Does anything sound better then bacon wrapped stuffed chicken? Didn't think so.. but don't be put off by the seemingly fiddly nature of the dish, once you give it a go and realise how easy stuffing chicken is you'll be doing it all the time!
In this recipe I use Bacon by Nature streaky bacon which is a bacon range that are free from harmful nitrates using only natural ingredients to cure the bacon.... its really tasty to! Keep your eyes peeled for them in supermarkets like Waitrose, Sainsburys and Amazon Fresh.
Prep time 15 mins
Cooking time 30-35mins
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2tsp garlic powder
1/2tsp dried oregano
1/2tsp smoked paprika
1/2tsp ground coriander
1tsp mild chilii powder (use hot chilli powder if you like a kick)
1/4 tsp salt
1.5tbsp olive oil
2 small bell peppers, any colour, cored and diced
1 small onion, roughly diced
All of the fajita seasoning
1 lime
12-16 rashers smoked streaky bacon, I use Bacon by Nature in this recipe
4 chicken breasts approx 200g in weight each
mozzarella ball, approx 125g, sliced
1. If you're making the homemade fajita seasoning mix all of the fajita seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl, set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180ºc fan.
3. In a large frying pan heat the oil on a medium heat. Once heated add in your diced peppers and onion. Sauté for about 5minutes.
4. After the 5mins add in all of fajita spice mix and 100ml of water. (This will help to cook the spices with out them burning) Turn the heat up slightly and once all of the liquid had cooked off (about 3mins) add the juice of half the lime, stir and then set a side to cool slightly. I like to split the mixture in to 2, one lot to stuff the chicken with and one lot to reheat and serve on the side. Just be sure to never get them mixed up after handling raw chicken.
This next step isn't necessary so you can skip it if you like but I find cooking the bacon slightly in a pan helps to start the fat render and go crispier in the oven.
5. Heat a dry non stick frying pan oven a high heat, add your streaky bacon in and cook for just a minute on each side until it just begins to colour, don't cook it too much or it will go crisp and we won't be able to wrap the chicken and/or it will burn in the oven. Once the fat has just started to render slightly remove from the pan and place on to kitchen towel, do this in batches if need be.
6. Now to stuff the chicken.... grab a breast and using a small sharp knife cut in to the fat end of the breast the create a pocket inside, the key is to make the pocket inside the chicken as large as possible with out going through the other side of the chicken or the filling will leak out.
Next carefully place a small piece of mozzarella inside the pocket as far down as possible, then a little of your pepper/onion fajita mixture then I like to add more mozzarella. Make sure once stuffed you can still bring the opening together.
Season the outside of the chicken with a little pepper and then wrap with 3 to 4 rashers of par-cooked bacon depending on how many you cooked. Place on to a line baking tray and repeat with the other breasts.
7. Place in the preheated oven for 30mins or until the chicken is completely cooked and has an internal temp of at least 75ºc or 165ºf .
8. Serve with steamed long grain rice and some cooked tender stem broccoli.
See my instagram reel for tips on stuffing the chicken.
