Smothered Chicken
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This Smothered Chicken recipe is destined to become a family favorite. Moist and tender chicken breasts are drenched in a luxuriously creamy bacon and mushroom sauce. What is there not to love? Serve it over mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta and get ready to enjoy some ultimate comfort food!
A few years ago when I made this Smothered Chicken for the first time I marveled at how our family dinner was actually peaceful. Our normally rambunctious 4 and 2 year old kids were so engrossed in the meal, so contented, that my husband and I were actually able to enjoy the meal ourselves – imagine that! If only family dinner could always be like this! Both of our kids asked for seconds and our 4 year old remained at the table for a full 7 minutes after everyone else was done, savoring every last morsel. I made a mental note: Serve Smothered Chicken every night, ha!
Fast forward several years and our kids love this smothered chicken as much today as they did then. And it’s always a hit when we serve it to friends and family. We’re confident you’ll love it as much as we do!
What is Smothered Chicken?
It’s chicken that’s smothered in a creamy mushroom bacon sauce. Nothing more needs to be said. Except that you may find yourself setting aside everything you learned about table manners and picking up the plate to give it six solid licks to lap up every last drop of sauce. (Not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything).
And if you’re the parent of a toddler, preschooler or teenagers who can’t sit through a family meal without chaos breaking loose, this Smothered Chicken recipe is your new secret tool to peace and happiness – at least for the duration of dinner!
What to Serve with Smothered Chicken
You can serve this with a variety of carbs and veggies. Here are a few ideas:
- Mashed potatoes
- Buttered noodles or Spaetzle
- Steamed rice or Homemade Rice a Roni
- Buttermilk Biscuits or Spelt Biscuits
- Cornbread Muffins
- Or see How to Cook Spaghetti Squash for a low carb alternative!
- Four Bean Salad
- Green beans, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, or cauliflower
Storage & Freezing
Smothered chicken will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Let it thaw in the fridge and then gently reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop.
Smothered Chicken Recipe
Let’s get started!
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and sear both sides until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside, leaving the browned bits in the bottom of the pan – that’s going to add a lot of great flavor to the sauce.
Next fry the bacon until crispy. Don’t drain the bacon grease – that’s a must for flavor! (And yes, it’s okay to live a little once a while.)
Add the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
Add the butter, let it melt, then add the flour and stir until combined. Cook for about 30 seconds. This will eliminate the “floury” taste.
While whisking constantly, pour in the heavy cream and milk. Bring the sauce to a simmer and continue whisking until the sauce is thickened.
Stir in the salt.
Stir in the parsley. Nestle the chicken breasts in the sauce and spoon some sauce over them. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
And salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately garnished with some fresh parsley.
Serve with rice, pasta or potatoes. See blog post above for more serving suggestions.
Enjoy!
For more classic American comfort dishes try my:
- Sausage Gravy
- Hamburger Gravy
- Corn Pudding
- Ultimate Green Bean Casserole
- Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- New England Clam Chowder
- Shrimp and Grits
- Jambalaya
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Smothered Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts , cut in half lengthwise to form 4 thinner chicken fillets (or 4 whole chicken breasts if you prefer a bigger serving), both sides sprinkled with salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 5 slices thick-cut bacon , diced (use more bacon if using thin-sliced)
- 6 ounces fresh white button or cremini mushrooms , sliced
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup heavy cream or half-and-half
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and sear both sides until browned. Transfer to a plate and set aside, leaving the browned bits in the bottom of the pan.
- Add the bacon and cooked until crispy. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Add the butter, melt, then add the flour and stir to combined. Cook for 30 seconds.
- While whisking constantly, pour in the heavy cream and milk. Bring the sauce to a simmer and continue whisking until the sauce is thickened. Add the salt and parsley.
- Nestle the chicken breasts in the sauce and spoon sauce over them to cover. Return the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with rice, pasta or potatoes and garnish with some fresh chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Originally published on The Daring Gourmet on April 22, 2014
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
That sauce has me drooling! Smothered chicken is always a hit and this one sounds perfect for dinner next week.
This chicken dinner is loaded with amazing flavor. It’s hard to resist and that sauce is incredible.
Thank you, Jacque, I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Creamy and delicious! This looks like a dish my family will love.
We made this tonight and for sure, keeping the fat from the bacon adds so much flavor. Loved every bite!
I’m so glad it was a hit, Jen, thank you!
Smothered chicken – um, yes! Adding this to our menu!
This chicken is pure comfort food! My whole family is obsessed with this dish!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Anna, thank you!
Tried this for dinner last night and it has easily become a new favorite in our home! So creamy and delicious; can’t wait for leftovers again tonight!
Thank you, Sara, I’m so glad your family enjoyed it!
The perfect comfort food! I left out the mushrooms because the rest of my family doesn’t like them. Served it with mashed potatoes, and we all loved it!
I’m so glad it was a hit, Kara, thank you!
Kimberly,
Made the smothered chicken the other night and it was FANTASTIC!
This was my first attempt at one of your recipes and it came out SO good! My girlfriend gave MUCHO KUDO’s so all is well in my world!
I’m making the Orange Chicken tonight and will give you a full report.
We had bought the restaurant pack of chicken at GFS and I vacuum sealed 2 breast portions and froze for food shortages and am now enjoying the fruits of my labor!
Anyway…. Thanks so much for a great, inspiring web site. I’ve been perusing all the recipes for dinner ideas as we have been all but shut-ins during this crisis, and have found many wonderful ideas that I can’t wait to try!
Stay safe, and thanks again.
Rick & Randi
Columbus, Ohio
That’s wonderful, Rick, I’m so glad that you and Randi enjoyed it, thanks so much! :)
I have made this recipe so so many times and we just love it ! When reading the comments I noticed some recipe changes like using pork chops so next time I make it am going to try that as it sounds really great too!
Thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe – most definitely a REPEAT!!
Thank you, Karla, I’m so glad it’s been a hit!
Very delicious! My parents and I enjoyed the meal. I made some substitutions. I didnt have any mushrooms on hand, so i used onions and browned them with the bacon. I also made it gluten and dairy free by adding in unsweetened coconut milk and tapioca flour. Thank you very much! I shall make this again!
Fantastic, Girard, I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you for the feedback!
That’s a great way to look at it. I’m going to make it again in a couple of weeks. However, my daughter loved it. Going to look at more recipes of yours online tonight thank you so much and it was an easy recipe to make
Wonderful and I hope you find many more recipes that you enjoy! :)
I made this dinner tonight and we’re trying to eat low carb so I use coconut flour and it gave it a totally different flavor. I think next time I’m just going to count the carbs in the flour and make it your way. Thanks for the recipe
Hi Kay! Yes, coconut flour has a very strong flavor and for that reason I don’t use it in savory dishes, only for baking. Think of it this way: This dish only has 4 tablespoons of flour to begin with and that’s divided into 4 servings. So that’s 1 tablespoon of flour per person which is only 6 grams of carbs.
Delicious! Too decadent for weekly dinner but fantastic as an occasional indulgence! Very easy as well
So glad you enjoyed it, Laura, thank you!
Put the sauce in a cup for me please.