Bacon Cheddar Hasselback Chicken

Here’s another favorite ingredient of mine, chicken breast! While most people dislike chicken breast, saying it’s the most unappetizing/low quality part of the chicken and hail thigh, drumstick or wing as the saint, well, I beg to differ. I’ve been a fan of chicken breast since I was little and any sights of chicken breast will light me up! If you give me a plain chicken breast (ok at least salt it), I will eat it. Haha

If you think chicken breast is boring, well that’s because you haven’t eaten an awesome one. And since the breast is like a blank canvas, ahem plain, one can easily spice it up creatively. So, how to spice it up? Recently, I thought of making hasselback using chicken breast and include my favorite ingredients = bacon, cheddar, onion. That’s it and it came out beautiful and delicious. I hope the anti-chicken breast supporters will give this recipe a try and let us know what you think. 😉 Also, it’s gluten-free, grain-free, paleo-friendly and keto-friendly. To make it carnivore-friendly, skip the onion, rosemary and cashews (optional) and double up the bacon. If you don’t eat cheese, then remove or swap with other ingredients.

Bacon cheddar hasselback chicken. 😍

Let’s cook.

Make slits on the chicken breast, smear and season every nook and corner with bacon fat, salt and pepper. The reason I’m keeping the skin is that the skin will lend its fat and making this bacon cheddar hasselback chicken more epic. Plus, chicken skin is fab!

Then, add ingredients to the slits. That’s it. It’s quick in preparation and won’t take up much of your time when the dish is in the oven cooking.

I’m made this twice (first one) and plan to make again soon but first I need to make more bacon!

Tsk, yes, you can even eat the crispy rosemary (can be a bit bitter though).

Lots of flavors, especially adding the bacon is the game-changer (as I talked about this in my Insta). If you baked the chicken correctly, you won’t get dry chicken.

Bacon Cheddar Hasselback Chicken
Serves 1

1 chicken breast with skin
1 tablespoon bacon fat
3 pieces smoked bacon (I used homesmoked bacon)
1/2 large onion, sliced crosswise
6-8 sliced matured cheddar
3-4 sprigs rosemary
sea salt
black pepper
cashews, a handful (optional)

Method:
1. Make 3/4 deep slits, with each slit about 2-3 cm apart on the chicken breast.

2. Coat the chicken with bacon fat. Then season with sea salt and freshly grated black pepper. Make sure to coat and season inside the slits and underneath the skin.

3. Slice each bacon into two to three pieces. Divide rosemary into 2 to 3 parts as well.

4. Stuff each slit with cheddar, bacon and onion. Slide rosemary underneath the skin of each slit.

5. Bake at 180^oC for 35 mins-40 mins, or until cooked. Mine were done at 38 mins. Don’t over bake the meat or it will be dry. Add cashews 15-20 minutes before the baking time finish.

6. Serve while it’s warm.

Enjoy!