SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST STUFFED WITH HOT BACON
SPLIT CHICKEN BREAST STUFFED WITH HOT BACON – I’ve got an issue. It’s game over when I have a slab of bacon in the fridge. Bacon will be used in every dish. Is this, however, always a bad thing? I don’t believe so. Plus, adding spinach entirely negates the bacon flavor, right?
INGREDIENTS:
— 2 split, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
— 4 slices of thick cut bacon (diced)
— 1 large garlic clove (chopped)
— 3 oz (ca. 113 g) cream cheese (I use low fat)
— 3 oz (ca. 113 g) fresh baby spinach
— 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup fresh shredded Parmesan
— 1/4 tsp salt
— 1/2 tsp of your favorite all-seasoning (I use Adobo)
— 1/4 tsp pepper + 1/4 tsp pepper
— 1/4 tsp paprika
— 1/2 cup flour
— 1 egg (beaten, in a bowl you can dip your chicken into)
— 1 cup panko bread crumbs
— Cooking spray
— 6 wooden toothpicks
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Add your diced bacon to a hot frying pan.
Cook bacon until crispy and use a slotted spoon to remove bacon to a paper towel-lined plate.
This is the method in which I cut the chicken in order to stuff it.
This is the method in which I cut the chicken in order to stuff it.
Set bacon aside.
Pour out bacon grease until only about 1 tbsp of grease remains in the pan.
Place pan over medium-high heat and add garlic.
Cook garlic until it begins to become translucent.
Add spinach to the pan, tossing to coat the spinach.
Continue to stir the spinach until it wilts down to approximately 1/2 cup.
Place spinach in a mixing bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, mix together salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and paprika.
Sprinkle the seasoning onto both sides of both chicken breasts and rub in the seasoning.
Take a small, sharp knife, and make a horizontal slit length-wise through the middle of the chicken, this is where you will place the stuffing.
Go back to the spinach and stir in the cream cheese, Parmesan, 1/4 tsp pepper, and bacon.
Stuff each chicken breast with half of the spinach mixture.
Close the opening of the chicken with the wooden toothpicks.
Pour flour onto a flat plate.
Place the beaten egg next to the plate.
Mix the panko w/ the all-seasoning and place them onto a flat plate and place that on the other side of the egg, so you have an assembly line.
Place your baking dish at the end of the assembly line and spray it with cooking spray.
Carefully take a stuffed breast and place it on the flour, turn over, so both sides are coated.
Place the breast in the egg, turn over, so both sides are coated.
Place the breast in the panko, turn over, so both sides are coated.
Now, place the breast in the baking pan.
Repeat with the 2nd breast.
Spray the top of both breasts with cooking spray.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place it in the oven for 12 minutes.
Remove the foil and cook for another 25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
When chicken is done, move to a serving plate and REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS.
Enjoy!
Thanks heaps for reading, and don’t forget to share this recipe with family and friends.
