Delicious sweet, smoky, and spicy flavors combine in this Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe that uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Everything is better when you wrap it in bacon! As a bonus, this is also a one-pan chicken recipe that is easy to make.
This is a quick and easy way to make baked chicken that is juicy and well seasoned. Perfect for a busy weeknight or a fancy weekend family dinner, everyone will love it when bacon-wrapped chicken is on the menu.
This chicken recipe only looks fancy. It’s actually very simple to prep and cook. The chicken is ready in about 45 minutes from start to finish and spends most of that time in the oven, which is the perfect opportunity for you to prepare side dishes or spend time with your family.
If you like baking chicken, try my recipe for Baked Chicken and Potatoes which is a whole meal on one sheet pan. You should also try these Baked BBQ Chicken Drumsticks, and my easy but impressive Stuffed Cornish Hens.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Juicy Baked Chicken Breasts: Baked chicken breasts have the potential to turn out dry and chewy, but not this recipe. Wrapped in bacon, white meat chicken stays tender and tastes amazing.
- Sweet and Salty Flavors: Recipes that hit both of these flavor notes at the same time are completely irresistible! I rarely have leftovers when I make this for dinner.
- Bacon: I’ll say it one more time: Everything is better wrapped in bacon! Check out my Bacon Wrapped Shrimp, Bacon Wrapped Turkey, and Bacon Wrapped Asparagus for more proof.
- Minimal Clean-up: You only need one baking dish and a bowl to make this easy chicken recipe.
- Simple Ingredients: You probably have everything you need to make this bacon chicken in your kitchen already. Chicken, bacon, and a handful of common pantry items are all you need. Because of the simple ingredients, this recipe is naturally gluten-free.
Key Ingredients
Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
- Chicken Breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts to make Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Be sure to trim away any extra fat that might be on your meat.
- Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar adds a sweet flavor to the chicken that beautifully complements the saltiness of the bacon and helps to create caramelization.
- Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, and Paprika: Together these simple spices make the perfect chicken seasoning
- Salt and Pepper: Be sure that your chicken is well-seasoned by adding salt and pepper to the mix.
- Bacon: Normal, regular-sliced bacon is what you should get to make Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Thick sliced bacon is delicious with breakfast, but it won’t cook properly in this recipe.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley adds a touch of green and a bright herby flavor as a garnish.
Tip!
Make Bacon Wrapped Chicken using any cut of chicken! Just add extra time for cooking bone-in cuts.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Chicken
You are going to love the sugar and spice mix that we’ll use to season this chicken so much. Baking chicken wrapped in bacon results in juicy meat with a crispy bacon exterior.
- Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. While the oven is heating, combine the sugar and seasonings in a small bowl.
- Season: Never wash poultry! Use half of the seasoning blend to season the chicken breasts from all sides.
- Wrap: Wrap each chicken breast with two slices of bacon, then place in a baking dish or cast iron pan with the bacon seam side down. This will keep the bacon from unraveling while it cooks. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning over the top of the chicken/bacon.
- Bake: Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C. To help crisp up the bacon, baste the chicken with the juices once or twice as it bakes. If you’re not sure how to check the internal temperature of the chicken, I wrote a whole guide on how to use a a kitchen thermometer.
- Broil: Place the chicken breasts under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the bacon. Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve.
Tip!
Watch the chicken carefully as it broils. Don’t let the bacon burn!
Recipe Tips
- Trim the Chicken if Needed: Not only should you be sure that you remove any extra fat from your chicken, but you should also try to make it so that all of your pieces are the same size so that they will cook at the same time.
- Tuck in the Ends: It’s helpful if you keep all of the ends of the bacon slices on one side of the chicken breast so that you can place it in the pan with them tucked underneath securely. This way you don’t need to mess around with any toothpicks.
- Cooking Time May Vary: The amount of time needed to cook this chicken recipe can be different depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts, or if you decide to use bone-in chicken. Use a meat thermometer to be sure that the chicken is cooked to a safe internal temperature of 165°F/74°C.
- Change It Up: You can totally adjust the seasonings for Bacon Wrapped Chicken. Try adding a bit of chili powder to add some extra spice, or use spiced paprika to add more smokiness. To limit salt, leave out the additional salt in the spice mix and just enjoy the saltiness of the bacon.
- Give it a Rest: Allowing the chicken to rest for 5 minutes after baking will keep it nice and juicy.
- Storage Tips: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. They can be reheated in the microwave, air fryer, or a 350°F oven for just a few minutes.
What to Serve with Bacon Wrapped Chicken
If you’re wondering what are some great side dishes for bacon-wrapped chicken, I have you covered!
My favorite way to serve Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts is with Crockpot Mashed Potatoes and simple Steamed Broccoli.
Other sides that go really well with Bacon Wrapped Chicken include Buttered Noodles, Instant Pot Red Potatoes, Baked Beans, or this Popeye’s Cajun Rice copycat recipe.
Keep your dinner low-carb by serving it with a simple salad or some Air Fryer Vegetables. This Strawberry and Spinach Salad is also delicious! Depending on your dietary needs, you may want to omit the sugar or replace it with a low-carb sweetener.
Try some yummy and kid-friendly side dishes, like Velveeta Macaroni and Cheese, Instant Pot Broccoli Mac and Cheese, or easy Air Fryer Tater Tots.
FAQs
This is a great recipe to make in your air fryer. Place your seasoned and wrapped chicken breasts into a preheated air fryer. Cook for 10-15 minutes at 400°F/200°C, flipping the chicken over halfway through the cooking time.
Use an instant read thermometer to ensure that the chicken has cooked fully, and add an additional few minutes if needed. You might also like my reader favorite Air Fryer Chicken Breast recipe.
You can grill bacon-wrapped chicken on an outdoor or indoor grill. Heat the grill to 400°F/200°C. And grill the seasoned and bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, covered, for 20-25 minutes, flipping over once halfway.
Use leftovers of this recipe to make Chicken Alfredo Pizza or BBQ Chicken Pizza. You can also add it to a Chicken Caesar Salad or make a filling pasta dish by adding leftover bacon-wrapped chicken to Garlic Butter Pasta. If all else fails, slice the chicken and enjoy it as a sandwich on some freshly baked bread.
As written, this recipe is not exactly keto because of the brown sugar in the seasoning. To make bacon-wrapped chicken keto-friendly, you can either omit the sugar or replace it with a low-carb sweetener such as Lakanto Golden.
Occasionally fully cooked chicken will still look a little bit pink. As long as you’ve cooked the chicken to the proper temperature, this shouldn’t be an issue. Adding bacon to chicken can also cause it to turn pink due to the nitrates in the bacon causing a chemical reaction.
More Easy Chicken Dinners
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Bacon Wrapped Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless and skinless, trim excess fat
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 8 slices bacon do not use thick cut bacon
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. While the oven is heating, combine the sugar and seasonings in a small bowl. Season: Never wash poultry! Use half of the seasoning blend to season the chicken breasts from all sides.
- Wrap each chicken breast with two slices of bacon, then place in a baking dish or cast iron pan with the bacon seam side down. This will keep the bacon from unraveling while it cooks. Sprinkle the remaining seasoning over the top of the chicken/bacon.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F/74°C. To help crisp up the bacon, baste the chicken with the juices once or twice as it bakes.
- Place the chicken breasts under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the bacon. Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve.
Notes:
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Tami says
Delish! Definitely used a meat thermometer and broiled it for 3 mins for the right look- very good.
Glenda Zisman says
Very good
Gordon says
Great dish easy to do lovely flavours