The 20-Minute Bacon Chicken I Make on Repeat

Name: The 20-Minute Bacon Chicken I Make on Repeat
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 (8 to 10-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts; 1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt (use the lower amount if your Cajun seasoning contains salt); 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (adjust as needed, depending on how salty your seasoning is); 8 slices (about 4 ounces) bacon, room temperature

Baconwrapped chicken served with romaine lettuce cucumber and cherry tomato slices — Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

Wrapping chicken breasts in bacon keeps them tender and moist while adding smoky flavor.
You only need chicken breasts, bacon, and your favorite spice blend to make this dish.
Stretching the bacon before wrapping means crispier results and easier assembly.

I think about food more than most normal humans do. If you could look inside my brain, there’s a good chance you’d catch me thinking, “How do I make that taste good?” It’s partly because of my career as a registered dietitian, where I spent years convincing people that nutritious food is delicious. I think it’s also because I like food that tastes good.

One of the foods that always presents a challenge is chicken breasts. I’ve had to find ways to make poultry more interesting without much work or hassle. Enter: bacon. Simply adding some spices and wrapping a boneless skinless chicken breast in bacon is all it takes to transform bland and boring into amazing and delicious.

Tips for Making My Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts

While at the store, look at the chicken breasts in the package before tossing it into your cart. Chicken breasts come in varying sizes, from small to colossal. This recipe works best if you use chicken breasts that are about seven or eight ounces each.

Other sizes will work but may require a shorter cooking time (breasts that are six ounces or less) or need to be pounded and cooked a bit longer (more than eight ounces) to increase surface area for more even cooking. Keep things simple by looking for a package of two that’s about one pound or a little over and that includes relatively equal-sized chicken breasts.

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken cooking in a large cast iron skillet — Simply Recipes / Sara Haas

Bacon Tip

For easier wrapping, stretch the strips of bacon before using them to wrap the chicken. Place the bacon strip on your cutting board and hold one end, then run the back of the tip of your knife over it as you gently pull. This should stretch, not tear, the bacon, making it easier to wrap around the chicken. Stretching also allows the fat to render faster when cooking, which means you’ll get crispy bacon and juicy chicken.

An Easy Variation

The bacon adds great flavor, but for a little extra, I always add a spice blend to the chicken before wrapping it. My favorite is something spicy, which is why I use Cajun or jerk seasoning, but other blends would also be delicious.

You could try harissa or za’atar or whatever blend you love. You’ll need about two tablespoons to cover the chicken, and if your blend doesn’t have salt, you’ll want to season the chicken with that before tossing with spices.

20-Minute Bacon Chicken

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 20 mins

Servings 4 servings

For extra crispy bacon, finish with an additional few minutes under the broiler. Watch it carefully to make sure the bacon doesn't burn.

Keep Screen Awake

2 (8 to 10-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 to 1 teaspoon kosher salt (use the smaller amount if your Cajun seasoning contains salt)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (adjust as needed, depending on how salty your seasoning is)
8 slices (about 4 ounces) bacon

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and add a 12-inch cast-iron skillet to preheat.
Wrap the chicken:

Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make 4 cutlets. Sprinkle the cutlets on both sides with salt and black pepper (as needed—depending on the salt content of your seasoning), followed by the Cajun seasoning.

Wrap 2 strips of bacon around each cutlet, covering the chicken completely; it’s okay if the bacon overlaps some.

Simply Recipes / Sara Haas
Bake the chicken:

Carefully remove the skillet from the oven and add the chicken, seam-side down. Bake until crisp on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, carefully flip the chicken and cook until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes. If your chicken breasts were large, you may need to cook them longer, up to 5 to 10 more minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 160°F.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
298	Calories
12g	Fat
1g	Carbs
43g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories	298
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g	16%
Saturated Fat 4g	20%
Cholesterol 119mg	40%
Sodium 1599mg	70%
Total Carbohydrate 1g	0%
Dietary Fiber 0g	1%
Total Sugars 0g
Protein 43g
Vitamin C 0mg	1%
Calcium 24mg	2%
Iron 2mg	8%
Potassium 421mg	9%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.