Creamy Beer Cheese Chicken With Crispy Bacon
Creamy Beer Cheese Chicken With Crispy Bacon is ready in less than 20 minutes! Beer and cheddar cheese in a creamy sauce with bacon AND chicken? What's not to love! AN ORIGINAL CAFE DELITES RECIPE
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts large
- 1 /2 cup lager
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch cracked pepper
Sauce:
- 150 grams bacon diced
- 2 tablespoons butter optional
- 1 onion large, diced
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/4 cup milk I use 2%, but you can use skim or full cream
- 1/2 cup lager
- 1/2 cup low sodium chicken stock good quality
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 dash hot sauce
- 2/3 cup shredded cheddar (add more to suit your tastes)
- 1 pinch salt to taste, if desired
- 1 pinch pepper to taste, if desired
Instructions
- Combine lager, garlic, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Add in the chicken breasts, cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinade in the refrigerator for 2 hours if time allows, or over night for a deeper flavour.
- When ready to cook, take out of the fridge for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Heat skillet or pan over medium - high heat. Drain chicken from marinade and fry breasts in a small amount of oil until golden browned on both sides and completely cooked through the centre (about 6-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your chicken breasts). Fry in batches of two if you need to.
- Transfer chicken to a warm plate.
- In the same pan, cook bacon until crisp, (about 6 minutes). Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to let drain.
- To the remaining bacon fat in the pan, add the onion and celery, and cook until soft, about 6 minutes. (If there is no remaining bacon fat, melt the butter in the pan instead). Then add garlic and cook until fragrant, (about 1 minute).
- Pour in the beer and allow to reduce slightly (about 3-4 minutes).
- Add in the flour and cook until golden, (about 3 minutes), then slowly add the stock, whisking until flour has combined with the liquid. Whisk in the the milk and let simmer, while whisking occasionally, until thickened.
- Stir in Worcestershire sauce, stock powder, mustard and hot sauce.
- Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Mix until cheese has melted, then stir in 3/4 of the crumbled bacon. Taste test and add any extra salt, pepper, cheddar or beer.
- Arrange chicken back into the pan and allow to warm through. Garnish with chives or parsley and the remaining bacon.
Notes
*Substitute milk for heavy cream, reduced fat cream, half and half or evaporated milk.
*If you don't have time to marinade your chicken, a good 20 minute soak is enough time for the beer mixture to absorb into the chicken. Just pierce your chicken pieces all over with the tip of a sharp knife and allow a good soak for as long as you can. If time DOES allow, then try to let it sit over night in the beer marinade.
Nutrition
Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 1.846mg | Potassium: 697mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 569IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 261mg | Iron: 1mg