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If you love a cosy chicken dinner, hunters chicken is a British pub classic you can easily make at home for a quick weeknight dinner. No pans needed—we cook it all right in the baking dish: bacon-wrapped chicken, smothered in tangy BBQ sauce and finished with bubbling cheese. It’s the kind of tray-bake that has everyone wandering into the kitchen asking when it’s ready.
“The best Hunters chicken recipe – I’ve tried loads but this is just perfect! Another brilliant recipe from Kitchen Sanctuary!”
Nicky’s Notes
This is proper comfort cooking with a smart balance of smoky, salty, sweet and cheesy. My goal with hunters chicken is juicy chicken, crisp-edged bacon, tangy sauce and cheese that melts luxuriously over the top.
I’ve tested this a lot (lucky family) to get the bacon crisp, the chicken juicy, and the cheese perfectly melty—no watery sauce, no dry chicken.
- Bacon that actually crisps: Streaky smoked bacon performs best. And that initial bake without the sauce allows the bacon to crisp up a little.
- Perfect sauce: Use shop-bought barbecue sauce, or you can make my 10 minute homemade BBQ sauce.
- Cheese that melts: A 50/50 cheddar–mozzarella blend gives flavour plus stretch. Grate it yourself if you can—pre-grated can be a bit dusty and slow to melt.
- Set-and-forget simplicity: It’s a genuine one-dish bake—no frying pan on the go, no juggling. A snug ovenproof dish encourages those lovely caramelised edges.
I love how quick and easy this recipe is – a few minutes of prep, then the oven does all the work.
Table of Contents
📋 Ingredients for Hunters Chicken
***Full recipe with detailed quantities in the recipe card below***
- Chicken – chicken breasts are best, as thighs are a little small. Be sure to trim the chicken breast of any fatty bits you don’t want to eat.
- BBQ sauce – you can use homemade BBQ sauce or store-bought.
- Bacon – use rindless streaky bacon – these thin strips are best for wrapping around the chicken.
- Cheese – I use a mixture of grated mozzarella (gives a nice stretch) and strong cheddar (for flavour).
Abbreviated Recipe
***Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card below***
Wrap chicken in bacon and bake and place in a baking dish, bake until cooked through and the bacon starts to crisp. Spoon over BBQ sauce, add a mix of cheddar and mozzarella, and pop back in the oven until the cheese is bubbling and golden and the chicken is cooked through. Rest briefly, then serve straight from the dish with chips or mash and some greens.
Recipe Tip
- If you’re using shop-bought BBQ sauce you can pep it up with a little honey, smoked paprika and/or chilli powder for a sweet, smoky or spicy version (you could use one, two or all three if you like!).
Just 5 ingredients and 30 minutes you’ve got a family-pleasing dinner on the table.
🍽️ What to serve it with
You can serve this Hunters Chicken Recipe with:
- Crispy Oven-Baked Chips, Creamy Mashed Potato or Crispy Saute Potatoes
- Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
- Butter-Pepper Carrots
- or even with a simple green salad on the side
This just gives me vibes of sitting in a pub garden on a warm sunny day eating a proper pub style Hunters chicken with a pile of salty chips and a cold beer.
Make ahead and Leftovers Guide
Hunters chicken is at its peak straight from the oven—juicy chicken, crisp-edged bacon, and properly melty cheese.
Make ahead (24 hours):
- Cook the bacon-wrapped chicken without sauce or cheese. Cool it quickly (aim for 15–20 minutes in a cool room), then spoon over the BBQ sauce, add the cheese, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. When you’re ready, take it out of the fridge 30–60 minutes before cooking to take the chill off. Reheat covered at 200°C/400°F for 20–25 minutes, until the chicken is piping hot throughout. Uncover for the last 3–5 minutes or pop under a hot grill (broiler) to get the cheese bubbling.
Leftovers:
- Cool any leftovers quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours. Store for up to 2-3 days. Reheat covered at 180°C/350°F until steaming hot in the middle (or microwave in short bursts), then uncover briefly to re-crisp the bacon and re-melt the cheese.
Also, if you’ve never tried it, a hunters chicken wrap is a real crowd please too!
To make this, cut the cooked hunters chicken into slices and serve hot in tortilla wraps or soft flatbreads with crispy lettuce and red onion 👌
📺 Watch how to make it
Hunters Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts
- 8 rashers/strips streaky bacon smoked or unsmoked – your preference
- 240 ml (1 cup) BBQ sauce Use good quality store-bought, or my quick homemade BBQ sauce (I used homemade).
Also:
- 50 g (1/2 packed cup) grated/shredded mature cheddar cheese
- 50 g (1/2 packed cup) grated/shredded mozzarella cheese
To serve:
- chips or mashed potatoes
- veggies such as carrots, green beans or broccoli
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F (fan).
- Wrap each chicken breast in two rashers/strips of bacon and place in a shallow baking dish.4 chicken breasts, 8 rashers/strips streaky bacon
- Place in the oven and cook for 25 minutes – until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle.
- Remove the dish with the chicken from the oven. Spoon the BBQ sauce on and around the chicken.240 ml (1 cup) BBQ sauce
- Sprinkle the chicken with the cheddar and mozzarella.50 g (1/2 packed cup) grated/shredded mature cheddar cheese, 50 g (1/2 packed cup) grated/shredded mozzarella cheese
- Place back in the oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
- Serve the chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables.chips or mashed potatoes, veggies
Video
Notes
Can I make it ahead?
It tastes best right out of the oven – that’s when the cheese and is nice and melty and the chicken is lovely and tender. If you did want to make it ahead though, you can cook the chicken-wrapped-in-bacon (don’t add the sauce or cheese), then allow the dish to cool (try to do this quickly, in a cool room, so it’s only out for 15 or 20 minutes). At this point you can add the sauce and cheese then cover and refrigerate for a day. Remove from the fridge an hour before you want to re-heat it to take the chill off, then reheat, covered, in the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 200C/400F – until the chicken is piping hot throughout.Ingredient swaps
Swap out the cheddar and mozzarella combination for your favourite cheese. Some good options are:-
- Crumbled Lancashire, Cheshire or Wensleydale for a bit of tangy-ness
- Gouda or Gruyere for a slight nutty flavour
- Crumbled Stilton if you’re a blue-cheese lover
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This British Pub Classic Hunters Chicken was first posted in March 2021. Updated since with recipe improvements and for housekeeping reasons.
🍗 More fantastic Chicken recipes
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A quick question – should the recipe read “180°C fan” or is it correct at 200°C fan? .. (just seems a bit hot so thought it best to ask)
Thank you in advance.
Hi Alison, I use 200C fan to ensure the bacon gets nice and crisp. You could turn down a little if you think your oven runs hot – you just want to make sure the chicken is piping hot throughout and no longer pink in the middle (74°C (165°F) for the internal temp of the chicken, if you have a meat thermometer)
A great recipe, a lovely meal, had it with small roast potatoes and green beans, perfect.
Wow Wow yummy
The best Hunters chicken recipe – I’ve tried loads but this is just perfect! Another brilliant recipe from Kitchen Sanctuary!
Just enjoyed every mouthful of the Hunters Chicken. Halved the amount as only two of us. I added a couple of slices of mozzarella, by pocketing into the chicken breast. Absolutely delicious, thank you, we will be having this again!