Creamy Chicken & Bacon is something that I made for the first time with things that were leftover in my fridge and it was such a treat. I love this dish with some creamy, buttery mashed potatoes with a well scooped out in the middle to hold some of the pan sauce like gravy. It’s so comforting and delicious!
I’ve used bacon lardons here, but actually the cubed pancetta you find in the grocery store is a great substitute and works just as well. Alternatively you could chop up some regular bacon if you like – pretty much anything can work here.
You’ll notice I haven’t added any salt or pepper in this recipe. If you’re normally heavy-handed with the salt when you cook like I am, here’s a word of caution… The bacon and chicken stock can both be quite salty, so be careful with this recipe. You likely won’t need any additional seasoning.
The white wine is optional if you don’t typically have it at home. You can just increase the chicken stock by 50ml if you like or use the juice of 1 lemon, but if you do happen to have some white wine in the fridge or a bottle you’d like to open, it really adds to the flavour here in a lovely way! Also, if chicken escalopes aren’t familiar to you, they’re just chicken breast fillets that have been bashed flat and are sometimes available at grocery stores or from a nice butcher. If you can’t find them easily, just use two chicken breasts and bash them between two pieces of cling film with a flat sided meat mallet or a rolling pin until they are flattened out and quite thin. This helps them cook faster and stay tender.
Typically I serve Creamy Chicken & Bacon with mashed potatoes and Chilli Garlic Green Beans, but there are lots of ways you could enjoy this dish. Some steamed new potatoes would be lovely alongside or you could even serve it with pasta. However you decide to serve, it’s delicious and I hope you enjoy it. Let’s get started!
Serves 2
Ingredients
- Knob of butter (about 20 grams, but I never measure it)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 150g smoked bacon lardons
- 3 or 4 tablespoons of plain white flour (or a little more if needed depending on the size of your escalopes)
- 2 chicken escalopes (or 2 chicken breasts pounded until flat)
- A good glug of white wine
- 250ml chicken stock
- 75ml double cream
- Fresh thyme leaves to serve
Method
- Add the butter and oil to a large frying pan on medium and heat until the butter is melted and it’s sizzling a bit.
- Add the bacon lardons and cook them until they’re crispy and bronzed, letting them colour the fat and the pan. When they’re nice and crispy, use a slotted spoon to remove them to a plate and set aside. Leave the hot fat in the pan on the heat.
- Meanwhile, dredge the chicken escalopes in the flour. If you need more, use it. You just want a light coating of flour on the surfaces of both of your chicken escalopes.
- Now add the chicken escalopes to the hot pan and fry for a few minutes on each side until they are golden and showing some real colour. It doesn’t matter if you cook them through at this stage as they will get some more heat a bit later. When they’re crispy and golden, remove them to a plate and set aside.
- Slosh in the wine and let it sizzle away, scraping the pan to deglaze it as it bubbles. Let this cook until it reduces a bit, looking a bit more syrupy. You might find it’s better to increase the heat at this stage.
- Now add the chicken stock and let this reduce a bit as well, stirring occasionally as it cooks. When it’s reduced some, pour in the double cream and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the chicken and bacon back into the pot. Leave this to simmer for a bit until the chicken is cooked through, coating the chicken occasionally with a spoonful of some of the creamy pany sauce.
- Serve the chicken with the sauce spooned over the escalopes and sprinkled with some fresh thyme leaves. If you’re serving this with potatoes, the leftover pan sauce is delicious spooned over those as well.
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