Seriously, this is one of those dinners that’s just too good to be true.  Quite possibly in the top three favorite dinners at my house.  Flavored cream cheese fills a tender chicken breast wrapped in crispy bacon. A simple recipe that is elegant and delicious.

It’s way too easy to make to be something you could either serve guests or whip together for an easy weeknight meal.  You can make it to serve one or twenty.  It used to be that I only made it when company was coming over.  Now, I throw it in the oven on say, a Tuesday, and it makes all of us happy.  Even my non-chicken-lover.  Now, doesn’t that say something?

This recipe uses 2 pounds of chicken breasts and makes about 6 servings of chicken.  You can easily adjust the amounts to serve whatever number of guests you have.  You can either buy thinly sliced chicken breasts or you can easily make each breast thinner–cut in half horizontally (butterflied) to make one breast into two thin pieces.  This way you get more bang for your buck as well as having chicken that is easier to stuff and cook evenly.

So, after butterflying three breasts, I have 6 pieces of chicken with which to work.  Next, I mixed some spices into cream cheese to flavor it.  8 oz. of cream cheese works great for these 6 pieces of chicken, but the amount is completely adjustable.

Into 8 oz. of cream cheese, I added the following:

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

and 1/2 tsp. onion powder.

I used my mixer to beat this all together and put 1-2 T. of the seasoned cream cheese in the middle of each piece of chicken.

Roll the chicken up and wrap it with a piece of bacon.  I try to wrap the bacon around the open end of the chicken to contain some of the cream cheese while it bakes and melts, but it can only be contained a bit.  It’s just gonna be a little messy.  Season with salt and pepper.

Bake the whole thing on a ridged cookie sheet in a preheated 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to an hour or until chicken is cooked through.  Use a meat thermometer to make sure the center of the chicken is 165 degrees.  Turn the broiler on your oven and put the chicken under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until the bacon has crisped up to your liking.  Watch it closely!  It goes from done to burned pretty quickly!

To serve, spoon up a little of the spilled, cheesy sauce over each breast. I promise you won’t want it to go to waste!  It’s super easy to  roast fingerling potatoes in the same oven for the same amount of time, add a salad or roasted vegetable, and dinner is served.

Now isn’t that easy?  And so perfectly delicious.

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken Breasts

 

Print

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Bacon surrounds and flavors a moist chicken breast stuffed with herbed cream cheese. This makes a meal elegant enough for guests and easy enough for a weeknight with just a few basic ingredients.

Alison: That Which Nourishes

Recipe type: Chicken, Meal, Dinner

Cuisine: American

Serves: 6 servings

Grocery List

• 3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
• ½ tsp. garlic powder
• ½ tsp. onion powder
• 6 slices bacon
• Extra salt and pepper to taste

Here's how...

1. Butterfly 3 chicken breasts (see picture above) to make 6 thin pieces.
2. In a small bowl mix cream cheese and the spices.
3. Place 1-2 T. of herbed cream cheese in the center of each piece of chicken.
4. Roll the chicken and wrap it with a piece of raw bacon.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven on a rimmed baking sheet 45 min or so until chicken is 165 degrees at the center.
7. Broil for 2-3 minutes to crisp the bacon.
8. To serve, spoon a little of the spilled cream cheese from the pan over each serving.

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