Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs are one of the best ways I know how to cook chicken thighs easily. With the juicy chicken, the crispy bacon, the bbq sauce, oh my goodness, who knew such an easy recipe would taste SO stinkin’ delicious!!
Bacon Wrapped Chicken Thighs – the PERFECT main if you ask me!
Bacon Roasted Chicken Thighs
So you see chicken thighs on sale this week or you might have some in your freezer and you’re wondering – what the heck should I do with these things?? Listen, these chicken thighs are SO easy to make it’s kinda laughable – but the level of deliciousness is no laughing matter.
Why are they the perfect main dish, you ask???
- Chicken thighs are super juicy and hard to overcook
- The contrast of the crunchy bacon with the soft tender chicken is excellent
- The saltiness from the bacon with the sweet/smokiness from the bbq sauce is the perfect combo on this chicken!
- They are incredibly easy to make and it’s something a bit different from your normal chicken thigh recipe.
Ingredients List
This is the best thing – these little packages of yumminess take nothing out of the ordinary to make. No crazy, hard-to-get ingredients – I’ll bet you have everything you need right now in the pantry:
- Chicken thighs – Personally, I prefer to use bone-in chicken thighs. The reason is that usually cooking meat with the bone makes for far tastier meat. (Plus bone-in chicken pieces are usually cheaper than boneless chicken) It might take a little longer to roast than boneless, but I think it’s well worth the little bit of extra time. However, that being said, if you have boneless already, or boneless are cheaper than bone-in, on sale, go for it!
- Bacon – Ok, so you can use any kind of bacon you’d prefer here. My preference is thicker sliced bacon because I find it gives it more flavor and it will allow the chicken to fully cook before the bacon burns.
- BBQ Sauce – The sky is the limit here. I used Sweet Baby Rays Hickory and Brown Sugar for this recipe, but I encourage you to use your favorite.
- Spices – The typical characters here, nothing out of left field. Salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.
How to Make Scrumptious Barbeque Chicken Thighs With Bacon
Pat dry and season the chicken thighs on top and bottom.
Take one strip of bacon and starting from underneath and near the end of the thigh, begin to wrap the bacon around the thigh, moving upwards to cover the meat with the bacon. End with the bacon strip underneath the thigh.
After repeating this on all 8 thighs, place in a shallow baking tray and roast.
Before cooking time ends, baste the chicken with the bbq sauce. Flip the thighs over first and baste, then flip them back, right side up, and baste again.
Remove the chicken thighs from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes.
What Can I Serve With This Bacon & Chicken Thigh Recipe?
Oh, my dear reader, so many ideas come to mind.
3 Minutes Maple Cinnamon Carrots, or Instant Pot Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes, would pair perfectly, especially if you are partial to maple flavors.
Also, you could try:
Mediterranean Vine Tomatoes – these are delicious and easy to roast alongside the chicken in a different roasting dish.
Ninja Foodi Perfect Buttery Rice – If you don’t have a ninja foodi, this recipe works exactly the same in an Instant pot!
Orange Pecan Roasted Broccoli
Crock Pot Baked Potatoes – I absolutely love this recipe and it couldn’t be easier. You just have to remember to throw the potatoes in the pot a few hours ahead of time. The bonus is that you’ll have baked potato flavors without using up valuable oven space!
Creamy Garlic Shells from Iowa Girl Eats
Want to use your air fryer instead of the oven? Not a problem! Give this Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders recipe a try!
Questions You Might Have About This Chicken Recipe
It’s not a problem to take the skin off and I recommend that you do, actually. With the bacon wrapped around the thighs, the chicken skin may not crisp up. But don’t worry about them drying out, chicken thighs are higher in fat so it’s really difficult to dry them out, even if you overcook them a bit.
Absolutely! Just remember the cooking time will be a bit different because the breasts are typically larger and will have no bones. But that recipe would be similar to my Chicken & Pancetta Cheddar Bake – so the roasting time would be very close. Probably around 20 – 25 minutes or until the internal temp comes to 165F.
Well, that’s it for today my lovelies! When you give this yummy bacon and chicken thighs recipe a try, please let me know what you thought about it! Shoot me an email at joanne@thesaltypot.com or you can comment below. I’m interested to hear what you thought about it, or how you might have switched it up!
Bacon Wrapped BBQ Chicken Thighs
Juicy, delicious chicken thighs, wrapped up in crispy, salty bacon with a smoky sticky bbq sauce. PERFECTION!
Ingredients
- 8 Chicken thighs, skinless, bone in (see notes)
- 8 strips of thick bacon
- 1c bbq sauce (see notes)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- (as desired) salt and pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375
1. Pat dry and season the chicken thighs with garlic & onion powder, salt, and pepper.
2. Take one strip of bacon and starting from below the thigh, begin to wrap the bacon around the thigh as many times so the end of the bacon ends underneath the thigh. Place the thigh with the ends of the bacon facing down in a shallow roasting tray
3. After repeating this on all 8 thighs, place in the oven and roast the thighs for 40 - 45 minutes or until the internal temp of the chicken comes to 165F
4. About 10 minutes before cooking time ends, baste the chicken with the bbq sauce. Flip the thighs over first and baste, then flip them back, right side up, and baste again.
5. Two minutes before cooking time ends, baste any remaining sauce over the thighs.
6. Remove the chicken thighs from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.
7. Plate and enjoy!
Notes
1. Use bone-in or boneless chicken thighs. Refer to the body of the post as to the reasons I prefer to use bone-in thighs.
2. Use whatever bbq sauce you prefer. I used Sweet Baby Rays Hickory and Brown Sugar.
3. I prefer to use thicker bacon as it adds more flavor and protects the bacon from burning while the chicken bakes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 302Total Fat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 148mgSodium: 786mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 0gSugar: 12gProtein: 32g
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
If I use bone-in chicken thighs is it better to remove the skin?
Hi Dontay – I recommend removing the skin, either way. The bacon will cover the skin on the thigh, not giving it the chance to get crispy (the bacon will get crispy instead), so the skin will be soft.
changed out the bbq sauce for sriracha chili sauce and made no other changes
it made a tasty meal that was enjoyed by all
will make again
Sounds delicious Victoria!
So great. The taste of this dish is excellent. YUMMY. This is my favorite food. It is both delicious and nutritious. I followed your recipe and I’m done fine. I can’t wait to enjoy this. Thanks for the great article.