For whatever reason, I was craving a dish that contained both bacon and broccoli. I also had some chicken thighs on hand so It seemed like an easy fit.
So of course, my first stop was searching pinterest to find something yummy. Most of the recipes that showed up called for cream, cheese and more cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I like cheese we just do not keep it in the house much. Really, we don’t keep much dairy in the house. However, I knew I had coconut milk and coconut cream on hand. So the wheels started turning and I went to work.
I wanted to create a recipe that was delicious, and somewhat light. Fairly easy to make and could be converted to a compliant Whole30 recipe fairly easy (all you need to do is sub ghee for the butter and use compliant bacon).
A couple notes on why I think this recipe was ON POINT.
- CRISPY BACON. Isn’t this the only way bacon should ever be eaten!? I have found the key to the best crispy bacon is cutting bacon strips into little 1 in cubes and frying. It fries up perfectly every time. Zeke and I ate a little bit, too, so all of it didn’t quite make it the recipe!
- Cast Iron. I’m slowly mastering the cast iron. I tend to cook with it too hot. However, cooking the bacon and chicken at medium-low heat was just right. The bacon crisped to perfection and the chicken had a nice browned outside and juicy inside. I’ve almost given up on my cast iron skillet, but simply turning the heat down a significant amount made a huge difference.
Without further adieu, let’s get to the recipe!
This recipe was inspired by the fact that I had some broccoli and bacon to use up and the combo sounds amazing. I can't say I am disappointed in the results. Enjoy!
- 5 Strips Bacon, cut into 1in cubes
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tbsp butter I prefer grassfed
- 1/2 Chopped white onion
- 4 cups broccoli, chopped or 2-3 heads of broccoli
- 3-5 cloves minced garlic
- 1 can coconut cream I found this at Trader Joe's. If you can't find this, use the cream from 2 cans of full fat coconut milk with only a bit of the water
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1-2 tsp arrowroot powder (optional)
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Preheat oven to broil. Fry bacon on medium-low heat in large oven safe skillet (I used a cast iron skillet). Move bacon to paper towel to cool. Drain bacon fat, leaving small amount to use for chicken
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Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Cook until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Remove from skillet.
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Add butter to pan. Cook onions until translucent. Then add broccoli to pan and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat with butter. Cook 2-3 minutes and then add garlic. Cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes).
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Once garlic is fragrant, add coconut cream. Stir and combine all ingredients in pan. Reduce heat and allow sauce to simmer (this is a good time to add in arrowroot powder if you want to thicken the sauce a bit.).
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Add bacon, and chicken back into skillet. Add nutritional yeast. Stir to incorporate all flavors.
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Put under broiler for ~4-5 minutes until bubbly.
If you aren't dairy free, parmesan can be subbed for nutritional yeast. Or top with your favorite shredded cheese. Coconut cream can be subbed for regular cream.
Let me know if you like this combination!