Recipes that rely on elements that can easily be found in your cupboards are always winners in my book; this quick pan-fried chicken recipe is made all the more delicious by using staples like mustard, honey and capers for a punchy sauce. Serve with rice, couscous or just lightly dressed salad leaves.–Donal Skehan

Skillet Chicken with Bacon FAQs

What is the best white wine for cooking?

The best, most versatile white wine to cook with is one that is dry and crisp. Anything very oaky or buttery (like some Chardonnay) could become bitter while cooking, and the sweeter wines such as Riesling may caramelize and add unwanted sugars and sweetness to your dish. Reach for a simple, inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio to ensure success and delicious flavor.

What exactly is a caper and what does it taste like?

Capers are the flower buds that grow on a Mediterranean perennial plant whose scientific name is Capparis spinosa, but we know it as a caper bush. The buds are small, green, and round – about the size of a green pea. They’re usually pickled or brined, and pack a lemony, tangy punch – similar to a green olive.

A serving plate topped with chicken, bacon, and broccolini, with a small bowl of fresh herbs on the side.

Quick Skillet Chicken with Bacon

5 / 2 votes
Recipes that rely on elements that can easily be found in your cupboards are always winners in my book; this quick pan-fried chicken recipe is made all the more delicious by using staples like mustard, honey and capers for a punchy sauce. Serve with rice, couscous or just lightly dressed salad leaves.
David Leite
CourseMains
CuisineAmerican
Servings4 servings
Calories446 kcal
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time40 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 slices smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
  • 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (1 ounce) unsalted butter
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Scant 2/3 cup white wine
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained
  • 5 dashes of hot sauce, or more if desired
  • Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 9 ounces broccolini

Instructions 

  • In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the bacon and fry until golden and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the bacon and transfer it to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the fat in the skillet.
  • Season the chicken with salt and pepper and fry in the same skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C), 3 to 4 minutes per side.
  • Return the bacon to the skillet and add the butter and garlic. Once the butter has melted, add the wine, mustard, honey, capers, hot sauce, and half of the parsley and let reduce to a thickened sauce, 2 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Toss in the broccolini and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain.
  • Serve the chicken with the broccolini, scattered with the remaining parsley.
Everyday Cook Cookbook

Adapted From

Everyday Cook

Buy On Amazon

Nutrition

Serving: 1 portionCalories: 446 kcalCarbohydrates: 10 gProtein: 46 gFat: 21 gSaturated Fat: 7 gMonounsaturated Fat: 8 gTrans Fat: 1 gCholesterol: 232 mgSodium: 370 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 5 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2021 Donal Skehan. Photo © 2021 Donal Skehan. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Winner winner chicken dinner! This is a great meal whenever you need to get food on the table fast. Everything is pretty self-explanatory and the recipe delivers so much on the flavour and the ease of the work load.

A plate of quick skillet chicken with bacon, steamed broccoli, and rice.

This is so darn good, I found myself eating out of the pan before I even dished it up. My teenager who eats like a small army thought 5 thighs was a small portion! But in this case I would have to agree. I made curry-infused long grain rice to serve with steamed broccoli as we actually don’t have broccolini in our grocery stores. Just the regular kind.

The name of this quick skillet chicken with bacon recipe pretty much says it all – it’s quick, saucy, and easy to fix with staples you most likely already have in your pantry. The sauce enhances the chicken beautifully with a perfect balance of flavors from the bacon, capers, honey, and mustard. The blanched broccolini is a very good side for this dish, but just about any blanched veggie would work whether it be standard broccoli, string beans, etc. I suggest drizzling a touch of extra-virgin olive oil over the broccolini before serving.

This recipe for quick skillet chicken with bacon was pleasantly delicious! I was pleased to have already possessed most of the ingredients in my fridge and pantry. The whole dish came together effortlessly. This recipe was very straightforward. I really enjoyed all the elements and how they tasted together. The sourness from the capers, smokiness from the bacon, and the freshness of the parsley were my favorite flavors of this dish.

I added a little cornstarch slurry to my sauce at the end because I like my sauces to be thicker. I could not find broccolini so I substituted regular broccoli and it was a nice accompaniment to the saucy tender chicken. This recipe makes for a quick yet quite pleasing dinner for any night of the week!

We cook a lot of chicken at my house. It is our go-to animal protein and after basically two straight years of cooking a lot of dinners, I’m constantly on the hunt for a new take that is delicious and relatively easy for a weeknight. I also think that basically any dish with a sauce is a little extra in all the right ways.

We now call this simply Saucy Chicken, though it should probably be called Brazen Bacon due to the main flavor in the dish. It was SO rich even after mopping up a good amount of the bacon fat with paper towels (four) between frying the chicken and adding the butter. One does notice the chicken, but only to remark on how very tender it is. The sauce is delicious, five dashes of hot sauce is just enough, and we had four good-sized servings with double the broccolini. 




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


Hungry For More?

Roasted Potatoes with Dill

A handful of cheap ingredients. The exact perfect temperature and timing. And a little patience, please, while spuds are elevated from simple to stellar.

1 hr 5 mins

9 Impressive Easter Lamb Recipes

Impressive lamb recipes for your Easter dinner that are guaranteed to elicit oohs and ahhs. Find your favorite new way to prepare lamb chops, shoulder, or leg of lamb.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




2 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Yum! We loved this recipe. Even the non chicken fan said it was delicious. Came together so easily with pantry staples. I’ll be making this again.