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 temp. Frying meat straight out 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.
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.
In terms of seasoning I keep it really simple for this one. The sauce itself is loaded with flavour and clings to the chicken really nicely. As such just a hefty pinch of salt and black pepper works just fine for the chicken seasoning. Bring out the best in the chicken but not to the point it overpowers the sauce.
Last tip is to use a combo of olive oil and butter to fry. The butter adds gorgeous flavour to the chicken whilst the olive oil helps prevent the butter from burning out.
Process shots: bring meat close to room temp (photo 1), slice in half (photo 2), season (photo 3), add butter and oil to pan (photo 4), add chicken (photo 5), fry both sides then remove (photo 6).
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, alongside the fats from the bacon.
What bacon to use?
I like a 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.
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 richness. 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: add bacon to pan (photo 1), fry until crisp (photo 2), fry shallots (photo 3), fry garlic (photo 4), pour in stock and cream (photo 5), add fresh thyme (photo 6), simmer then stir in parmesan, lemon juice and s&p (photo 7), add chicken (photo 8).
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 compliments 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
- Large Pan & Tongs
- Wooden Spoon
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Jug (for stock & Cream)
Ingredients
- 2 large Chicken Breasts, brought close to room temp (approx 9oz/250g each)
- 5oz / 150g Thick Cut Bacon, chopped
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Chicken Stock
- 3/4 cup / 180ml Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
- 1/3 cup / 30g freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 Shallots, finely diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 2 sprigs of Fresh Thyme, or sub a pinch of dried thyme (no more than 1/4 tsp or it'll be too overpowering)
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 - 1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice, optional (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp Salt plus more to taste
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Butterfly your chicken breasts right through the centre to make 4 even sized breasts. Coat in 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4-1/2 tsp pepper and rub into the meat.
- In a large pan over medium-high heat add 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp olive oil. Add chicken breasts and fry both sides until golden, with the centre cooked right through. Remove and place to one side.
- Lower heat to medium and add bacon. Fry until it turns nice and crispy. Drain excess fat if needed (a couple tsp worth is great for flavour, too much and the sauce will be greasy) and add in shallots. Continue frying until the shallots soften and begin to brown, then add garlic and fry for another 1-2mins.
- Pour in chicken stock and cream, then add thyme and give it a stir. Turn heat to low and gently simmer for 5mins, or until the sauce starts to thicken slightly. Stir in parmesan then add a very gentle squeeze of lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste. Don't go overboard with the lemon, this is just to cut through the richness of the sauce. Give it a final stir and simmer for another couple of minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Add in chicken breasts and baste in the sauce. Serve up 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’
If you’re after another quick and easy creamy chicken recipe check out my Creamy Garlic Chicken and Creamy Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs!
For more creamy chicken breast recipes check out my Creamy Tarragon Chicken, Creamy Boursin Chicken and Creamy Garlic Mushroom Chicken!
For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
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
If you loved this Creamy Bacon Chicken recipe then be sure to Pin it for later! Already made them or got a question? Give me a shout in the comments below and pick up your free ecookbook on the way!
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.