If you follow this blog at all, by now you know that Steve and I love bacon. It’s salty, crunchy, and just plain delicious, and I’m convinced there aren’t too many recipes that bacon won’t make better. I’m also always looking for ways to dress up chicken. So when I saw a bacon spinach dip on sale at the grocery store, I got to thinking (as I frequently do) “That would probably be great with chicken!”

What I came up with is part classic Chicken Florentine, part hot bacon spinach dip, and entirely delicious. What’s more, it’s a one-skillet recipe that’s ridiculously simple but tastes sublime, and each portion has quite a lot of spinach, which means you’re getting lots of essential vitamins and minerals like beta carotene, vitamin K, and iron. All in a tasty, bacon-y cream sauce.

For 3 servings, you will need:
3 slices low-sodium bacon
3 chicken breasts
1 10-ounce box frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
fresh ground black pepper

Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with pepper. I don’t recommend salting it, since even lower-sodium bacon has plenty. (You can always add salt later if needed.)

Fry bacon over medium heat in large skillet until crisp. Remove bacon from skillet and allow to drain on paper towels. Place chicken in skillet and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken to paper towels (just for the next step; don’t worry, you will cook the chicken all the way through!) You should have plenty of bacon fat in which to brown the chicken, but if not, add just a bit of olive oil.

Add spinach, garlic, and onion to skillet and saute, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and cheese and stir till incorporated.

Replace chicken in skillet. Crumble about half the bacon and add to pan.

Cook for 15-20 minutes over medium heat, until chicken is cooked through. Before serving, top with remaining bacon.

The sauce is very creamy, so it’s best served over something that will absorb every bit of that cheesy goodness. I like this served over spaghetti squash, but it’s also great over something like cauliflower “rice” (recipe here). If you have any leftovers - we rarely do! - try it the next day in a pita (low-carb, of course). Just chop up the chicken and reheat, then serve warm: maximum comfort food!

Steve says: delicious!