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This creamy bacon chicken recipe is a decadent and delicious dinner that’s easy enough for a weeknight and tasty enough for company. It’s ready in about 30 minutes!
You may also like my Creamy Bacon Pork Chops or Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta next.
Why you’ll love it
I probably don’t have to convince you too much, but chicken with bacon and cream is a great combo! The chicken is pan-fried until golden brown on the outside. When you take a bite, it melts in your mouth. And the bacon… well, it makes everything even better.
My vegetarian sister actually came up with the idea for this creamy chicken recipe, and you’ll be glad she did. It’s simple comfort food with few ingredients, and the technique is really easy. The creamy bacon sauce is so good that family and friends will lick their plates clean!
What you’ll need
- Bacon – the star of the sauce! We’re also browning the chicken in bacon grease to make it extra delicious.
- Chicken – we’re using two chicken breasts cut lengthwise into four thinner cutlets. They stay more tender and cook faster this way.
- Flour – for dredging and getting that gorgeous golden crust
- Garlic powder and pepper – seasoning the cutlets directly infuses lots of savory flavor
- Chicken broth – the base of the sauce
- Lemon juice – a touch of brightness to balance out the sauce and make it less one-dimensional
- Butter and heavy cream – this duo makes the sauce luxurious and buttery
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- An instant read thermometer is the best way to ensure chicken isn’t overcooked or undercooked. You want that perfect 165F.
- I like this butter dish to store my butter in since it has handy markings for measuring where to cut, and this airtight container is ideal for storing bacon.
- This Le Creuset skillet is the one I use, and this Lodge skillet is a budget-friendly alternative.
How to make creamy bacon chicken
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
Cut up the bacon, and fry until crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate, leaving behind some of the fat. Meanwhile, cut the chicken in half, then season with garlic powder and pepper. Dredge in flour. Brown the chicken, then transfer to a plate.
Add the broth, lemon, and butter to the skillet. Let it reduce by half. Stir in the cream. Once bubbling, return the chicken and bacon, and simmer until it’s cooked through and the sauce has thickened up as desired. Garnish with fresh parsley if you like.
Pro tip
Depending on how deep of a sear you get on the chicken, the sauce may be lighter or darker in color. That’s totally fine!
Substitutions and variations
- I don’t recommend subbing the heavy cream for something with a lower fat content because the taste, richness, and texture just can’t be matched, and it’s also less likely to curdle. Half-and-half will yield a watery sauce, and coconut milk will alter the flavor.
- You could try chicken thighs, but you will have to adjust the cooking time as needed. They may take a little longer.
- Throw in a handful of spinach near the end of the cooking time for a pop of freshness!
What to serve with bacon chicken
- Complement this chicken with some vegetables to balance the creaminess. Try my Easy Roasted Green Beans or Easy Roasted Cauliflower.
- The sauce is scrumptious over a pile of Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Roasted Red Potatoes. Pasta works too, as does rice. My Stick of Butter Rice is a fun way to change it up.
- Craving a salad with it? My Homemade Italian Dressing is the perfect pairing.
Leftovers and storage
- If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge.
- Reheat over a low heat (slowly) in a saucepan until warmed through.
- I don’t recommend freezing creamy chicken recipes.
More easy chicken recipes
If you made this chicken with a bacon cream sauce, please leave a star rating and review below! You can also tag me #saltandlavender on Instagram.
Creamy Bacon Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 strips bacon
- 2 large chicken breasts
- Flour for dredging
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup heavy/whipping cream
Instructions
- Cut the bacon up and add it to a skillet (I use kitchen shears to make this job quick). Fry it over medium-high heat until crispy (about 10 mins). Once the bacon is done, take it out of the pan and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Leave about 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan.
- Meanwhile, prep your chicken (cut it in half lengthwise so you have 4 smaller cutlets). Sprinkle them with the garlic powder and pepper and then coat them in the flour.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and cook it in the remaining bacon fat over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes/side or until it's golden. If it starts to splatter a lot, reduce the heat. Once the chicken is browned, take it out of the pan and set it aside.
- Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, and butter to the pan. Let it bubble until it's reduced by half (about 3-4 minutes).
- Stir in the cream and once it starts to bubble, add the chicken and bacon back into the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until the chicken is fully cooked through and the sauce has reduced to your liking.
Notes
- The 5 minutes of prep time is to cut up the bacon, and I count the rest of the prep time within cook time as it’s done while the bacon is cooking.
- I suggest using fairly large boneless/skinless chicken breasts for this recipe since we’re cutting them in half lengthwise. If you have smaller chicken breasts, use 4 of them and leave them intact.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
© Salt & Lavender Inc. Content and photographs are copyrighted. Sharing this blog post is much appreciated, but copying and pasting full recipes without authorization to social media is strictly prohibited.
This recipe was originally published on July 31, 2019. It’s been updated with new photos and better instructions but is the same great recipe!
Delicious!! Everyone loved it!
Wonderful!
Delicious! The only change I made was out of necessity. I have a son who is allergic to wheat and dairy, so I needed to make part of the meal accessible to him. I didn’t dredge the chicken in flour and cooked the chicken through before removing from the pan so he could have the chicken and bacon. The sauce was just for the rest of us, and I was worried it wouldn’t thicken up without the flour, but it turned out great.
I was making it again tonight for the second time and found out the hard way that I’d written the recipe down wrong: 1/2 cup lemon juice instead of 1/2 tsp.! Waaaah! I realized my mistake when the sauce curdled and I checked the recipe here. I am so mad at myself, and now we’re out of cream. ☹️ I thought 1/2 cup sounded like a lot, but I remembered the recipe tasting great, so I trusted it, not considering that I could have written it down wrong.
I’m so glad you were able to adapt it for your son’s needs! Oh no… 1/2 cup lemon juice is a LOT… yikes. At least you got to the bottom of the issue. You can laugh about it next time! 🙂
I am also wheat intolerant so am super happy to hear that it worked out well with the flour! And I’ll be sure to double check the amount of lemon juice I put in ;~). Thanks
🙂
Can you use half and half instead? Maybe just be thinner?
I only ask about half and half because we can’t leave the house right now and all I have is half and half and regular milk (that I know won’t work). Maybe have to wait on this recipe until we can leave our houses. 🙃
Hi! I understand. There’s a chance it could separate, but you could try. Maybe read thru the comments and see if others had success with it? You could always add a little more flour to thicken the sauce up a bit more.
My children were licking their plates! And the grown ups loved it, too. I didn’t have fresh parsley, but cut up some baby spinach in the last step, so still looked so pretty. I made it keto-friendly by just skipping the flour dredge and it was still sooooo good, and just 1 net carb per serving! Paired with roasted cauliflower, which soared to a new height with some of the drizzled sauce. Keeper! Thanks for making my normal chicken night anything but!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and were able to adapt it for your keto needs, Denise! Thanks for leaving me a comment!
Absolutely amazing! My entire family (including four teenage boys) loved it! They all said we should definitely have this again. Thank you for sharing!
Aww so glad to hear that, Mindy! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Amazing! The only change i made was to use almond cooking milk instead of the heavy cream. We cannot eat dairy but the flavor was delicious! Def gonna make this again!
So glad it worked out for you, Kim! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
A lot of work for a lot of bland. I put extra seasoning on the chicken, too. I tried milk and the sauce separated, my five kids and husband and I ate it but it wasn’t worthy of a second try. No flavor at all.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you, Mickaela, but this is why I suggest using heavy cream. I spend hours testing (and often re-testing) recipes, and I select ingredients not just on a whim, but for a reason. As you can see, this recipe has overwhelmingly positive reviews when made as instructed. Heavy cream tastes a lot better, withstands heat, and is much less likely to separate. Subbing ingredients is totally at your own risk and does not mean there is something wrong with the recipe. I even mention right in the post that I don’t recommend substituting the cream for something else.
Are you surprised using milk made a watery, tasteless mess? Try making the recipe with the actual ingredients listed in the recipe next time — it’s perfect! Maybe trust that the chef knows what she is doing. It isn’t called Milky Bacon Chicken.
Fabulous! Made this tonight for dinner, but added a couple of things…
Even though this is a quick recipe, I pre-cooked the bacon the night before to save time, and added:
– 1 tsp of bacon grease from the bacon the night before
– shake of onion powder
– shake of salt
– 1 tsp fresh chopped garlic (in water) instead of garlic powder
– additional 1/4 cup more of heavy whipping cream
So glad you liked it, Lisa! 🙂
I made this tonight. Hands down our new favorite chicken!!!! The flavor is amazing. I followed your recipe and it’s perfect.
So glad to hear it! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Delicious, easy recipe, I did add extra seasoning, onion salt, garlic, salt and pepper, after removing chicken added half of onion, lightly cooked, than rest of ingredients. I also added 1/2 cup frozen peas, my husband loved it, thanks for the recipe
So pleased you liked it, Mary 😀
This taste amazing made it with pasta
Excellent!
Just made this for dinner tonight and it’s an absolute hit!!! My family loved it, especially the sauce that we cleaned off our plates with biscuits.
That’s great! ♥️🤗
Really yummy added portabella mushrooms when cooking the bacon. Really good.
Good idea! So pleased you enjoyed it.
Good and tasty 😋. Made it exactly as directed and everyone in the family loved it.
Wonderful! 🤗♥️
My family absolutely loves this meal. I make a quadruple batch because we have a very large family and I use our cadt iron pot and it turns out amazing everytime.
Wonderful!