Asiago Chicken with Bacon Cream Sauce - tender and moist chicken breast cooked with lemon, garlic, bacon, in a delicious Asiago cheese cream sauce.
This is one of the best ways to cook chicken breast - chicken will always come out tender and never dry, thanks to the sauce! Asiago cheese has a very strong and particular flavor, so if you love this cheese, do try it in this creamy bacon sauce with chicken. It's amazingly flavorful!
How to make asiago chicken:
In recipes like this one, I like to use small chicken breasts or chicken breast halves, which means halving each chicken breast in half before cooking. This ensures even cooking and reduces total cooking time, thus preventing the chicken from drying out.
So, to make this asiago chicken, first, season the chicken breasts generously with salt and pepper and brown them in the skillet. Then, cooke the chicken breast halves in chicken broth, lemon, garlic, bacon until fully cooked:
Next, add cream and shredded Asiago cheese:
Your Asiago Chicken with Bacon Cream Sauce is ready! So easy and super delicious!
Asiago Chicken with Bacon Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 1.5 lb chicken breasts (4 small chicken breasts, or 2 large chicken breasts halved)
- 1 ½ tablespoons vegetable oil
- salt and pepper
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 8 slices bacon , cooked and drained of fat, chopped
- ½ lemon sliced
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ cup asiago cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Generously season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken breasts on medium-high heat - about 2 minutes on each side, to brown a bit. Chicken doesn't have to be cooked through - you'll continue cooking it later. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
- Add minced garlic to the same skillet - cook on medium heat for about 30 seconds, scraping the bottom of the pan. Deglaze the pan with the small amount of chicken stock. Add the remaining chicken stock (total of 1 cup).
- Add half the bacon (cooked, fat should be drained off, and chopped into small chunks) to the chicken broth.
- Add the chicken back to the pan, on top of bacon and in the chicken broth. Arrange 5 thin lemon slices around chicken breasts - and cook, simmering on low heat, covered, for about 20 minutes, until the chicken is completely cooked through, and is no longer pink in the center.
- After the chicken is completely cooked, remove it from the skillet. Remove lemon slices from the skillet - it's very important that you remove them now, do not leave them in for the sauce otherwise it will be too sour. Add 1 cup half and half to the skillet. Bring to boil and mix everything well, scraping from the bottom. Add ½ cup shredded Asiago cheese and stir to melt completely, about 30 seconds. Immediately reduce to simmer, add chicken breasts back to the skillet and reheat.
- To serve, spoon some of the sauce over the chicken breasts, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped bacon and chopped parsley.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Chrissy
I wanted to make this but didn't have all the ingredients so I used what I had on hand. I omitted the lemon and parsley, added leeks, swapped the asiago for smoked gouda and used heavy cream instead of half and half. Wow! So delicious and creamy! Can't wait to try this recipe with the original ingredients!
Julia
Chrissy, thank you for stopping by and leaving such a detailed comment! You made great substitutions! Adding leeks and using smoked gouda instead of the asiago sounds so delicious - makes me want to try YOUR version! 🙂
Michelle Patino
Very good flavor, little too much sauce, not really thin but just a ton of it. I might 3/4 the wet ingredients next time.
I added spinach and it was so good
Julia
Thank you, Michelle, I am so glad you liked it! I like lots of sauce with my dishes, so yes, the sauce amounts in my recipes usually run on the generous side. 🙂
Sarah
Made it tonight and me and the boyfriend loved it, however, we couldn't get the cheese to melt properly? The taste was great, but the half melted cheese made the sauce a little weirdly lumpy. We worked on it for what felt like ages to get it melted, finally hunger took over and we gave up.
Julia
Sarah, thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment! Did you heat the sauce to the boiling point and then add the cheese? I always bring the sauce to the boiling point, add the cheese, start stirring, and then reduce the heat to low-medium simmer, constantly stirring. It works for me every time.
Sarah C
I agree with Julia that it sounds like a heat issue, a good non-stick wok can work wonders too. Also, when in doubt...adding a little more heavy whipping cream, upping the heat, then letting the mix reduce while continuing to stir will eventually get you that creaminess you're looking for. I love this recipe, it made me start making nothing but dinners with heavy whipping cream sauce for like a month straight. lol
Julia
Thank you, Sarah, for your tips - that's exactly what I do when making creamy sauces! And yes, these sauces can be so addictive! Once I start making them, it's hard to stop! 🙂
erica
Yes, the temp being boiling before adding the cheese is so important... I think this is why poeple are having issues with the sauce being thin as well. If the temp isn't right before adding the cheese and cream, it will not turn out right.
Julia
Yes, that is correct. Also, it’s an important step to cook minced garlic in olive oil and butter for 1 minute before even adding the cream and the broth – it adds fats to the mixture and also helps heat the cooking pan even more. Do not skip this step! I once skipped this step, and my sauce did not work either.
Ray Newman
Hi Julia doesn't mention cooking the minced garlic in butter and olive oil in your instructions
Amanda
Also if you are using preshredded bagged cheese a lot of brands have a lot of starch to prevent sticking and unfortunately that prevents it from melting properly, maybe that's the issue?
Lynda
I made this for my family! Delicious! Also made another rendition with extra sharp cheddar cheese instead of Asiago. Definitely a winner when all 7 members of my family eat it without one complaint...and seconds!!!
KalynsKitchen
Happy Friday! Just letting you know I featured this recipe for my weekly Low-Carb Recipe Love on Fridays! I hope a lot of my readers will click over and try it.
Roxana
Julia, just made this tonight and the whole family loved it. Thanks for a great recipe! Only thing I was missing was parsley... I forgot to grab it, but I used some fresh spinach that i had on hand and it tasted great too.
Laura C.
DO NOT pass up making this dish! Easy, simple, and OMG so so soooo good. The lemon in the sauce adds such a perfect acid note to the crème and cheese. The chicken is so tender. Served over whole wheat penne pasta and blanched fresh green beans. This is fine dining at home. Break out the china and the cloth napkins! I could bathe in that sauce. Mmmmmmm, yummmmm!
Callie
Making this for dinner right now, but sauce seems really thin. Is that normal?
Julia
Callie, if the sauce is too thin, maybe the cheese has not completely melted. Bring the sauce to boil, keep stirring until all the cheese melts, if it's still watery, add more cheese to thicken it up (even though 1/2 cup cheese should be plenty to begin with).
Amy
I'm in the same boat 🙁 Wondering what is happening? Followed directions perfectly. I don't know what to do now. Corn starch?
Stefanie
I'm having the same problem. I added the correct amount of cheese and followed the recipe to a T.
nic
we are having the same issue to. Also the 1/2 & 1/2 curdled when it was added. Wondering which is better - add more cheese or add corn starch!
Erica
I made this for dinner twice now, or has turned out delicious both times.. the first time the sauce was a little thin, I just added more cheese to it and I also added a little bit of cream cheese. It turned out so yummy, there were no left overs! Tonight, I used some half and half AND some whipping cream, and it was PERFECT! Thanks for this awesome recipe!
Julia
Thank you, Erica, for your feedback! I am glad you liked the recipe!
Cassi
I made this for dinner last night. Everyone loved it! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe!
Julia
Thank you, Cassi, I am glad you enjoyed it !
Sheri
I added spinach to this it was delish!
Thanks so much for sharing
Julia
Spinach is an excellent addition!
Laura
Do you use boneless skinless chicken breasts for this recipe or bone in, skin on? It looks delicious! I'm planning on making it tomorrow night 🙂
Julia
I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
Misty
Doesn't say how many calories
Andrea
Just made this! Loved it!!
Julia
Thank you, Andrea.
John Rindfleisch
What about adding sun dried tomatoes?
Kim
This looks so delicious, I love asiago cheese! Unfortunately I have an allergy to lemon, would it work without it?
Julia
Yes, you can easily omit lemon without losing much flavor. I love lemons, and can't really live without them. 🙂
Rach's Recipes
This was so good and easy to make. I added basil and oregano and served it with a side of roasted vegetables. It was a winner!
Julia
Basil and oregano sound like a great addition to the sauce! And roasted veggies are perfect with the creamy chicken breast recipe like this one!
Valerie
Any way to cook this in the crockpot
Julia
Never tried making a cream sauce in the slow cooker.