Delicious bacon wrapped chicken breast. The bacon adds a delightfully smoky flavor, and keeps the chicken breast extra juicy!
You have to make this bacon wrapped chicken breast! It’s amazing!
Bacon makes chicken breast taste so much better
I’m not usually a fan of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. The darling of low-fat diets, I find that they are often bland, too dry and – obviously – not fatty enough.
I did finally learn how to bake chicken breast, keeping it juicy. And this recipe for skillet fried, then baked skin on chicken breast is amazing.
But when you add bacon, everything becomes even better. 🙂
Bacon wrapped chicken breast elevates this humble dish into a whole new level. The bacon adds a delightfully smoky flavor and also keeps the chicken breast extra juicy. The honey-mustard sauce finishes the dish, creating a delicacy out of the simplest of ingredients.
Adjust the recipe to the size of the chicken breasts
This recipe was written for small chicken breasts, 6-7 oz. If you use large chicken breasts, 10-12 oz, use just two chicken breasts for 4 people and wrap each of them with 4 strips of bacon.
You will need to bake them for longer – probably 25-30 minutes, so cover them loosely with foil after the first 20 minutes to avoid scorching the bacon.
What to serve with bacon wrapped chicken breast?
Anything, really. It’s a very versatile dish. It does go nicely with mildly sweet sides. So I often serve it with roasted carrots, with microwave sweet potato, or with mashed pumpkin.
But is this dish healthy? Isn’t bacon really bad for you?
Bacon, even uncured grass-fed bacon, isn’t as healthy as fresh meat. That’s true. I wouldn’t advise anyone to eat entire packages of bacon or to base their meals around it.
But used in small amounts, almost as a condiment that adds flavor to various dishes, I think it’s okay. Here’s some interesting commentary from Sandro Galea, professor and dean of the School of Public Health at Boston University, on why we shouldn’t be too quick to declare bacon as “dangerous.”
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast
INGREDIENTS
- Olive oil spray
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey or a low carb alternative
- 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (6-7 oz each)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 strips bacon
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a roasting pan with foil and fit it with a roasting rack. Spray the roasting rack with olive oil.
- In a small bowl, whisk the mustard and honey. Divide into two portions. Set aside.
- Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Wrap each chicken breast with 2 strips of bacon.
- Place the wrapped chicken breasts on the prepared roasting rack. Brush them with half the mustard-honey sauce. Wash the basting brush with warm soapy water and keep the other half of the sauce for brushing the chicken breasts when they finish cooking.
- Bake the chicken breasts for 15-20 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees F and the bacon is browned and crispy.
- Allow the chicken breasts to rest, loosely covered with foil, about 10 minutes, then brush the tops with the remaining sauce and serve.
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NOTES
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., has been following a healthy real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She has taken 