Chicken with Bacon and thyme, cooked in a garlic cream sauce = divine. This is an easy chicken dinner that’s sure to please. Looks impressive, tastes impressive and requires very little effort. Crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. Makes this a perfect recipe for entertaining.
It’s nearing 100 degrees in Denver this weekend, and even though Father’s Day is riddled with grilling recipe ideas, I’ve opted to hole up in my air-conditioned kitchen rather than sear myself on the back patio over a smoky hot grill.
In other words, our little tree needs to grow taller to provide a little more shade.
Inspiration For This Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
I was fixing a couple of broken links on an old post this week. The topic of the post was our wine tasting trip to McMinnville, Oregon and restaurants and wineries visited.
One of the memorable food experiences was a small appetizer offering from R. Stuart Wine Bar, Dill Scones with Horseradish Cream and Smoked Trout. R Stuart, is in downtown McMinnville, in the heart of Oregon Wine Tasting County, and a great little stop for a wine sampling.
When I clicked on their link, I noticed that they now have a recipe section attached to their home page. Wonderful food, restaurants and great chefs always go hand in hand with wine country and I love browsing recipes from wineries.
This is where I found this recipe for Chicken with Bacon, Cream and Thyme. Adapted from a recipe from Chef Karen Barnaby from Vancouver.
Who can say no to chicken with bacon. Chicken breasts are wrapped in bacon with a sprigs of thyme tucked in. Every year, I plant Lemon Thyme, but plain regular fresh thyme will work wonderfully with this recipe.
Chicken breasts are first browned and then baked in a heavenly creamy garlic sauce.
I have cooked this recipe in two different manners.
- I have browned the chicken wrapped in bacon in my cast iron skillet. Which by the way works beautifully.
- I then added the cream sauce to the cast iron skillet. The cream sauce is heavy cream, chicken broth and garlic.
- I’ve then simply transferred the skillet to the oven for a one pan chicken dinner.
- Result: The cast iron skillet worked very well in the oven with crisping the chicken and the bacon. However, transfers so much heat that all the sauce dried up.
- I’ve also browned the bacon wrapped chicken in the cast iron skillet, then transferred it to a Le Creuset baking dish. (shown above)
- More of the sauce was remained after the cooking process, with just barely enough to spoon over the chicken.
The verdict: Covering the baking pan with foil would save the sauce, but cause both the bacon and the chicken to not be crispy. I wouldn’t recommend it. The sauce still acts as a tenderizing and flavoring agent for this savory and easy chicken dish.
Note: I’ve seen bacon wrapped chicken recipes that urge not to use thick sliced bacon. I’ve used both regular bacon and thick sliced bacon for this recipe. Both work fine.
Recipe For Chicken With Bacon and Thyme Baked in a Garlic Cream Sauce
We love the classic flavor combinations of this bacon wrapped chicken recipe. The chicken stays so tender and juicy and the flavors are outstanding. and not surprisingly they pair well with a classic Pinot Noir.
I hope you give this chicken with bacon recipe and try and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And if you have a favorite bacon wrapped chicken recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
What to serve with Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Even though this recipe is super easy, it does come across as a bit on the fancy-pants side. And being a filling dinner, I’d recommend keeping the side dish simple. Steamed broccoli, or Roasted Glazed Carrots with Honey, Lime and Cumin. And if you want to keep a creamy theme, Hericot Vert with Dijon Cream Sauce would be lovely. And consider this Green Vegetable Medley.
More Oven Baked Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Breasts with Garlic Wine Sauce
- Chorizo Chile Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Chicken Cordon Bleu with Apricot Brandy Sauce
And if you’re looking for more chicken recipes, you’ll find a ton of ideas in my Chicken Category. And one of the most popular chicken recipe on my site, Chicken Tetrazzini.
Chicken with Bacon, Cream and Thyme
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless and skinless
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 slices bacon good quality.
- 8 springs thyme. plus more for garnish
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 ounces chicken stock
- 8 ounces heavy cream
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly season the chicken with salt and pepper. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each breast forming an X in the middle of one side, overlapping the ends on the other side. Tuck 2 thyme springs per breast under the X.
- Heat an oven proof pan over medium high heat. Add the oil to the frying pan, cast iron works well for this.
- When oil is hot add chicken breasts and brown on both sides. About 5-6 minutes total. Start with the non-X side to bacon will sear together and not fall off.
- Once the chicken is browned, add the stock, cream and garlic. Bring to a boil.
- Transfer the pan to the oven, or transfer the chicken to a baking dish, along with the sauce. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Season with salt and pepper and let stand a few minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Chicken with Bacon Cream and Thyme … It’s what’s for Dinner.
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe and it sounds delicious.
Hi Lea Ann, love this recipe, your chicken looks perfectly baked and I bet the cream sauce is heavenly.
Really hot here, too. It’ll be close to 100 today. A/C for me! Anyway, what a nice dish — bacon and cream work so well together — great to pair with chicken. Good stuff — thanks.
That looks delish! I love anything in a good cream sauce!
That chicken really looks appealing! You can’t go wrong with bacon AND cream!!!
That chicken looks scrumptious! And I don’t blame you for sticking inside. I always tell my friends in New England that we in Kansas suffer cabin fever in the summer because it’s too hot to leave the a/c and go outside!
Looks and sounds delicious LA but I’m concerned about your grill. If it’s too cold to use it during the 7 months of winter and two hot for the 3 summer months, it’s not going to get a lot of use during the other 2 months. Perhaps you need a polar bear suit and a bikini to expand the season a little.
You had me at bacon, thyme and cream. ? And wine too? Nom nom nom. Love this post.
They look amazing! Pinning these to try when I have to hole up in my kitchen to escape the heat.
That looks outstanding.
What a great recipe. I think it was wise to hole up in the AC!
Lea Ann, I think you made a wise decision! And this dish looks soooo good! I’d like to be having this with a glass of pinot noir any day.