This 35-minute air fryer bacon wrapped chicken recipe guarantees a simple, hassle-free lunch. In just 20 minutes, you’ll have juicy chicken breasts wrapped in chewy bacon, served alongside roasted vegetables.
Can You Cook Bacon in an Air Fryer?
Yes, you can, and when you do, all of the fat is easily collected, leaving you with a leaner piece of meat. It’s more efficient than, say, using a pan or oven.
Also, when wrapped around a chicken breast, the juices from the bacon fat will permeate through the meat, producing a juicy mix of textures and flavors.
Is Our Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Healthy?
Bacon wrapped chicken is rich in proteins and micronutrients. Bacon alone, however, is high in saturated fats and sodium, and so it should be consumed in strict moderation.
We’re using just 1 oz per 5-oz chicken breast, bringing the total saturated fat and sodium content to 7 g and 588 mg respectively.
Chicken and bacon without some veg wouldn’t be fulfilling enough for most people, so we air-fried some potatoes and carrots with them. Each serving yields 491 calories, 18.2-23.5% of the daily recommendation.
If you’re a fan of healthy and delectable chicken breast recipes like this one, you’re sure to enjoy our chicken cordon bleu. Each breast is stuffed with a decadent cheese filling and baked to perfection.
Main Ingredients
For this air fryer bacon wrapped chicken recipe, you’ll need some bacon, chicken breasts, veggies, and spices:
1. Chicken
We used boneless skinless breasts, out of preference. You can choose boneless thighs if you prefer, skin-on or skinless.
Since chicken breasts are quite thick, we don’t recommend cooking them from the frozen state. If you have some in the freezer, follow our guide down below to defrost them quickly.
2. Bacon
For this recipe, you don’t need to precook the strips of bacon. You can, however, briefly warm them on a pan for 1 minute per side if they need defrosting.
To keep the nutritional profile healthy, you should get bacon products with less than 197 mg sodium and 5 g saturated fats per 1 oz.
3. Spices
Because bacon already has tons of flavor, we only needed to include the basic seasonings: Cajun, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. You’re more than welcome to add your own ideas for a personal touch.
4. Vegetables
This dish is best served with some roasted potatoes and carrots. We tossed them with some butter, thyme, and oregano, so they turned out super fragrant.
To cook them in the same air fryer with the meat, we microwaved them first. Thick vegetables like beetroots can also be cooked this way, saving you a lot of time, and washing up.
Tips for Making
To secure the bacon, you’ll need toothpicks — snap them in half and pin them at both of the strips’ ends. Make sure to not push the toothpicks in all the way, as you’ll need to pull them out later on.
If you don’t have toothpicks, it’s okay to use cooking strings. This step can be time-consuming, so an extra pair of hands will be greatly appreciated.
How to Store and Reheat the Leftover
Store the leftovers in container(s) and you can keep them in the fridge for 5 days. Simply air fry them at 400°F for 5 minutes to reheat.
Freezing the leftovers lets you keep them for 3 months, but you’ll need to thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat as above. Alternatively, you can use a microwave to reheat from frozen; they’ll need about 5 minutes on medium to be reheated thoroughly.
When storing a large batch of food, we tend to put individual servings into separate reusable/ biodegradable bags instead of containers. This saves fridge space and makes reheating much more convenient.
Still, both cooked chicken breast and bacon will turn rubbery and dry once refrigerated and reheated. It’s best that you season and wrap the chicken breasts, freeze them, then thaw and cook them whenever needed.
What to Serve With
To balance out the heaviness of this dish, we served it alongside our favorite salad: beet and feta cheese. It’s made with fresh arugula, cooked beetroots, feta, and orange segments that are vibrant in both color and flavor.
To round off the meal, we served it all with fresh lime juice, which is simple and high in vitamin C.
Try These Dishes With Air-Fried Chicken As Well
Our air fryer sesame chicken recipe will help you cook this Chinese staple without having to clean any pot or pan. Both the sauce and the chicken are put in a foil faux baking tray prior to air frying, which is pretty simple to make. The meat is ultra saucy too.
This air fryer grilled chicken recipe also packs flavors and takes only half an hour. The end result is four jumbo, juicy skin-on chicken breasts grilled to perfection and served with heaps of buttery potato wedges on the side.
Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe
This air fryer bacon wrapped chicken recipe takes 35 minutes to prepare — 15 minutes to cook, and 20 minutes to wait. It's simple to plan ahead.
- cook TIME 20 mins
- prep TIME 15 mins
- total TIME 35 mins
- COURSE Main Course
- CUISINE American
- SERVINGS servings
- CALORIES 491 kcal
INGREDIENTS
- 20 oz skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 22 oz potatoes (cut into chunks)
- 8 oz baby carrots (halved)
- 4 oz raw cured bacon
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter (about 0.5 oz)
- 1 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp parsley (chopped)
INSTRUCTIONS
Place 22 oz potatoes and 8 oz carrots into a bowl. Cover them with microwave-safe plastic wrap and microwave on medium for 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, butterfly the chicken breasts (20 oz total) by slicing them open, but not all the way.
Slather the butterflied chicken breasts with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil, 1 1/2 tsp Cajun, 1 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp cayenne. Make sure to season them inside and out. Allow to marinate.
Carefully remove the plastic wrap from the veg bowl and toss them with 1 tbsp unsalted butter, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, and 1 tsp fresh thyme.
Wrap the seasoned chicken breasts with 4 oz bacon (about 2 slices per breast) and secure with toothpicks.
Place the veg and chicken in the air fryer, the chicken on top. Cook them at 400°F for 20 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and enjoy.
NUTRITION
Tuyet Pham
Head Chef, Culinary Consultant
Luna Regina
Writer, Author
Natalie Butler, RD, LD
Nutrition Reviewer
- BubbaBacon-wrapped chicken in the air fryer? Yes, please! This recipe is a game changer.