe, I began by frying the chicken and removing it from the pan, then frying the bacon and leaving it in as I made the sauce. In recent times, I’ve moved to frying the bacon first and then the chicken. This is for 2 reasons:
- Excess fat – frying the bacon first means you can fry the chicken in the leftover bacon fat. This reduces waste and adds flavour to the chicken/sauce.
- Crispiness – removing the bacon and adding it in at the end will keep it nice and crispy.
When it comes to frying the chicken, I like to use butter alongside the bacon fat, you know, because butter makes everything better! The chicken won’t take long – just a few minutes on each side until golden (it’ll carry on cooking slightly as it rests and when added back to the pan).
Process shots: fry bacon then remove (photos 5&6), fry chicken then remove (photos 7&8)
How to make Creamy Bacon Chicken
The sauce itself is an even split of chicken stock and cream. The flavour is deepened by freshly grated parmesan and a mild hint of thyme as well.
Lemon Juice
I like to add a very gentle squeeze of lemon juice to the sauce. The sauce itself, as you can imagine, is fairly rich. The lemon juice helps cut through the richness without altering the flavour too much. This is optional, but in all cases, only 1/2-1tsp is needed.
Shallots vs Onion
I use shallots here, just because they’re a little sweeter than onions. This sweetness helps balance out the salty/richness of the sauce. The difference is minimal though, so just use a regular white onion if that’s what you have. Just gently sweat them down to bring out their natural sweetness.
Process shots: fry onion and garlic (photo 9), add stock, cream, parmesan, lemon juice & thyme (photo 10), simmer then stir in bacon (photo 11), add chicken (photo 12).
Creamy Bacon Chicken FAQ
I like thick-cut streaky bacon. Choosing a thicker cut helps bulk out the dish a little more. Also opt for fattier cuts of bacon (i.e not medallions and definitely not turkey bacon). The fat helps create the base for the sauce.
So long as you’re using double/heavy cream, just keep simmering and stirring and it’ll naturally thicken – no additional thickening agent needed! The parmesan and lemon juice help thicken the sauce too.
This isn’t suitable for making in advance – fresh is best!
Serving Creamy Bacon Chicken
Once you’ve added the chicken back into the pan, just give them a good basting in the sauce then serve up! Here I’ve served with Salt & Vinegar Potatoes and Garlic Green Beans. Lemon Potatoes also go nicely, both are nice and vibrant/acidic, which complements this sauce really nicely.
You could also use Roasted Baby Potatoes for something more herby (all Potato Recipes Here). Roasted Broccolini would also work as a great sub for the green beans!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this creamy bacon chicken shall we?!
How to make Creamy Bacon Chicken (Full Recipe & Video)
Creamy Bacon Chicken
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Shallow Dish (for dredging chicken in flour)
- Large Pan & Tongs
- Wooden Spoon
- Jug (for stock & Cream)
Ingredients
Chicken
- 2x 250g/9oz Chicken Breasts, brought close to room temp
- 35g / 1/4 cup Plain Flour
- 1 tsp Salt, plus more to taste if needed
- 1 tsp Black Pepper, plus more to taste if needed
- 1 tbsp Butter
Sauce
- 150g / 5oz Streaky Bacon, chopped (preferably thick-cut)
- 2 small Shallots, finely diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 180ml / 3/4 cup Chicken Stock
- 180ml / 3/4 cup Double/Heavy Cream
- 20g / 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2-3 sprigs of Fresh Thyme
- 1/2 – 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice (see notes)
Instructions
- Add the bacon to a large pan over medium heat and fry until crispy with the fat rendered down (start with a dash of oil if needed). Remove the bacon and place to one side, leaving 1 tbsp fat behind (just eyeball it – top up with oil if needed).
- Butterfly your chicken breasts right through the centre to make 4 even-sized breasts. In a large shallow dish, combine the flour, salt and pepper. One by one take a cutlet, coat it in the flour, give it a shake then place to one side.
- Turn the pan heat up slightly to medium-high, then melt the butter in with the bacon fat. Add the chicken and fry both sides for a few minutes until golden on the outside and just about cooked through the centre. Remove from the pan and place on a plate to one side.
- Lower the heat back to medium and fry the shallots in the leftover fat until soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds or so, then add the stock and cream. Stir in the parmesan until it melts, then stir in the thyme and a gentle squeeze of lemon juice. Don't go overboard with the lemon, this is just to cut through the richness of the sauce.
- Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce starts to thicken, then stir most of the bacon (save some to garnish) and any resting juices from the chicken. Check for seasoning then add the chicken and baste in the sauce to warm it back through.
- Serve up with the extra crispy back then tuck in and enjoy.
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
Creamy Chicken Recipes
- Creamy Garlic Chicken
- Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs
- Creamy Tarragon Chicken
- Creamy Boursin Chicken
- Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken
Chicken and Bacon Recipes
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad
- Leftover Chicken and Bacon Pasta
- Ground Chicken Burgers with Bacon
- Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders
- Cheesy Chicken, Broccoli, Bacon & Rice
Oh my word, my house smelt like an Italian restaurant whilst making this, made alot of times now and even my fussy, teenage sister loved it!
Definitely recommend putting aside some of that crispy bacon to crumble over the top when serving – amazzziinnngg!
Thanks so much for the review, Tahra! 🙂 C.
Quick, easy and really tasty
Thanks Heather! C.
Is it possible to do this with dairy free cream? I can only cope with miniscule amounts of dairy (so the parmesan would be okay) and I’d love to try this recipe out
You could certainly give it a go! I’m not too experienced with dairy free cream, so can’t offer too much advice. C.
Decadently divine! This was so good! We served it over rice but it would’ve been amazing over pasta, too. We did make a little extra bacon and put aside so we could crumble it on top but wowza. This is delicious!!!!
Thanks Angie! Appreciate the review 🙂 C.
I really enjoy cooking but stumbled across this and even though very quick and easy, I must say I really enjoyed it and will be making it again! I served it with roast potato’s look forward to trying more of your recipes! My girlfriend also loved it!
This is so great to hear, Paul! Glad it went down well. Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
We absolutely love this. Made it for family coming over for dinner and went down a treat! This has got to be my favourite recipe! Even my little one loved it. I put leek in the sauce too for a little change
Ooo I love the idea of leek! Will have to try it myself. Thanks so much for the review, Paige! 🙂 C.
This one of those recipes a man could follow and the taste was amazing.
Thanks for sharing, the wife and I loved it nom nom
Thanks so much for the review, Ray! Glad it went down well. C.
We eat a lot of chicken, and usually lean toward spicy seasonings. I wanted something different, and not too complicated. This was easy, and, oh that sauce! Simple to make, with a surprising complicated flavors in taste. This will be in my regular rotation.
I am looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
So great to hear this went down well, Jeanne! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
It’s the end of the week and the choice of fresh foods were slim. I had a packet of mini chicken fillets and came across this recipe. I didn’t need to butterfly them due to their tiny size but I followed the recipe almost exactly, I say almost as I didn’t have cream so I used evaporated milk. My bacon was skinny (unlike me unfortunately) but crisped up and chopped nicely. I also didn’t have shallots but did have a sweet onion. The sauce was amazing and the chicken fillets so tender but slightly crispy on the outside. I served it over spaghetti as I hadn’t enough potatoes but it is a great option and there’s plenty of sauce to cover pasta/potatoes etc. We are all stuffed and there wasn’t so much as a strand of spaghetti left over. I will be making this again and again, thanks so much.
That’s so great to hear, Fiona! So happy it went down well. Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
So easy and quick to do its made me learn how to cook and is my fave dish!
So great to hear, Scott! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.