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Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Chicken is honestly one of the best skillet meals you will ever make! Tender chicken with a creamy sauce with bacon, mushroom, and thyme. The flavor is out of this world!
You guys. I have made a few really really good skillet chicken meals in my day. They are getting some serious rave reviews. This creamy tuscan garlic chicken or this creamy chicken marsala are just a few of the top five star recipes here on the blog. But this recipe right here is a MUST make!
Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Chicken
You can’t go wrong with chicken smothered in a creamy and delicious sauce. But when you add bacon bits and mushrooms to it it takes it to a whole different delicious level. Oh and let us not forget about the thyme. Thyme is one of my favorite herbs to use in cooking and adds such amazing flavor. Seriously this creamy sauce is out of this world.
Just check out that crispy bacon and creamy mushroom thyme sauce. ??
This meal was devoured by my family. I know that you guys are going to LOVE this recipe and want to make it again and again! It is truly a five star meal that you can make right at home.
Bacon Mushroom Thyme Chicken Ingredients:
- Chicken: Bone in chicken thighs are my first choice but you can also use boneless chicken thighs or breasts.
- Olive oil: Adds great flavor to the chicken while it cooks.
- Italian seasoning: I love the combination of flavors in Italian seasoning. (Basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and thyme if you need to make your own at home.)
- Salt and pepper: To taste. The salt will help bring out the other flavors so don’t forget to season the chicken well.
Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce:
- Olive oil: I recommend extra virgin olive oil for the best flavor.
- White mushrooms: Sliced to add a great texture to the creamy sauce.
- Bacon: Cooked and crumble the bacon in when the sauce is simmering.
- Heavy cream: Bring the heavy cream to a simmer until it starts to thicken.
- Salt and Pepper: To taste.
- Garlic powder: Garlic powder gives the great garlic flavor that balances the sweetness of the cream and saltiness of the bacon.
- Fresh thyme: Stems removed, this is my favorite seasoning in this entire dish!
Lets Cook Some Chicken Thighs:
- Preheat oven and skillet: Set oven to 350 degrees. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat.
- Sear and season chicken: Add the chicken thighs and season with italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Pan Sear each side of the chicken for 1-2 minutes until brown and place skillet in oven.
- Bake: Place chicken in the oven for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked throughout. Set chicken aside on a plate.
- Sauté mushrooms: Add olive oil to the skillet and sauté the mushrooms until soft.
- Simmer sauce: Add the bacon, heavy cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme. Bring to a simmer until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the chicken back to the skillet and heat for another minute.
- Serve and enjoy immediately.
Variations for Creamy Bacon Mushroom Chicken:
- Pan fry the bacon: To cook the bacon I like to cut the strips into small (1 inch) pieces before cooking. Then pan fry them while stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Then, depending on the bacon you use, you can cook the mushrooms in the drippings from the bacon instead of oil.
- Cream sauce: Replace the heavy cream with 1 1/2 cups of half and half. If you need to thicken the sauce, add a little bit of flour.
- Instant Pot Chicken: Cook the chicken in an Instant Pot instead of the oven: You still need to sear the chicken first. Then, place in your IP with about a cup of water. Use the “meat” function for 10 minutes on the normal section.
- Service! My kids don’t love their food covered in the sauce, so I plate the chicken without putting it in the sauce at the end. I simply plate the chicken up separately and drizzle the sauce over the chicken instead or put the sauce in a small bowl for the girls to dip their chicken in.
Storing Chicken Thighs:
What is the deal with all the family packs of chicken lately? It seems like everywhere I shop I am seeing more and more of the huge packs of meat. Its usually fine for me to buy in bulk with my big family, but for times when I am not cooking for the whole crew, that is a lot of meat! You may be in the same boat and looking to cook for one or two and are leery of a huge pack of chicken. Well, I have good news for you, this chicken will store SO nicely. So, buy the bulk pack and get that great deal, and I will give you the quick and easy info on storing the leftovers!
Storing Raw Chicken:
- Keep up to 2 days in the refrigerator in its original wrap in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
- Do not rinse raw chicken.
- Store in a container on the bottom shelf so that it does not drip on other items.
- Your refrigerator should be between 38-40 degrees F.
- To freeze: Wrap each piece of chicken in separate pieces of foil or freezer bags, then put all pieces in one larger piece of foil or a large freezer bag. That way you can pull out just what you need when you need it. When stored properly, the chicken will last up to 9 months in the freezer.
Storing Already Cooked Chicken:
- Leave out no longer than 2 hours before refrigerating or freezing after cooking.
- Refrigerate the chicken in shallow airtight containers or wrap tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil or plastic wrap.
- If correctly stored, cooked chicken will last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and 4 months in the freezer.
- Once you thaw your cooked chicken in the refrigerator, it can stay an additional 3-4 days in the refrigerator before cooking.
- If you thaw chicken in a microwave or in cold water, it should be eaten immediately after warming it up.
More Skillet Chicken Recipes to Try:
- Queso Chicken Skillet
- Creamy Skillet Chicken Cacciatore
- California Avocado Skillet Chicken
- One Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
- Skillet Creamy Chicken Mushroom Florentine
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Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Chicken
Equipment
- Staub Cast Iron Skillet
- Utopia Kitchen Cooking Knives
Ingredients
- 4 bone in chicken thighs can also use boneless chicken thighs or breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
- salt and pepper
Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme stems removed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degree. Heat a large skillet to medium high heat. Add the chicken thighs and season with italian seasoning and salt and pepper.
- Pan Sear each side of the chicken for 1-2 minutes until brown and place skillet in oven. Bake for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked throughout. Set chicken aside on a plate.
- Add olive oil to the skillet and sauté the mushrooms until soft. Add the bacon, heavy cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme. Bring to a simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add the chicken back to the skillet and heat for another minute. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I made the Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Chicken for dinner.
Thanks for the recipe!
Hi! This looks so yummy ? I’m wondering if I could substitute almond milk for the heavy cream? We’re dairy free, but I hate to miss out on this one! Thanks!!
If you would prefer that you are welcome to try; however, I would not recommend that. The heavy cream is thicker and helps thicken the sauce. The almond milk will alter the taste too.
You could probably use dairy free sour cream.
I made a quick cooking version of this (cook bacon, cook cut up chicken breasts in the bacon fat, make the sauce) and served over rice for my husband and veggies (low carb) for myself. Really easy and delicious! I will definitely try with chicken thighs next time.
Kara! This is great. Thanks for the comment. I am happy that you loved it. Thanks for following with me!
I am “the cook” at my Fire department and work with some picky individuals. I modified it slightly using diced thick cut bacon and searing the chicken in the grease like Teri did. I also added diced garlic cloves with julienned sundried tomatoes when cooking the mushrooms. It paired well with steamed broccoli instead of a pasta. And of course I had to give it a more macho name calling it Tuscan Chicken Thighs. Needless to say that it was a HUGE hit!
Hi Jason!
This is so great. I am so happy that everyone liked it. I love your alterations that you made to the dish. Thanks for the comment and for all that you do for your community!
WOW! This dish is so many types of wow… I’m trying it out on my daughter this evening and will cook it again for my partner on Friday when he returns home. A great Keto dish paired with greens i.e. Broccolini. It smells amazing and my daughter is already complimenting the dish although is yet to try it. So easy to make and has all the qualities of dish that will become a family favourite. Thank you so much for sharing x
This is AMAZING! I make it all the time crave it even more! Any suggestions on what to pare it with?
I’ve never made this before. But I’m making it for dinner tonight. I’m serving it with rice pilaf and roasted asparagus.
I’m going to try having it with pan fried cabbage! I’m on Keto and I think it would be delicious with this meal. You could also try potatoes of any sort – mash or roast. Also rice would be great too. Whatever you prefer!
Amanda, it paired really well with toasted Brussel sprouts with drizzled bacon fat on top of them. It’d probably also be delicious with cauliflower or broccoli. If you’re not doing low carb, it’d taste great with rice.
This dish was amazing. I have never commented on anything and this was so over the top amazing I had to. This is something I would hope to eat at a high end restaurant and I can’t believe I made it at home.
Just made this recipe tonight with green beans, no pasta, but extra mushrooms.
My 20 year old son said “it’s a keeper!” I’d serve it with any kind of pasta, rice or bread, but we are both watching our serving sizes and composition of meals right now (heavy cream excempted)! Delicious!
Thanks for the recipe.
I think this was so easy and amazing. I’m not understanding the whole “flippant” attitude comment. Honestly on a good blog I could care less what the nutritional values are If it’s yummy… I’ll do it! If it means that much to you … look it up yourself! I Love the recipe!!
I’m surprised that you have a food blog, but don’t post the nutritional information for your recipes. If it’s so easy for your readers to look it up on skinnytaste.com or myfitnesspal.com like you do, well, that makes your suggestion a bit flippant and dismissive. I made the CREAMY BACON MUSHROOM THYME CHICKEN tonight (only because I had all the ingredients and was looking to make something different) and it was good, but honestly, your attitude was a bit off-putting and I don’t think I’ll be back. There are currently just too many good food blogs out there.
What a pathetic and lazy butthurt comment for you to make!? Grow up Margo! It’s not rocket science to assess yourself the ingredients going into your dish! Nor does it require a degree to look up the links that Alyssa kindly shared!
The recipe was amazing and I served with tagliatelle pasta! For some reason I can only click 4 stars otherwise I’d give 5.
Margo,
It seems to me you’re the one with the rude and dismissive attitude. There are a lot of food bloggers that do not post the nutritional information, for most people that isn’t a big deal…they just look it up themselves if it’s that important to them. You, too, can be just as self-sufficient.
No need for a drama fest!
Wow, Margo. The only flippant and off putting attitude I see here is yours!
Alyssa, I am putting this recipe in my cooking rotation this week. Not because I have the ingredients already (I don’t), but because it sounds fabulous! Looking forward to trying it!
Margo….the nutrition facts are listed here. Perhaps the other reader missed them. Alyssa is always very nice and helpful. You sound like a nasty, rude woman. Glad you won’t be back.
You can easily create the nutritional information yourself in the my fitness pal app by adding a recipe and using the link. The app will create it for you.
Rough day?
Can dried thyme such as McCormicks, be used instead of fresh thyme?
Yes, that would work. Thanks for choosing one of my recipes. Let me know what you think! XOXO
I made this tonight for our 28/29th Anniversary and it was delicious. Thank you for sharing this.
This is so delicious! What amazing flavor. I followed the recipe as written with only a couple of extras. I cooked the bacon then drained all but a couple of tablespoons of grease and seared the chicken thighs in the bacon fat (yum!) After the chicken came out of the oven, before I added the mushrooms and remaining ingredients, I deglazed the pan with just a splash of sherry that I happened to have. The whole family loved this recipe, including the ridiculously picky 5 year old. Thank you for this! I can’t wait to make it again.
What type of side/sides do you use to complete the meal? I have no clue as to what to fix it and I really want to try this tonight. I went to the store yesterday to get the stuff to make it and spent over two hours there looking for the Creamy Bacon Mushroom Sauce! I’m a ditz and didn’t realize the recipe for it is already in the recipe!! Anyway, I hope it turns out good or my husband and me are going to be very disappointed!!
I made this tonight with mashed potatoes and it was sooooooo delicious!
I cannot find Creamy Bacon Thyme Sauce. What do I do, can it be made.. Please help me with this.
Here is the ingredient list to make the Creamy Bacon Mushroom Thyme Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, stems removed
This looks amazing and easy to make. What is the carb count/nutrition information on this dish? Thanks.
I like to use skinnytaste.com or myfitnesspal.com for any nutritional information that I may have. I hope that helps you as well!
Omg, at was delicious!! I made it this evening for dinner and served it with a turmeric rice and green beans with crispy fried garlic. It was amazing! Thank you for the terrific recipe!
Absolutely delicious and easy!! I made it for out of town guest upon their arrival I think they thought wow meals are going to be amazing here little did they know that was the only trick in the hat!!! When they went home they called and asked for the recipe!!
Recipe Critic has the best recipes you will find ! My wife and I are well seasoned in excellent cooking and the recipes she posts never fail to deliver !
Wow, amazing recipe! The only changes I made were using chicken breasts and half n half instead of heavy cream. This will definitely be going in the dinner rotation. 5 star delicious!
That is great to hear! I love that you made it your own! Thanks so much for sharing! XOXO