Amazing Chicken Recipe - Not Diet But Worth It!

susiestar

Roll With It
Yesterday we took dinner over to my parents' to celebrate Mother's Day. Jess made an amazing chicken recipe that I thought I would pass on. It is simple and not really diet friendly unless you are on an Atkins type diet, but it is soooooo worth it. Plus a small portion really is enough - even my sons couldn't eat their usual huge quantities.

She did bacon wrapped chicken tenders. WOW! We had boneless skinless chicken breasts and she cut them into strips. She wrapped a strip of bacon around each strip and didn't even need toothpicks to hold them, which sort of surprised her. She put them on baking racks on cookie sheets in a single layer that was not touching. Bake at 400 for 20-25 min then at 500 for another 5-8 until bacon browns.

Don't waste the expensive thick cut bacon on this. We had some 'restaurant style' that I got at Sam's that is a thinner cut and it worked well. I think the thick cut might be a bit of a waste on this recipe.

I have seen recipes online that call for cutting a slit in the chicken tender and stuffing it with cream cheese or a mix of cream and cheddar cheeses. I think those would be almost too rich to eat. These are rich, but very flavorful.

You could make a bunch of these ahead of time, freeze them and just thaw them before cooking if you wanted.

Enjoy! They were worth every calorie! Tyler was the only one of us who could eat 3 of them, and he couldn't finish his 4th one!

If you have a Sprouts grocery near you, keep an eye on their specials. They had the chicken for under $2 a pound a few weeks ago and it is the best I have had since we used to shop at a little neighborhood meat market when I was a kid. Every few weeks they have a good deal on meat and I stock up. I have to drive an hour to do it, but it is worth it!
 

Tanya M

Living with an attitude of gratitude
Staff member
YUM!! Thanks for sharing. I think I will make this next time I host cards.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
We didn't season the chicken, but you can if you want. I think that sprinkling the top with brown sugar right before you increase the temperature would be really good.Or you could drizzle it with honey.

This is great anytime, but would be esp good in winter when you are tired of being cooped up. Why? These tasted grilled. My mom thought we cooked them outside on a grill and was surprised because we live in an apartment with no room for a grill outside.

Baking them on a rack is crucial. It keeps the from being too greasy to eat. A friend made them for her family last night and she just put them in a pan with-o a rack. They were not nearly as good and didn't crisp/brown well. She used half a roll of paper towels to try to get the excess grease off of them. Cooked on a rack they were rich, and not low fat, but not nearly that greasy. I couldn't eat them if they were that greasy.

Any seasonings you want to add are great. We went without because we couldn't decide what we wanted to use If you have good quality chicken and bacon, it is easier to go without seasoning, Know what I mean??
 

Calamity Jane

Well-Known Member
Susie,

This looks great and so easy! On the Food Network, I've seen chefs layer bacon on a rack over a cookie sheet and cook the bacon in the oven with just a sprinkle of brown sugar on top. So it makes sense to add it to your recipe when increasing the temp.
Dumb question, but do you bread the chicken at all?
 

susiestar

Roll With It
It isn't a dumb question at all, I don't believe that there are dumb questions except for the questions you don't ask! The chicken isn't breaded the way we made them. I think they would hold onto too much fat but I don't know. It might be great with the right breading. If you try it let me know please.

Using the oven is about the ONLY way that I make bacon any more. SO much less hassle and you can do other things while it is cooking. I use the same technique of increasing the heat for the last few minutes, and sometimes I put brown sugar on it as I increase the heat of the oven. If you add some fresh ground black pepper to the strips as you put the sugar on it is incredible. (This is for baking bacon, not the tenders though I bet the tenders would taste great with it also.) I have a friend who uses piloncillo (brown sugar in cone shape sold in Mexican markets and the Hispanic foods section of many groceries, it is less refined than reg brown sugar with a flavor all its' own) on her bacon. she grates it right over the bacon or else th a small grater on wax paper so she can sprinkle it on her bacon. It adds a really great flavor to the bacon.
 
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