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Chunks of tender, pan fried chicken breast in a creamy cider sauce with mushrooms and crispy bacon. A no-fuss, always-goes-down-a-storm dinner that I love to serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green veg.
Nicky’s Notes
Chicken + Bacon + Mushrooms + Cream Sauce
That’s always going to be a winning combo (although I get all the mushrooms at our table – I’ve yet to win the rest of the family over on the that front).
This is an easy dinner, with a couple of simple ‘cheffy’ tricks (deglazing, reducing, emulsifying) for the BEST tasting sauce 😍
The bacon is cooked first, so that everything else can be pan-fried in that glorious bacon fat, and then we simmer the cider to:
- Deglaze the pan and soak up all of those flavours
- Reduce down and intensify the sauce
Before finishing off with cream (that’s the emulsion bit) for the ultimate silky sauce.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Creamy Cider Chicken
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
Best type of cider for a creamy cider sauce?
Go with a dry cider. As the cider reduces, the flavour concentrates, so a sweet cider can be too cloying. A dry cider has more acidity – that balances the cream in the sauce.
Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Fry bacon bits and remove from pan. Fry onion in the bacon fat, then add in chicken & seasoning and cook, then add mushrooms and soften. Add cider, Dijon and thyme and reduce the cider, then stir in cream. Top with the crispy bacon bits and serve.
Recipe Tips
- Be sure to simmer the cider so it reduces down a little. This intensifies flavour and reduces the amount of liquid (so the sauce won’t split when you add the cream).
- Once the cream is in, simmer gently, rather than boiling rapidly. This keeps the cream silky smooth.
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Pin It🍽️ What to serve it with
I love to serve with creamy mashed potatoes and green vegetables – such as peas, broccoli and savoy cabbage. Roast or sauteed potatoes would also work great. If you want more veg, try my garlicky green beans.
Leftovers Guide
- Quickly cool, cover and refrigerate any leftovers (for up to 2 days)
- Reheat in a pan over a low-medium heat for approx 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout. You may need to add a splash of cream or water to loosen the sauce.
- Or in a preheated oven, in a covered dish, at 170C/325F for around 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until piping hot throughout.
Chicken in Creamy Cider Sauce
Ingredients
- 150 g (1/2 cup) bacon lardons or chopped streaky bacon
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion peeled and chopped
- 3 large chicken breasts, diced (about 525g/1.1lbs alotether)
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 12 baby mushrooms chopped in half
- 270 ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) dry cider )(hard cider if you're in the USA
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) double (heavy) cream
Optional cornflour slurry to thicken:
- 2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA) mixed with 6 tbsp cold water
To Serve:
- mashed potatoes
- steamed green veg – such as broccoli or green beans
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat. Add the bacon lardons and fry for 5 minutes, turning a few times, until crispy. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl (leaving any remaining oil from the bacon in the pan).150 g (1/2 cup) bacon lardons or chopped streaky bacon
- Add the oil to the same pan and keep the heat at medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, until softened.1 tbsp oil, 1 onion
- Add the chicken, salt and pepper to the pan. Increase the heat a little to medium-high and fry the chicken, stirring a few times, until lightly golden. This should take around 6-8 minutes.3 large chicken breasts, diced, ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- Add the mushrooms and cook for a further two minutes.12 baby mushrooms
- Add the cider, Dijon mustard and thyme. Stir together and bring to a gentle boil, then allow to simmer for 3-4 minutes, until slightly reduced.270 ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) dry cider, ½ tsp dried thyme, 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- Stir in the cream. Taste and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed.120 ml (1/2 cup) double (heavy) cream
- Optional: If you want a thicker sauce, slowly pour in the cornflour (cornstarch) slurry, while stirring.2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch in USA) mixed with 6 tbsp cold water
- Sprinkle on the bacon lardons and heat for a further minute or two, until the cream and bacon have heated through.
- Serve with green veg on top of mashed potatoes. Sprinkle on a little chopped parsley before serving.2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, mashed potatoes, steamed green veg – such as broccoli or green beans
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
🍲 More fantastic creamy chicken recipes
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