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If you love chicken and bacon recipes (and who doesn't?), you will really enjoy this easy Broccoli Bacon Cheddar Chicken dinner. Just throw everything on top of chicken in casserole dish, and then bake in one pan for 30 minutes! Done! Low-carb, gluten-free, keto friendly chicken recipe.
I'd like to note that there is nothing creative about this recipe. All the ingredients are very basic: chicken, broccoli, bacon, cheddar cheese. But the assembly and the cooking technique are so easy, which I hope makes this dish attractive to many, especially to those who love chicken and broccoli recipes.
And, by the way, in terms of simplicity and the ingredients, this recipe is very similar to my ranch chicken bake and buffalo chicken bake with bacon. It's all about making our dinners easy without sacrificing taste and our favorite ingredients.
Keto Friendly Chicken Recipes
Here are some more keto friendly recipes similar to this one. If you want to cook low carb, gluten free, high protein and higher fat recipes, take a look at these:
- Gluten free and low-carb chicken bake: Bacon Cream Cheese Cheddar Chicken
- Chicken breasts are smothered with creamed spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and bacon, and then baked in the oven: Chicken Smothered with Bacon and Creamed Spinach
- And, one more super delicious low-carb, gluten free and keto-friendly chicken recipe: Basil Pesto Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Bake
When you don't have too much time on your hands and don't want to think about what to cook for dinner - make this broccoli bacon chicken!
I recommend to blanch the broccoli before adding it on top of chicken (blanching means adding broccoli to boiling water just for a couple of minutes, removing it and draining it well). Blanching the broccoli makes it moist and brighter in color.
How to make this broccoli bacon cheddar chicken:
First, add chicken breasts to the casserole dish:
Then, add blanched broccoli on top of chicken. Blanched just means that you add broccoli to boiling water for a couple of minutes, then drain it well - it makes the broccoli moist and brighter in color:
Next, add chopped cooked bacon on top of broccoli and chicken:
Add shredded Mozzarella cheese:
Finally, add shredded Cheddar cheese:
Bake your bacon broccoli chicken for about 30 minutes at 400 F in the preheated oven. The exact baking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts.
Broccoli Bacon Cheddar Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 chicken breasts (use 4 thin chicken breasts, or use 2 large chicken breasts, sliced in half, horizontally)
- salt and pepper
- 2 cups broccoli florets , blanched, chopped
- 6 strips bacon , cooked, chopped
- ⅓ cup Mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 1 cup Cheddar cheese , shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Grease the bottom of the casserole dish with olive oil. I used the the oval casserole dish measured 13 inches x 9 inches x 4 inches deep.
- Add chicken breasts to the casserole dish. Note about chicken: use 4 thin chicken breasts, or use 2 large thick chicken breasts, sliced in half horizontally each to make 4 thin chicken breasts.
- Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
- Top with chopped and blanched broccoli florets.
- Top with chopped cooked bacon.
- Top with shredded Mozzarella cheese.
- Top with shredded Cheddar cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 20-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of your chicken breasts.
Video
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.
Hello!
I was looking forward to trying this, but I only seem to have bone in/skin on thighs... will it be ok to still give it a whirl? Or should I wait for Boneless/Skinless Chicken?
I would do it with boneless, skinless chicken - that way there is no bone mixing in with all the cheese, veggies, and bacon.
Just made this recipe last night and needless to say, it was devoured. So no leftovers for me today. 🙁 But I didn't make this with chicken breasts. I used chicken drums. 7 in total, of which I cut the meat from 3. I used a glass bread dish (I think) that I tend to use for our family of four.
I took the 4 drums and seasoned them with salt and pepper, and proceeded to bake them for 25 minutes (by themselves) while I blanched my broccoli and diced my crispy bacon strips. Once the broccoli was finished, I mixed the de-boned chicken [I cut into chunks] with the broccoli along with half of my bacon pieces. Once I removed the four drums from the oven, I spooned in my broccoli mix, and coated this with two pieces of muenster cheese along with about 2 oz of Mexican blend shredded cheese and then my remaining bacon bits.
I baked it for about another 25-30 mins to ensure the raw chicken, as well as the drums, were thoroughly cooked. My cheese was not too crispy, nor colored, and I really feel that even though I didn't add any salt to my broccoli, mixing in half of the bacon pieces along with the cut up chicken added loads of flavor.
As I said, I have NO LEFTOVERS. And this does make me sad, but I am extremely happy to have found this LOW CARB dinner option that is finger-licking good! My SO and I have recently began a low-carb keto diet, so this definitely hit the spot without any guilt. Thank you, Julia!
Thank you, Rey, for taking time to leave such a well-thought-out comment, I really appreciate it! First of all, I am really happy you enjoyed the recipe, and no leftovers is always a good sign, even though that means you have to cook more the next day. 🙂 Great to know the recipe works with chicken drums! Even though this recipe has lots of cheese, it is an extremely low-carb recipe, which is what I also love about it. This recipe works really will with certain types of diet, such as low-carb diet or gluten free diet.
Can you use frozen broccoli?
Yes, you can, but I would defrost it first. Otherwise, it might not cook in time and will not have a nice roasted look to it.
Do you have the nutritional information. For this. Just asking so I don't have to go digging for it if I did not need to lol
This was the one of the only times I didn't have leftovers! Amazing! The only thing I did different was spread a thin layer of mayo on the chicken(to adhere everything together) and then about half of a packet of dry ranch, then continued the recipe and in a family full of boys this was a huge hit!
Crystal, so glad you and your boys liked the recipe! No leftovers is always a great sign! I love mayo and would spread it on everything if I could, so I am sure it was a great addition to this recipe! 🙂
How many carbs do you think are in a serving?
The only thing with carbs would be the broccoli, cheese if you bought it already shredded, and from the bacon If you use a sugar cured one.
Can you use frozen broccoli?
I would defrost it first.
Do you think this could be made with chicken thighs
I think if you use skinless, boneless chicken thighs - they will work great here!
Really great recipe!! Was really tasty! I found it better to cook the chicken in the dish covered with foil for 30 minutes and then cooking for a further 15 minutes with the other ingredients uncovered. Very easy to do!
Thank you, Kerry, for your feedback! And, I am glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
What is the nutritional information per serving?
Yes, would love the nutritional info as im following a KETO diet
Don't have that capability on my site yet, but you can copy and paste the ingredients and use this tool instead for now:
https://www.caloriecount.com/
Can this be done in a crock pot? Thanks.
Hi Mindy, I haven't tried it in a crock pot, so can't really say how to modify this recipe for a crock pot.
Can this be frozen
Yes, you can freeze this.
This was awesome!! So I had 3 chicken breasts, cut them all in half, put salt/pepper/garlic powder/Italian seasoning on both sides! I used 1 whole big bunch of broccoli since there was more chicken. Also about 7 bacon strips. I put just a sprinkle of cheese on, then more cheese for last 5 minutes. It was SO GOOD!!!!!!
Thank you - I am glad you liked it! 🙂
Sorry to say, we found this bland, bland, bland. With all of those awesome ingredients it was really surprising and disappointing. The problem was the chicken. I will try this again but will saute chicken seasoned with a little salt & pepper, pre-cook the broccoli then top everything with the bacon and cheese & put in oven (right in the skillet) to melt the cheese....
Yes, seasoning chicken with salt and pepper is a great idea if you thought this was bland! To me, there was enough saltiness in the dish from the bacon and the cheddar cheese. Also, note that I used halved chicken breasts (I halved 2 chicken breasts horizontally), which made chicken thinner and therefore there was enough saltiness for thinner chicken from bacon and cheddar cheese.
Try adding a few red pepper flakes! Delicious
I tried this recipe tonight and it was amazing! The only thing is that I used bone-in chicken breasts that were thick. Bake for approximately 45 minutes and THEN put on the cheese and bacon. If not, the cheese will overcook on the chicken. Cook for an additional 15-20 mins until the chicken is cooked all the way. Tastes amazing!
Kaitlin, I am glad you liked the recipe! Good to know that it works with bone-in chicken breasts! Thanks for the tips!
I'm glad you mentioned the bone-in chicken. I was thinking if I could try it with or without the bone. Can't wait to try this receipe. Especially to know it's all of our favorites. Can't go wrong with the combination.
You're right, you can't go wrong with this combination! If you use bone-in chicken, I think it should be baked longer to cook through completely.
Great tip. I was worried the bacon or broccoli would over cook