Simple to make and insanely delicious. This baked Bacon Wrapped Chicken is food euphoria. Because we all know bacon makes everything better. So when you lightly season the chicken, wrap it in bacon, dust it with brown sugar then bake it to golden caramelised perfection, it takes that basic rule to a level you won’t believe.
This is ridiculously good. There are simply no words!
I apologise in advance to anyone who is trying to “be healthy” this week because chances are, your good intentions will be thrown out the window when you see this!!!
We all know that bacon makes (almost) everything better….I mean, what a way to dress up a humble piece of chicken…
Seriously. Do you know any non-vegetarians who would turn down juicy chicken wrapped in gorgeous caramelised bacon???
No kitchen string.
No toothpicks.
Nothing fancy about this at all. Simply coat the chicken in a simple seasoning (it really takes this to another level!), roll it up in bacon, dust with brown sugar and bake.
That’s it!
I bake it in a hot oven to get the bacon as caramelised as possible without overcooking the chicken. But if you want the bacon even more golden, just crank up the broiler/grill after it finishes baking. The brown sugar on the bacon will make it brown really quickly.
Then brush the juicy pan juices on the bacon to make it gorgeously glossy. Brush, brush, brush….don’t waste all that free flavour!!
Food like this is what I’m all about. Just the right combination of a few simple ingredients to make something really incredible.
It’s the brown sugar that makes all the difference. The dusting of brown sugar on the bacon makes it beautifully caramelised, and creates extra pan juices that you can brush onto the chicken to make it glossy.
And because I hate wasting free flavour, I scrape the tray clean to drizzle every bit of flavour I can onto the chicken.
Serve it on mashed potato to soak up those extra juices.
Look like a champ at dinner time.
With SUCH LITTLE EFFORT.
Hello there, Mr Bacon Wrapped Chicken. You need to get in my tummy. Right now! – Nagi x
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or sub with more paprika)
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 4 large chicken thigh fillets (about 5oz / 150g each), cut in half (Note 1)
- 8 pieces bacon , streaky (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp olive oil (optional)
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Preheat oven to 200C/390F (fan forced / convection) (Note 3)
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Line tray with baking paper.
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Combine Seasoning in a small bowl. Place brown sugar in a separate bowl.
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Coat chicken in Seasoning, shaking off excess. Place on one end of bacon and roll up, finishing with the seam side down. Repeat with remaining chicken.
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Coat chicken in sugar - use your fingers to rub it on if required. Place on baking tray.
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Drizzle with olive oil (helps make it brown faster, optional)
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Bake for 25 minutes. If the bacon is not golden enough for your taste, switch on the broiler for a few minutes.
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Brush the juices on the tray onto the bacon to make it glossy and juicy. Serve on mashed potatoes, drizzled with extra pan juices if desired!
1. This can be made with chicken breast, but I prefer using chicken thighs because they are juicier!
2. Use long strips of streaky bacon i.e. strips of bacon with streaks of fat. They need to be around 25cm / 10" long or longer so they can wrap a few times around the chicken. I am in Australia and I use Middle Bacon and cut the eye off (the round bit at the end) and just use the long streaky party.
3. If your oven is not fan forced / convection (i.e. no fan inside your oven), increase the temp to 220C/ 430F. If your oven does not go that high, that's ok, you will probably just need to broil a bit at the end to make the bacon golden!
4. Extra Notes - You won't use all the brown sugar. The amount I use assumes you use a bowl to dip the chicken in, but you could just scoop brown sugar onto the chicken and rub it in. You'll probably use around 1 1/2 tbsp all up. Also, the amount of pan juices you end up with depends on the juiciness / fattiness of the chicken & bacon you use. Even if you use lean chicken (e.g. breast) and bacon, this is still delicious, it is just that you won't have as much pan juices to brush onto the chicken at the end to make it really glossy like what you see in the photos. 🙂
5. Nutrition per serving, 2 pieces per person. It is quite over because a lot of the calories is due to the bacon but most of the fat is rendered out (melts) and remains on the tray. I can't estimate how much fat is not consumed so I have erred on the conservative side.
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LIFE OF DOZER
Dozer spies with his little eyes….BACON!!!
Can I use wax paper instead of baking paper or foil?
Yummy! I make this all the time as a ‘cheat’ Sunday roast. I usually mix up a stuffing of diced mushroom, parmesan and breadcrumbs cooked quickly in a pan with some oil. Slice the chicken almost in half and pack it in before rolling the bacon. If you want flavour on another level, this is so good!
Nagi,
this may be an oldie but goodie for you and many others, but for me, this was a first. I must say, start to finish I managed to turn out a wonderful meal, not one single miss or incomplete for this once! The chicken was moist and tender, timing for a perfect 155 internal degrees was spot on, and oh wow! Sweet, crispy bacon with that saucy bite from the brown sugar. I had everything on hand and it just came together perfectly! Thank you so much for giving me another winner for my repetoire. At this rate, I’ll never run out of wonderful new dishes to prepare. Next time I may make a double batch to share with my young neighbor and her family. Although we both have MS, I don’t have two small kids howling for dinner when I’m too exhausted to move. Anything to help a friend. Thanks so much for my new keeper. FLAP/No. CA, USA
Aww thank you for reminding me about this recipe FLAP!! I actually have a stack of bacon in the fridge I defrosted and was wondering what to do with it – I might reshoot the video for this! So glad you enjoyed this! N x