Easy Smothered Chicken Breasts

After reading this recipe here, it sounded so good that I had to put my personal touches to it. I'm not particularly fond of chicken breasts unless they're flattened to a pulp and delicately browned after being dredged in flour. After that I followed the original recipe except I added crushed red peppers and Italian seasoning. I served this with fettuccine alfredo and roasted asparagus on the side. Delizioso!

• Preparation Time: 10 mins
• Cooking Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Calories: 664 Calories

Ingredients

• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1 onion, sliced
• ¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ¼ cup seasoned bread crumbs
• ¼ teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
• ½ cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese
• 8 bacon strips
• 4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, pounded thin
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven's broiler.

Step 2

Mix flour, bread crumbs, garlic salt, and black pepper together in a bowl. Coat each chicken breast with flour mixture.

Step 3

Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon, reserving bacon drippings; drain bacon on paper towels.

Step 4

Cook and stir coated chicken breasts in the bacon drippings until chicken is no longer pink in the center and juices run clear, about 5 minutes per side; remove and keep warm.

Step 5

Cook and stir onion, lemon-pepper seasoning, Italian seasoning, salt, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar in the same skillet until onion is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 6

Arrange chicken breasts on a baking sheet; top each breast with 2 bacon slices. Top with caramelized onion and Colby-Monterey Jack cheese.

Step 7

Broil chicken breasts until cheese is melted and bubbling, 1 to 3 minutes.