Smothered Chicken
This smothered chicken recipe is made with juicy fried chicken breasts tossed in a flavorful gravy with crispy bacon. It’s truly a restaurant worthy meal right at home!
Serve these with my creamy mashed potatoes, biscuits, and roasted carrots.
Smothered Chicken
I don’t know about you, but I could eat chicken, gravy, and mashed potatoes any day of the week. That’s the beauty of this Smothered Chicken Recipe. You can prepare the chicken and gravy in a single skillet while you boil up some creamy mashed potatoes next to it. This is definitely a comfort food recipe that your family will love.
BONUS: You can use chicken thighs or pork chops in this recipe instead of chicken breasts. Check out the process shots below to see how this comes together, along with my PRO tips for success!
How to Make It
See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Fry bacon until crispy and set aside. Reserve 2-4 Tablespoons of clear bacon drippings. Wipe the pan clean.
Slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise and pound to about 3/4 inch thick. Dredge in flour mixture and tap off excess.
Add the reserved bacon drippings to the clean pan and enough vegetable oil to cover the chicken by half. Heat over medium-high heat. Once heated and glistening, add the chicken. Fry 2 at a time for about 5 minutes per side, until they have a nice golden sear. Set aside on a plate.
Remove the oil from the pot and use a paper towel to remove any black spots from the pan, but leave any brown remnants. This is called ‘fond’ and will give the gravy a nice flavor.
Make the Roux: Melt the butter over medium heat and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the flour gradually, whisking continuously, until a paste forms.
Add the Broth and Half and Half: Add the liquid in small increments, whisking constantly. It will thicken up in between each splash of liquid. If you add it all at once, you’ll “break” the roux and it won’t be thick.
Add beef bouillon, soy sauce, and seasonings. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the chicken back to the pan along with any juice from the plate. Chop up the bacon and add it to the top of the chicken.
Cover partially and cook for 10 minutes. Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes.
Pro Tips
To Control the Consistency of the Gravy:
- Add the chicken broth/half and half to the roux slowly and in small increments. This is the key to keeping the consistency nice and thick.
- For thicker gravy: Let it continue to simmer, uncovered.
- For thinner gravy: Add a splash of half and half, milk, or broth.
Other Pro Tips:
- Chicken thighs or pork chops can be used in this recipe instead of chicken breasts.
- Mushrooms can be added to the gravy when the half and half is added, if desired.
- To control the sodium in this recipe, you can use unsalted butter and/or reduced sodium broth. Additional salt can always be added if desired. (You can also omit the bacon, but it does add a nice flavor and crunch!)
What to Serve with Smothered Chicken
Storage
Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
Tools For This Recipe
(Amazon affiliate links)– Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.
- Deep 13-inch skillet– You’ll have this one forever.
- Meat Thermometer– To check the doneness of the meat.
- Kitchen Tongs– Perfect for frying bacon and flipping the chicken.
- Meat Tenderizer– To pound the chicken nice and flat.
- Measuring Spoons– To measure out the seasonings.
- Pinch Bowls– I measure out my seasonings ahead of time and add them to these small bowls so they’re ready to go when it’s time.
Try These Next
- Creamy Beef and Shells
- Beef Tips and Gravy
- Garlic Parmesan Pasta
- Chicken Stroganoff
- Salisbury Steak
- Slow Cooker Ribs
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Tried This Recipe?
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Smothered Chicken
Ingredients
- 5 strips thick cut bacon
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup Vegetable oil, for frying.
Chicken Dredge
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs, plain or Italian
- 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
Gravy
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 4 Tablespoons Flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 beef bouillon cube or 1 tsp better than bouillon
- 1/3 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon low sodium soy sauce, can sub Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ¼ teaspoon dried sage
Instructions
- Prework: Add chicken dredge ingredients to a large plate and toss to combine. Set aside. Measure out gravy ingredients prior to beginning.
- Cook the Bacon: Fry bacon over medium-low heat until crispy on both sides. Remove from pan and pour grease into a heat-safe bowl. Reserve 2-4 Tablespoons of clear bacon drippings. Wipe the pan clean.
- Slice & Pound the Chicken: While the bacon cooks, slice each chicken breast in half lengthwise to create 2 thinner slices. Place saran wrap over them and use a meat tenderizer to pound them to about 3/4 inches thick. This gives them a little more texture for the flour dredge to hold on to. They’ll plump up more when cooked.
- Coat the Chicken: Wipe the chicken dry and coat generously in the flour mixture, get in every nook and cranny.
- Sear the Chicken: Add the reserved bacon drippings to the clean pan and enough vegetable oil to cover the chicken by half. Heat over medium-high heat. Once heated and glistening, add the chicken. Fry 2 at a time for about 5 minutes per side, until they have a nice golden sear. Set aside on a plate.
- Drain the oil: Remove the oil from the pot and use a paper towel to remove any black spots from the pan, but leave any brown remnants. This is called ‘fond’ and will give the gravy a nice flavor.
- Make the Roux: Melt the butter over medium heat and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the flour gradually, whisking continuously, until a paste forms.
- Add the Broth and Half and Half: Add the liquid in small increments, whisking constantly. It will thicken up in between each splash of liquid. If you add it all at once, you’ll “break” the roux and it won’t be thick.
- Add remaining gravy ingredients: Slowly add the beef bouillon, soy sauce, and seasonings.
- Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Add the chicken back to the pan along with any juice from the plate.
- Chop up the bacon and add it to the top of the chicken.
- Cover partially and cook over low heat for 10-15 minutes. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees prior to serving.
- Garnish with parsley and serve with mashed potatoes.
Notes
To Control the Consistency of the Gravy:
- Add the chicken broth/half and half to the roux slowly and in small increments. This is the key to keeping the consistency nice and thick.
- For thicker gravy: Let it continue to simmer, uncovered.
- For thinner gravy: Add a splash of half and half, milk, or broth.
Other Pro Tips:
- Chicken thighs or pork chops can be used in this recipe instead of chicken breasts.
- Mushrooms can be added to the gravy when the half and half is added, if desired.
- To control the sodium in this recipe, you can use unsalted butter and/or reduced sodium broth. Additional salt can always be added if desired. (You can also omit the bacon, but it does add a nice flavor and crunch!)
Made it this evening and it was beyond scrumptious. I think I would add a bit more liquid as my gravy was quite thick but overall a smashing success. It’s very filling so we are off to have a nap. 🙂
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this! Can’t beat a good nap after a good meal!😃 Thanks so much for the review!
Made this tonight for dinner..it was SOO GOOD!! Thank you!!
You’re very welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!😃
WOW!!! One of my favorite recipes!!! I love that I can use the gravy for chicken thighs/legs pork chops. So flavorful. My mouth was craving more each bite. Served with jasmine rice and veggies. Can’t wait to eat this for my left over lunch.
I’m so happy you liked it Dawn!😃 I love using the gravy for other meals!😋 Thanks so much for the great review!!!
I made this meal and let me tell you I was so impressed . I couldn’t have found a more delicious meal in a restaurant . My husband loved it ! So much flavour! Perfect meal if you are craving something special and a little rich !
I’m so happy to hear that Leslie!😃 I made this for my husband as well and he also said it’s restaurant quality! Thanks so much for commenting!
WOW! Made this yesterday for dinner and it was so delicious! All of the spices come together to make it very tasty. My husband LOVES gravy. So, next time I’ll double the gravy recipe.
Thanks, it’s a great one!
Hey Quincella! I am so happy to hear that, thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review! I’m so glad that you loved it- I am all about doubling the gravy!! Great idea! -Stephanie
Oh my goodness, this was SO good!!! I will definitely make it again sometime!
I’m so happy you liked this one! This was a hit over at my house too!😃
Can I sub the half and half with regular milk to heavy whipping cream?
Yes you can, that will work just fine! 🙂
Tried several of your recipes….the smothered chicken for dinner tonite!
Excellent!!! I doubled the recipe and was perfect! Make again for sure!!
It’s so great to hear your liking the recipes Chris, thanks so much!!!😃
Super good! I left out the sage because I don’t like it; however it was wonderful and the fam loved it! Thank you!
You’re very welcome!!!😃 Glad to hear the family loved it! It was a big hit over here as well!
This had a delicious flavor. Definitely a simple weekday meal. Thank you for the recipe!
I’m so glad that you loved it Sophie!! 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that Sophie, thanks so much for the review!😃 My husband likes his chicken extra thing too!