Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken, the best chicken you’ll ever eat with only 4 ingredients. Sticky, crispy, sweet and garlicky, the PERFECT weeknight meal.
Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken is a recipe we’ve actually been making at home for years but I never thought to post because it is so closely related to this Slow Cooker Bacon Garlic Pork Loin and Brown Sugar Garlic Pork.
If I had to guess, I’d say about 10% of the comments and emails I get from readers are in reference to those two posts above and they’re asking if they can use chicken. YES YES YES. I recently posted Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken and wanted to post this oven baked version as well (with chicken breast meat!).
This Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken is as simple as it sounds. Yes salt and pepper add flavor too (so technically 6 ingredients?) but even without those two, you’ll still have so much flavor it will leave you literally wanting to lick the plate.
Looking for more easy weeknight meals?
- Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes
- Cheesy Taco Pasta
- Easy Mongolian Beef
- Baked Million Dollar Spaghetti
- One Pot Greek Chicken and Rice
Some notes about this Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken:
- Use a baking pan with at LEAST one inch high sides (my pan is almost 2 inch tall sides). You can see in the pan the sauce gets up pretty high while bubbling, you don’t want it to boil over into the oven.
- If concerned about this, place a baking sheet under your baking pan to catch overflow (better on the sheet than in the oven).
- Check the chicken at 25 minutes, you want to catch this when it is browned but not blackened and with sugar that can sometimes turn quickly.
- Yes, you can absolutely make this meal in the slow cooker (this is coming soon too). Using thigh meat place it in the slow cooker with no added liquids.
- Want it a bit spicier? Add in 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper or a squirt of Sriracha.
- If you want an even deeper caramel flavor, try dark brown sugar.
- Serve with rice or potato wedges and roasted vegetables.
Looking for more awesome Brown Sugar Garlic Recipes?
- Brown Sugar Garlic Oven Baked Pork Chops
- Brown Sugar Garlic Pork with Carrots and Potatoes
- Slow Cooker Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken
- Slow Cooker Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Pork Loin
Recipe
Bacon Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken
- Yield: 6 Servings
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Course: Main Course
- Cuisine: American
- Author: Sabrina Snyder
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons garlic minced
- 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 6 chicken breasts boneless and skinless (4-5 ounces each)
- 12 slices bacon
Instructions
Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.
- In a large bowl add the brown sugar, garlic, salt and pepper and mix until combined.
- Coat the chicken in the brown sugar mixture.
- Wrap each piece of chicken with two slices of bacon (aim for the end of the bacon pieces to stay under the chicken to prevent unwrapping while cooking).
- Place into your baking pan (with at least 2 inch high sides).
- Top with the remaining brown sugar mixture.
Cook at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and browned.
- Careful to not let the brown sugar burn and blacken.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
I made 3 in my pan, the recipe calls for 6. This is because I would've eaten the other three the next day for breakfast if it were in my fridge! For our family 3 is enough for dinner, but I didn't want the recipe to be confusing. 🙂
Nutrition Information
Yield: 6 Servings, Amount per serving: 540 calories, Calories: 540g, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 53g, Fat: 23g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Cholesterol: 173mg, Sodium: 851mg, Potassium: 971mg, Sugar: 23g, Vitamin A: 85g, Vitamin C: 4g, Calcium: 41g, Iron: 1.3g
All images and text © for Dinner, then Dessert.
There should be an option for ten stars on this recipe! Cooked it a bit longer and chose to broil for 5 minutes at the end to crisp up the bacon. The second time I made this dish I used thick cut maple bacon and topped the chicken with some honey after it came out of the oven. Both times the meal was incredible!
Thank you for sharing such a great dinner recipe, it’s much appreciated
You’re too kind, Mark. Thank you so much.
Love this recipe, it became a weekly staple until we realised the calories ?
Question- the first few times we made this it got a really nice crispy sugar coating like in your photos. For some reason now all the sugar seems to melt off. Still very nice just missing that little something. I wondered if you could tell me what I’m doing wrong why it’s now going like this??
I’m so glad you love it so much! It might be that your chicken either wasn’t fully thawed or had a higher water content. Either way, it was releasing too much liquid and not allowing the brown sugar to stick. You can try patting down the chicken with paper towels before hand to ensure there isn’t any extra liquid coming from it. Hope this helps.
Everyone loved it in my house! Thank you again.
You’re welcome, Theresa.
Could you adapt the recipe for a Ninja Foodi?? Got one for my birthday and am trying to adapt food I would normally cook in the oven or slow cooker.
I’ve not tested it using that.
Could I use this for pork chops instead of chicken? Will the temps and time differ or no?
Yes 🙂 Here’s a link for a recipe using pork chops instead.
https://dinnerthendessert.com/oven-baked-pork-chops/
Enjoy!
Delish! Question-Is it alright if the bacon is to pink on the bottom side in the juice? I left it in longer on 375.. I think it’s because it’s in juice it never got crispy?
Yes, that’s fine. You can always pop it under the broiler for a bit next time too. Hope you enjoyed it!
Wow! So simple and so delicious! Thank you for a very tasty recipe!
Hello! my chicken breast are rather thick so I’m going to follow other suggestions and butterfly them. Would you fold the chicken back up with some of mixture in the middle? Or do you recommend keeping them flat? Thanks!
You could do it either way. Enjoy!
Very good! Wanted to make something different with the chicken breasts and found this on Pinterest. I made half of the recipe and never had an issue with the sugar burning.
Will be making again.
My husband loved it! I did add a bit of water to pan to avoid burning sugar. Also precooked bacon just a bit. I only added 2 tablespoons of garlic but hubby wants more! This ones a keeper! Thank you!
What about in an instant pot?
I’ve not tested it using an instant pot but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
Hi Sabrina, can I use jarred minced garlic?
Sure
This came out amazing! I only cooked 2 breasts so I cut the recipe by 2/3. I followed the suggestions from others and cooked it a little longer, mine took 35min at 375 and 5min on broil. I think for those who’s took much longer probably didn’t use butterflied flilets, the recipe is perfect if you use thin breasts. I also added just a pinch of cayenne pepper to spice it up. Adding this to the rotation! Easy, fast and yummy!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. This was absolutely amazing, and I cannot wait to make it again!!! I’m going to make this dish the next time I have my friends over for dinner, and I’m going to call it “Million Dollar Bacon Chicken.” The recipe was followed exactly, although I did cut the bacon up instead and sprinkled over the top before adding the final coating of brown sugar. I also sprinkled some crushed red pepper over the top for some added spice.
DELICIOUS!!!!
I’m glad you loved it so much, Craig!
I cut up the chicken and bacon (next time I well cut the bacon smaller). Grandson (6)
didn’t like it. I’m thinking the garlic. served it over rice. I liked it very much.
Love, love, LOVE this dish! I cut my chicken breasts into smaller chunks since I was hoping it would cook faster (and have more bacon in eat bite, haha) that way, and it finished about 5 minutes faster and was delightfully bacon-y! I’ll definitely be making this again, and soon! I made twice as much as what we needed for dinner and I almost had to take a wooden spoon to some hands that tried to pick at the leftovers that are supposed to be dinner for tonight!! Many thanks for such a wonderful recipe!
I’m giving this 5 star rating even though I haven’t made it yet. I just wanted to ask for hints on doing this recipe in a crockpot with chicken thighs.
Here’s the recipe for the slow cooker version:
https://dinnerthendessert.com/slow-cooker-bacon-brown-sugar-garlic-chicken/
How much brown sugar do you put in the mixture and how much do you put on top? It just says 2/3 cup packed.
All of the brown sugar gets mixed into step 1 and then in step 2, that same mixture is used to coat the chicken. Hope this clears things up. Enjoy!
Is it better to use a parchment paper in the baking tray or no? Also should I precook the bacon a little, since last time it was not cooked enough for my family?
I’ve never used parchment paper on the tray. You can place the chicken on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet to keep it out of the moisture and that would help make it crispier.
Tried this recipe tonight. The flavor was good but the bacon wasn’t crispy (definitely precook the bacon prior). Since the chicken cooked in the bacon fat, the bottom was soggy. I would recommend cooking the chicken on a rack in the oven. Also, it took around 45-50 minutes to cook which caused the chicken to overcook. If I took it out at 25 mins, the bacon would have practically been raw. May try this recipe again with some modifications.
This was not popular in my home. The bacon is almost uncooked. The combination of garlic and brown sugar just seems off in flavor. I would not recommend this recipe.
I did a couple things wrong. I used jarred minced garlic. Which made the sugar moist. Still went with it. But finding it’s taking more than 25 minutes to cook to 165 degrees. Not sure if it’s something I am doing or did. But can’t wait to try it. Lol
Made it,VERY DELICIOUS! Added liquid smoke (apple wood) and onion powder, baked at 350 and not 375 for 1 hour, checked at 50. I also added a bit of water to my pan because I was using Pyrex and I’m nervous it will break when the juices come out of the chicken if I don’t. This also allowed me to cook it longer without burning. I will make this again, it was a nice break from my usual Indian, Chinese, or Middle Eastern cuisine!
This was so easy and delicious!!!!!! If you don’t try this you’re seriously missing out!!!! This is now going to be a regular in our dinner rotations.
What flavour! It was very good and very easy to make. My only concern was that I thought the bacon would crisp up but it was just the sugar. The bacon remained soft. Next time I will rub the chicken with the brown sugar and wrap it in bacon but instead of putting the rest of the sugar mixture on the chicken, I will melt it in a separate pot and add it to the chicken when there is about 5 minutes left to cook. Just to give it time to caramelize a bit more then maybe both chicken and sugar will be crisp.
So glad you enjoyed it! You can always pop it under a broiler for a bit at the end to help crisp it up.
I’ve made this twice now, and my family loves it!
Yay!!
This was just perfect. The chicken was moist and this was certainly One chicken dish that stands out above the rest. This one chicken dish stands out above the rest Having chicken can be so boring. The sauce that was made with the bacon and brown sugar on rice was divine. I did put it close to the broiler for a few minutes to get the top bacon a little charred. Some people may not like seeing the bacon pink under the chicken. I had no problem with it. My wife loved it and she is usually ho I’m about everything.
Very tasty! Thought it was going to be too much garlic but it worked well. Added an extra 5mins under broiler to crisp up the bacon. Will definitely make again
So glad you enjoyed it!
3 TABLESPOONS of garlic? Did I read that right?
You can use less if you choose.
Absolutely delicious
tried this with bone in thighs. i had to leave in for about 40/45minutes. i also used a few of my own seasonings (onion powder, garlic salt, seasoned salt: just a pinch of everything). My family LOVED the chicken. Just the right amount of sweet &savory flavor. I loved how simple it was to cook.
The chicken sounds delicious. Did you half the ingredients for 3?’
Yes 🙂
I did this the first time but my chicken wasn’t fully cooked I think they were too fat I just did it right now for the second time w smaller breast but now my bacon isn’t done at least I think it is it looks raw from the side that covers the chicken is that how it’s supposed to look ?
You can always place it under the broiler to crisp up if it’s sitting in the fat. Enjoy!
Can I use the same cook time on only thighs, or is it slightly more because they’re not boneless? It’s about 9 pieces of thighs.
You might need 5-10 minutes more. Just make sure not to overcrowd your baking dish.
Could I cook these on the grill?
I’ve not tested it before but if you decide to try, I’d love to know how they turned out. Thanks!
I made this for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious! My family loved it and we will add this tasty dish to our regular rotation for sure! Thank you for an awesome dish!
I made this tonight for dinner & it was amazing! I made all 6 in one pan. I did have to cook mine 45 min. I cooked them for the first 25 & they were not done. Not a big deal just had to stick them back in. Thanks for a delicious dinner my family loved! We had potato wedges & green beans with it.
I only have 3 breasts and drumsticks. Think it will work on them also?
I’d make sure to prop the drumsticks up along the sides and not set them flat. There’s just not enough meat on them and they might dry out. Good luck!
Question. I have made this twice according to recipe and love it. Done in a vita clay cooker and. ….yum. Can I layer another 5 chicken thighs?
I don’t recommend layering them because they aren’t able to crisp up.
My daughter in law cooked this recipe when I was visiting…simply delicious! It was so good, I asked her for the recipe. I’ll be making this up asap 🙂
How awesome!
Do you cover the pan with tin foil while cooking
No
I love the ease and deliciousness of this recipe
I love this recipe, can I substitute coconut sugar for brown sugar?
Yes 🙂
Question when placed in the oven did you cover the pan or not
No need to cover it in the oven.
Please, what happened to the bacon fat? Did you eat it all? Everything tastes better with bacon, that is very true, but even I have my limits on the consumption of actual bacon fat drippings. My point- shouldn’t the recipe suggest that the chicken be removed from all the bacon fat and allowed to drain of this fat, maybe on a wire mesh cooling rack of some kind? (Listen to me, suggesting a step that might actually be health conscious! LOL!) Thanks for listening!
Made with boneless skinless chicken thighs in a glass pan (in the oven) and it took 40 min (for anyone else looking to try). Delicious! A new favorite!
Thanks for coming back to let everyone know. I appreciate the 5 star rating.
Wonder how long it would take with bone-in, skin-on thighs. Making it that way tonight. I love thighs.
I made this for dinner tonight and we enjoyed eating it. Thank you for the recipe. I will make this again in the future.