Chicken breast, wrapped in bacon, smothered in tangy barbecue sauce and topped with melted cheese. A British pub classic that you can easily make at home for a quick weeknight dinner.
No pans are needed - we cook it all right in the baking dish.
Use shop-bought barbecue sauce, or you can make my 10 minute homemade BBQ sauce.
Sitting in a pub garden on a hot day eating Hunters chicken with a pile of salty chips and a cold beer.
I can't wait for those days. Hopefully soon we can all be enjoying family meals out again.
In the meantime, I'm controlling the cravings by making it at home. Sometimes with chips, or sometimes with a big bowl of buttery mashed potato.
I love how quick and easy this recipe is - a few minutes of prep, then the oven does all the work.
📋 What do we need?
- Chicken - chicken breasts are best, as thighs are a little small. Be sure to trip 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).
📺 Watch how to make it
**Full recipe with detailed steps in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
👩🍳PRO 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!).
🍽️ What to serve it with
You can serve this Hunters Chicken Recipe with:
Just 5 ingredients and 30 minutes you've got a family-pleasing dinner on the table.
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 👌
🍲 More fantastic Chicken Dinner recipes
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Hunters Chicken
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 (½ packed cup) grated/shredded mature cheddar cheese
- 50 g (½ 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.
- Wrap each chicken breast in two rashers/strips of bacon and place in a shallow baking dish.
- 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.
- Sprinkle the chicken with the cheddar and mozzarella.
- Place back in the oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese has melted.
- Serve the chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables.
Video
✎ Notes
-
- 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
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Clare Christina says
Simple, delicious and satisfying. I served mine with the garlic buttered green beans 😋
Lisa says
Easy recipe quick mid week meal everyone loved the homemade bbq sauce
Lisa Beddowes says
Hi Nicky,
Made hunters chicken today for the first time using your method.
We are just plain and simple eaters in our house and making hunters chicken by your method was so easy and not having to use ‘fancy cheeses’ was a bonus. Will definitely look at some of your other recipes for inspiration. Thank you.
carol says
Hi nick can you give me some idea for pork chop my husband said pork chops are to dry so I need to now what sort of sauce so they are not dry please help
Pat lewis says
Amazing hunters chicken and so easy
Tereaa Baker-Clark says
Thanks Nicky I hate cooking and this recipe is so quick and easy I'm looking forward to trying it.
Lara Templin says
My son made this for me for Mother's Day dinner (along with the green beans with garlic and parmesan) and it was fantastic! Thank you for another lovely recipe.
Sadie Fletcher says
OMG 🤩
This is the best Hunters chicken ever!! It is so well balanced - a little bit sweet, then a little bit tart, then a little bit smoky ..... we ended up eating the whole pot of sauce (just the 2 of us!!)
Probably one of our favourite homemade meals in 35 years together ....
We’re massive foodies and always cook and eat from scratch so if we are recommending something, you can be sure we are impressed!
Rebekah says
I have made Hunter's chicken before but this is my favorite recipe. The chicken was tender and their wasn't too much sauce. Easy to make too. Thank you.
Nigey boy says
Just had this tonight,awesome ,defo make it again
Lavina says
This looks and sounds so good Nicky! Chicken, bacon, and BBQ sauce is such a winning flavor combo! Love it.
Roger Kille says
Hi Nicky, looks good and will give this a go seeing as all your recipies work as they should!
Small typo - "Be sure to trip the chicken breast of any fatty bits you don't want to eat". I think that might possibly be "trim"?! 😉
[email protected] says
This looks and sounds delicious.