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Pan-fried chicken thighs in a creamy bacon sauce with a touch of lemon! Quick and easy recipe for skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs. Low-carb and gluten-free dinner recipe.
If you want an easy chicken recipe with a delicious creamy sauce, with everything cooked in one skillet, these pan-fried chicken thighs in a creamy lemon sauce with bacon is a perfect recipe for you!
Chicken thighs are cooked right in the skillet: first, they are pan-fried skin-side down to get that nice brown color on the outside, then you simmer them in a lemon-chicken broth with bacon for about 20 minutes until they are completely done and cooked. Finally, you'll add cream and even more bacon. So good!
What makes this chicken recipe KETO friendly
- This meal contains a high amount of fat from heavy creamy, chicken thighs, and bacon. All these ingredients have high fat, low sugar content.
- Chicken thighs are high in protein but low in carb, which makes them a fantastic choice for the KETO diet.
As it usually is the case with chicken thighs, they are best eaten right after you cook them. I find they get soggy as leftovers, even though they will still be pretty tasty! Just ate some left-over bacon chicken thighs for dinner, and I am not complaining!
Other KETO friendly recipes
- Make low-carb chicken breasts that taste like comfort food: Broccoli Bacon Cheddar Chicken Bake
- Another delicious and comforting chicken bake that is high-protein and low-carb: Bacon Cream Cheese Cheddar Chicken
- Pork chops are always a great choice for KETO friendly recipes: Bacon and Mushroom Smothered Pork Chops
- Deliciously creamy Low Carb Creamy Pork Chops in Parmesan Sauce
Pan-Fried Chicken with Bacon Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 chicken thighs
- salt and pepper
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 8 strips bacon , cooked, fat drained off, and chopped into small chunks - divided
- 1 lemon thinly sliced
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
- 2 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Generously season chicken thighs with salt and pepper - make sure to season under the skin too. Add chicken thighs skin side down to the hot skillet. Cook for about 5-7 minutes on high-medium heat, covered, skin side down, without flipping, checking occasionally, until the skin side is very well browned.
- Remove chicken from the skillet.
- Add minced garlic and a small amount of chicken stock to deglaze the pan and cook the garlic for about a minute. Add the remaining chicken stock (1 cup). Add half the bacon (cooked, fat should be drained off, and chopped into small chunks).
- Add chicken back to the pan, on top of bacon and in the chicken broth. Arrange 5 thin lemon slices around chicken thighs - and cook, simmering, covered, for about 20 minutes, until chicken is done and is no longer pink in the center.
- After chicken is 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 ⅔ cup heavy cream to the skillet. Bring to boil and mix everything well, scraping from the bottom. Immediately reduce to simmer, add chicken thighs back to the skillet and reheat.
- To serve, spoon some of the sauce over the chicken thighs, and sprinkle with remaining chopped bacon and chopped green onions.
Notes
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.
Well, this recipe is dinner sorted for me tonight!
Thank you for sharing. ^_^
Thank you! 🙂
I am a little confused. My daughter and son in law only eat paleo dishes. I made this dish last night for dinner and it was really good. When she discovered it had heavy cream in it, she said that it isn't paleo. Please advise. By the way, it was so good, I will make it again for me! 🙂
Heavy cream is fine on Paleo as far as I've read.
How many net carbs per serving?
Ends up at 4 carbs per serving.
Followed recipe to a T-it wasn't good. Bland as heck.
Did you use enough salt, bacon?
I lovede it..... 🙂
Seriously one of the best dishes I've ever made and I've been cooking for 40 years!!! I only used 1 slice of lemon cuz hubby doesn't care for strong lemon taste but other than using a whole chicken instead of thighs I followed the recipe to a T. Layers of flavors!!! Served over brown rice the cream sauce was decadent!
this looks amazing... what do you suggest to serve it with?
Green sides will work really well: asparagus, wilted spinach, green beans.
I've got the all ingredients in my house! I'll be making this for dinner this weekend!
This was AWESOME! Thank youu! I thought it might be another pinterest fail, however this was amazing! I did 2 things differently, Adoba for seasoning and i let the chicken sit and marinade in the seasoning for 4 hours ( i forgot the cream, so i had to run to the store).
Hi Beth - so glad you liked it! 🙂
Thank you for sharing this delicious and easy to follow recipe.
Made this dish and eventhough I haven't mastered the crispiest of chicken skins, it was still a hit!
I'd love to share how the leftovers tasted, but someone else beat me to them:)
I made this tonight with chicken breasts and it was delicious. I think the chopped green onions at the ends adds the perfect touch. I also didn't have heavy cream, so I substituted a can of cream of chicken soup. Turned out amazing that even my kiddos finished their plates. We served it up with a side of rice to savor all the extra sauce. Delicious.
My leftover chicken thighs are never boring. I love chicken thighs & hate negative remarks about them .
Looks delish! What would you suggest as a side for this?
How will boneless skinless thighs work