Chicken & Bacon Bake with Creamy Cider Sauce Recipe
This chicken and bacon bake with creamy cider sauce is comfort food perfection, a warm hug after a long day. This dish is rustic, and very moreish, exactly what you want after a long weekend walk, but still easy enough to pull together for a weeknight dinner.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 835kcal
Equipment
- chopping board
- Kitchen knife
- large oven proof pan or skillet
- weighing scales
Ingredients
- 20 g butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 400 g chicken breast (cut into small chunks)
- 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon (cut into small strips)
- 2 leeks (thinly sliced)
- 2 carrots (thinly sliced)
- 2 stalks celery (thinly sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 120 g sun blush tomatoes (chopped)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (leaves removed)
- 200 ml dry apple cider
- 300 ml double cream
- 1 heaped tsp English mustard
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (divided)
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 600 g potatoes (peeled and very thinly sliced)
- 100 g mature cheddar cheese (grated)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160CFan/356F. Place a large oven proof pan on the hob over medium-high heat.
- Place the butter and olive oil to the pan and allow the butter to melt. Add the bacon and chicken and cook until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Place the vegetables into the pan and sauté gently for 10 minutes, taking care not to burn the vegetables.
- Now add the garlic, sun blushed tomatoes and thyme leaves and sauté for a further minute.
- Add the cider, allowing it to deglaze the pan by stirring the base. Reduce the cider by half.
- Return the chicken and bacon to the pan, then add the double cream, mustard, salt and black pepper, and stir to combine.
- Peel and slice the potatoes into really thin rounds. The best way to do this is to use a mandolin. However, if you don't have a mandolin use a board and a sharp kitchen knife, and thinly slice the potatoes.
- Place the slices of potato in a single, overlapping layer on top of the sauce until completely covered.
- Sprinkle over the grated cheese and place the dish into the hot oven.
- Bake for 40 minutes until the cheese is golden and the sauce is bubbling.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
If you don't have a pan that works on both the stove top and the oven, simply use a non-stick frying pan to prepare the chicken, bacon and vegetable sauce, then transfer it to an oven proof dish, before topping with the potatoes and cheese.
I use dry apple cider in this recipe to add flavour and acidity to balance out the creamy sauce. I avoid using sweet cider as it makes the sauce too sweet!
Nutrition Facts
Chicken & Bacon Bake with Creamy Cider Sauce Recipe
Amount Per Serving
Calories 835
Calories from Fat 495
% Daily Value*
Fat 55g85%
Saturated Fat 28g175%
Trans Fat 0.2g
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 18g
Cholesterol 192mg64%
Sodium 1135mg49%
Potassium 1881mg54%
Carbohydrates 53g18%
Fiber 7g29%
Sugar 12g13%
Protein 36g72%
Vitamin A 7862IU157%
Vitamin C 71mg86%
Calcium 321mg32%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
• Please note that the nutrition information provided above is approximate and meant as a guideline only •
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