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Chicken Bacon Roulades

Chicken Bacon Roulades

Chicken breasts, pounded thin, stuffed with bacon, shallots, and Parmesan, rolled up, browned, roasted, then served sliced, with a creamy white sauce. Yowza.

This meal, a veritable feast, is dedicated to Simply Recipes frequent commenter jonathan who knows that if we could make bacon ice cream we would, just for him. Update: David Lebovitz beat us to it.

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Chicken Bacon Roulades Recipe

Ingredients

  • 4 shallots, thinly sliced
  • 10 bacon slices (about 1/2 pound)
  • 4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
  • Lemon pepper seasoning to taste (or ground black pepper with a little lemon zest)
  • 6 Tbsp grated Parmesan (about 1 ounce)
  • 1 Tbps olive oil
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream

Method

1 Working in batches, cook the bacon over medium heat in an ovenproof heavy skillet, until lightly brown but still flexible (not crisp). Place the bacon on paper towels to drain. Cook the shallots in the remaining bacon fat over low heat, stirring, until softened. Transfer shallots with a slotted spoon to a small bowl and leave any fat remaining in skillet. Preheat oven to 300°F.

chicken-bacon-roulade-1.jpg chicken-bacon-roulade-2.jpg
chicken-bacon-roulade-3.jpg chicken-bacon-roulade-4.jpg

2 Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap. With smooth side of a meat pounder pound each breast to 1/8-inch thickness. Discard plastic from boned side of each breast. Sprinkle chicken with lemon pepper (or ground black pepper and a little lemon zest) and salt. Place 2 1/2 slices of bacon lengthwise (parallel with grain of flesh) along middle of each breast. Top with shallots and Parmesan. Using plastic wrap to help you, tightly roll up each breast lengthwise, tucking in the ends to enclose the filling. Secure seams with wooden toothpicks.

chicken-bacon-roulade-5.jpg

3 Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to reserved fat in skillet and heat over medium high heat. Brown roulades on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the skillet to middle of oven and bake roulades until just cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. (Note: we found that our skillet didn't fit in our oven, so we transfered the roulades to a smaller pan.)

chicken-bacon-roulade-6.jpg

4 Transfer chicken to a plate with tongs and keep warm, covered with aluminum foil. Pour off fat from skillet. (Careful! The handle is hot, use an oven mitt.) Add wine to the skillet and deglaze over medium high heat, scraping up brown bits. Boil wine until reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Add garlic and butter. Cook mixture over medium low heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Add flour and cook roux, stirring, 1 minute. Add broth and cream and bring to a boil, whisking. Simmer the sauce, whisking, 2 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a small saucepan. Keep sauce warm. Remove the wooden toothpicks from roulades and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Spoon some sauce in center of each of 4 plates and arrange roulade slices decoratively on sauce.

Serves 4.

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77 Comments

Have you ever heard of Heston Blumenthal? His restaurant has just been voted Britains best restaurant - and he makes Bacon and Egg Ice Cream. Recipe here http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,724650,00.html

Posted by: Helen on September 20, 2007 3:27 AM

Hi Elise,

I've just read your post, looks delicious, and will be going on my pile of recipes to try.

Ref your bacon ice-cream comment, thought these might be of interest

http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4424440-103425,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6CLoRuvGcY

Kind regards

Hannah

Note from Elise: Love the video!

Posted by: Hannah on September 20, 2007 4:41 AM

Yowza is right. I would love this.

Posted by: Kalyn on September 20, 2007 5:52 AM

This sounds positively delicious! I'll definitely have to try this one out :D

Posted by: Delilah Hinman on September 20, 2007 7:13 AM

Mmmm, nothing better than chicken breasts stuffed with cheese and bacon. I made some stuffed with mozarella, tomatoes, bacon and basil the other night. Fabulous!

Posted by: Jeanne on September 20, 2007 7:23 AM

Looks fabulous Elise!

Oh, as for bacon ice cream, you can find that here.

Just thought you might like to know... Do Dr. Biggles and I get some too?

Posted by: Jerry on September 20, 2007 8:15 AM

I'm eating breakfast and becoming more hungry as I eat because of this.

Posted by: Kelly on September 20, 2007 8:17 AM

Yummy! Love the presentation.

Posted by: Mandy on September 20, 2007 8:48 AM

Bacon? Who ever said anything about bacon? ;-)

"Yowza" is right, Elise. You've made my day!

Week.
Month.
Year.

(Kudos to Helen and Jerry on the bacon ice cream find...)

Posted by: jonathan on September 20, 2007 8:55 AM

Omg...ANOTHER recipe I will have to try...and for Jonathan: www.baconsalt.com

Posted by: Rosa on September 20, 2007 9:23 AM

Oh wow, this sounds so delicious! Too bad I will be out of town for a week and will have to wait until I get back to make this heavenly-sounding meal!

Posted by: Laura on September 20, 2007 9:59 AM

You can't make bacon ice cream? Are you sure?
I guess I'll just be happy with these chicken breasts....

Posted by: Katie on September 20, 2007 12:25 PM

Sounds too good. I adore bacon, by itself or in anything. But this receipe looks divine. Does anyone know if one could do this ahead or if so at what point would one stop and finish just before eating?
For you bacon lovers out there, there is a great tasting bacon that is nitrate free. Found it at Trader Joes when I was in NYC. But they carry it other places. It is Wellshire Bacon.
Looking forward to trying this receipe.

Posted by: Sunny on September 20, 2007 12:26 PM

Speaking of Bacon, how about a Bacon Martini?

http://www.slashfood.com/2006/10/29/a-bacon-martini/

There is actually a saloon in NYC and Los Vegas that keeps a few bottles of Vodka with Bacon fermenting for a more potent version of this cocktail called Double Down Saloon.

Posted by: Ralph on September 20, 2007 1:06 PM

Try this dish with Nueskes (Wittenberg,WI) Applewood smoked bacon.They have a website and there is availability from some scattered stores around the country.
The fruitwood taste really makes it awesome.

Posted by: Tony Theobald on September 20, 2007 1:52 PM

Niman Ranch also makes some awesome applewood smoked bacon.

Love the bacon ideas! Though did anyone take a look at that bacon and eggs ice cream recipe? It calls for 24 egg yolks for only a liter of milk. That's insane! Insane in a good way in my book, but no wonder the servings are so small (check out the video mentioned). My friend pastry chef Shuna was telling me this weekend that she typically used something like 10 egg yolks for one quart of ice cream (my home recipe calls for 6) and she had a friend who used 18 yolks for the same quantity. But 24? It would probably break my machine. I bet it really does taste like bacon and eggs.

Posted by: Elise on September 20, 2007 2:01 PM

Bacon can make anything taste better...this looks sooooo good!

Posted by: meeso on September 20, 2007 2:15 PM

We have an ice cream shop in town here -- Scoops -- which never cease to amaze me with the inventive flavors the proprietor churns out every day. I've seen both bacon maple ice cream there, and maple caramel ice cream -- where he melts the sugar in bacon fat to make a slightly smokey/salty caramel.

Posted by: tannaz on September 20, 2007 6:08 PM

Who wouldn't like this? Heavy cream. Bacon. Parmesan. ... Yum. Yum. Yum. :)

Posted by: Melonie on September 20, 2007 7:03 PM

How about a bacon chocolate bar, http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/product/bacon_exotic_candy_bar/exotic_candy_bars.

My friend told me it was delicious. I'm not sure I like the sound of it.

Posted by: eliz on September 20, 2007 8:02 PM

I made this tonight and it was fantastic, though the sauce was WAY to thick to pass through a fine mesh sieve. I just left it as is and served it as a rustic gravy. Very tasty.

Posted by: Sarah on September 20, 2007 8:22 PM

This looks incredible, and fun to make! Yum!

Posted by: Erin on September 20, 2007 8:25 PM

I am going to have to try this tonight. I have never really tried cooking with wine, but I have also never cared for white wine. Any thoughts on an alternative sauce? I might try an alfredo and make the pasta to go along with the chicken.

Sounds delicious, Elise!

Posted by: Eric on September 21, 2007 6:29 AM

Yum! This looks amazing, and I know my husband would love it. I'm going to try this over the weekend!

Posted by: Sarah Marie on September 21, 2007 7:12 AM

I actually have all these ingredients in my kitchen! It sounds wonderful, I will trying this over the weekend as well.

Posted by: Trinity on September 21, 2007 12:40 PM

Made them for dinner tonite, big hit. Very tasty and not hard to make. I liked the sauce a lot, but I went without the cream. Just milk was fine. I placed the whole thing on a bed of arugula and it worked.

Posted by: Tomoko on September 21, 2007 10:19 PM

Bacon with anything gets my vote!

Posted by: Ms. Glaze on September 22, 2007 8:39 AM

Yum! Made this on Thursday - sauce was very thick, more of a gravy but delicious. I forgot to get chicken broth and the pantry was bare, so I used vermouth in the sauce instead - delish (I also use vermouth in my saltimbocca)!

Posted by: Timothy on September 22, 2007 12:24 PM

This is one of my favorite dishes. I roll up the chicken with prosciutto and mozzarella and then wrap the whole thing in bacon and serve it with a mushroom white wine sauce. Delish!

Posted by: Amy on September 22, 2007 2:14 PM

This sounds really yummy. I might even be tempted to roll the chicken in a breading before frying.

For jonathan, pecan brown sugar bacon ice cream recipe:

splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/dessert_baconicecream.shtml

It actually sounds kind of interesting.

Posted by: mitzie on September 23, 2007 2:04 PM

I just found your blog last night and made these for dinner tonight...they were awesome! My husband was so happy he said, "Yay, no more boring chicken!" I'm looking forward to trying many of your recipes.

Posted by: Janet on September 23, 2007 6:36 PM

Made this yesterday as some "date night" fare. Next time it comes up, I'll probably swap toothpicks for butcher's twine, only one of my roulades stayed together through the browning and roasting. Great dish all around!

Posted by: Chris on September 23, 2007 8:47 PM

I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious. I used proscuitto instead of bacon and served with parmesan risotto. Next time I'll probably use butcher's twine as well.

Posted by: Christina on September 25, 2007 9:25 AM

I made this last night for dinner... oooohhhh. (I have to work on my pounding and rolling technique, though)

Next I have to try the mozarella, basil, tomatoes and bacon suggestion.

Posted by: melissa on September 27, 2007 9:25 AM

We *loved* this. My husband's plate was so clean, I joked that he could have put it back in the cabinet and no one would know it had been used. This will be our new chicken dish, for sure!

Posted by: Shawnda on September 28, 2007 5:20 PM

I tried this recipe last night with some modifications. Used twine instead of toothpicks and also stuffed the breasts with some veggies along with the bacon. I gave the sauce a miss (that cream is going to create havoc to my figure) and I made an Indian style sauce with stir fried onions and tomatoes. Used chilli and pepper poweder too. Ooh! it was delicious!

Posted by: Kamla on September 29, 2007 7:26 AM

One can lower the cost of this dish by a few bucks by using red onions instead of shallots, simple Kraft parmesan instead of fresh parmesan, and white wine vinegar instead of dry white wine. The heavy cream and bacon are basically the only two items I don't always have in my fridge, so it's relatively easy to concoct out of nowhere. This is a truly fantastic dish that has incredibly broad appeal. I'd say only 2% of your guests won't love it.

Posted by: Mike on September 29, 2007 12:12 PM

Could I use half and half instead of heavy cream?

Posted by: Echo on October 1, 2007 11:06 AM

This one is definitely going into my recipe box! I made mine with red onions and half and half. The heavy cream probably would have been better---but it still tasted amazing !

Posted by: Chef Tom on October 6, 2007 7:30 PM

I loved this receipe! :) I made is for a friend last night and she was really impressed as well. I also made the sauce but wasn't impressed with it. I also made 2 changes to the receipe. I used prosciutto instead of bacon and when I put the roulades in the oven I sprinkled them with olive oil, white wine and parmesan so it had a nice sauce to go with it.

Posted by: Luca on October 8, 2007 12:50 PM

I used tomatoes, and mozzerella cheese and bacon in the center and I sprinkled basil on top. The chicken was so juicy, cooked to perfection and I also put mozzerella cheese on the top. WONDERFUL. Boyfriend won't stop talking about it

Posted by: Samantha on October 22, 2007 2:40 PM

I made these the other night, with my own variations, and it was great! :) What a great way to "reinvent" "boring" chicken!

I ran out of time, so I didn't make the sauce. And we don't eat shallots/onions, so I left them out.

I also don't like lemon pepper, so I left that out. I used quite a bit of black pepper, though, as I really love freshly ground pepper.

Next time, I will use even more cheese. We love cheese.

I had the funniest time trying to roll those suckers up! I might pound them a tad thinner than I did last time, the next time I make this, which I will be doing again - it was definately a keeper!

Thanks again, Elise!

Posted by: Dena on November 2, 2007 8:24 AM

I made a variation of this recipe.

I used romagiano and goat cheese for stuffing and skipped the scallions. Then I wrapped it in prosciutto before I seared it.

It was much richer than the original recipe but totally delicious.

Posted by: mikeal on January 1, 2008 10:59 PM

Yummy - I have all the ingredients at home and so I will make this really soon. I have been making beef rouladen very similarly with very thinly sliced beef. And instead of toothpicks I use those metal turkey lacer needles to hold the rolls together. Also, I am amazed by all the bacon lovers out there, bacon ice-cream, bacon martinis....

Posted by: Connie on January 16, 2008 8:28 PM

This was great. My husband really enjoyed it. The smell of the wine deglazing the pan was fantastic!

Posted by: Mechelle on February 11, 2008 6:51 PM

This is by far the best thing I've stuffed into my gullet for a long time. My boyfriend and I are trying to learn how to cook above and beyond hamburger helper - and even though our chicken breasts were too small and we had no toothpicks (we used pencil shrapnel to hold them together,) this turned out fantastic. The sauce is so good I want to pull a Paula Deen and chug it. Thanks for the recipe!

Posted by: Sarah on February 12, 2008 8:02 PM

Thanks for the great recipe! I made this for Valentine's Day and added prosciutto and fontina to the filling. Also, I realized at the last minute that I was out of cream so I substituted skim milk (blech) but the sauce still turned out very well. I used 4-inch bamboo skewers to seal the seams as well.

Posted by: Tatiana on February 15, 2008 10:26 AM

This is a wonderful recipe! I made it for Valentine's Day, substituting the shallots for diced grape tomatoes and adding a pinch of basil to the filling. The sauce was rich, creamy and smooth, and I topped the meal off with a simple risotto and sautéed asparagus. At the suggestion of other posts, I used butcher's twine to roll the chicken, and the result was exactly like the images shown (not always the case with other recipes).
Definitely a keeper - thanks!

Posted by: Jennifer on February 15, 2008 12:28 PM

Yum! This was so good. We just finished having it for dinner tonight. I didn't use any wine and used almond milk in place of heavy cream (for a non-dairy version)The sauce still turned out very well. Thanks for the tip about adding basil... really nice accent to this dish. A favorite for sure :D

Posted by: ashling on March 16, 2008 8:34 PM

What can I subsitute the dry white wine for? I don't have any on hand right now and I'm making it right now!:)

Posted by: joshalee on April 20, 2008 2:31 PM

I was searching for a good chicken recipe, but something that would also appeal to my very picky children. This did the trick! Thanks so much!

Posted by: MomTimesThree on October 27, 2008 5:51 AM

This was so delicious. I made it tonight for dinner and was absolutely blown away. I served it with white asparagus.
I appreciated how simple the recipe was to execute.

Posted by: MommaRdz on December 24, 2008 5:59 PM

Thank you for another fantastic recipe. The dish came out perfectly and made our Valentine's day memorable.

Posted by: ccheng on February 15, 2009 10:13 AM

Yummy. Had a heck of a time trying to wrap these - definitely not as pretty as the pics here, but still fantastic. I tried using bamboo skewers. Will definitely try butcher's twine next time.

Posted by: Michelle on March 25, 2009 8:35 PM

OMG is all I can say about this dish. I have made it a few times and can't say enough good things about it. The flavor is amazing, and this recipe made me fall in love with scallions. The only problem I had was rolling them, but that was a minor issue.

Posted by: Holly on July 21, 2009 7:57 PM

I tried this last night and it was AMAZING my whole family loved it!! I would recommend it highly!

Posted by: Caycee on August 31, 2009 2:21 PM

I made this tonight for the first time and it was absolutely delicious!! thank you so much for posting this recipe! :) i loved the sauce but i had plenty left over. Rolling the chicken was fun ... thank god for toothpicks! :)
This is now one of my favourite chicken recipes to make! :)

Posted by: Joanne on September 21, 2009 8:49 PM

I made this for my boyfriend and he ate ALL of it... he rarely eats leftovers! Two of my chicken breasts were sloppy and the fillings were falling out.... they were difficult to brown without them falling apart (even WITH toothpicks), but once they were done cooking, I cut them and they looked just as pretty as the neat ones. He loved the sauce too! For the lemon pepper, I used 1 lemon worth of lemon zest mixed with equal amount of pepper... he couldn't taste the lemon but he did notice the pepper and he loved it. I served this with the "creamed spinach with bacon" and the "Roasted New Potatoes with Caramelized Onions and Truffle Oil" from this site... thanks for the dinner ideas! I like baking, but need help with cooking, so this site has helped!

Posted by: gwen on November 8, 2009 7:40 PM

I am in love with this recipe-
I usually make roulade with spinach, but after seeing this recipe I am swapping the greens for the pork!

Posted by: Savannah at Kitchen @ 9th and 9th on December 20, 2009 4:54 AM

I just made this recipe for my French husband and we both we're just blown away by it. How tasty is this recipe! I'm going to make it for a gourmet cook coming this week-end. Merci!

Posted by: Linda on March 24, 2010 4:01 AM

This sounds divine, and requires a plan. Ok....so this is the plan. I'm going to make chicken bacon roulades (which I have never seen, eaten, or even know how to pronounce) and foccacia bread (I've never made a yeast bread) tomorrow night for my hubby and an old friend with some roasted red potatoes and steamed veggies (SOMETHING has to be easy and familiar!!). I'm oober excited, because I've been dieting, and thus cooking-deprived, and I LOVE to cook. Your recipes are generally smashing successes, so I'm sure it'll be fantastic. I'll be sure and post how it all turns out. Thanks for an excellent site!

Posted by: Ashley R. on July 30, 2010 1:30 PM

Another success! I shouldn't be surprised. :-) The roulades were yummy, but the sauce really put it over the top. My focaccia bread was DIVINE, and dipping it in that creamy sauce should be a sin. It was like dessert. I had no problem at all with using toothpicks. Thanks a million.

Posted by: Ashley R. on August 2, 2010 7:29 AM

Tried this last night and it was SOOOO good! Loved the sauce!

Thanks!

Posted by: Kim on August 17, 2010 1:51 PM

I don't take the time to pound my chicken breasts and found it's far easier to find thick chicken breasts. Instead I cut a deep slit in them and stuff my ingredients inside when I make Chicken Kiev. You can toothpick or twine the breasts but I usually leave it and let the cheese ooze out a bit. I will have to try this recipe and see if my method works.

Posted by: Leslie on October 2, 2010 2:09 PM

A little time consuming, but well worth the effort! The pan sauce is very good, and when combined with the bacon filled chicken, well, let's just say, what doesn't taste great with bacon!!!!!

Excellent Recipe - Thank You!

Posted by: Rick on October 6, 2010 8:06 AM

Tried this recipe last night. I used only 2 chicken breasts and half the shallots, and since I had no wine, used a dark fruit juice mixture instead and otherwise, kept the sauce exactly as shown in the recipe. It was absolutely fabulous! My husband loved it too, and he's just sssssoooooo picky about what he will eat - he even asked me to make it again sometime in the near future! Kudos to the original chef!

Posted by: JaiLa on November 13, 2010 6:16 PM

This was fantastic! Made it last night and my fiance and I were bowled over. I can bake but not cook, so I was proud of myself for trying this! Subbed a third of a Spanish onion and a garlic bulb for the shallots. Came out dee-lish! Only had 2 chicken breasts in the house, so I cut them in half. That made the rolling and tooth-picking difficult with the large bacon. This was my own fault, but we found the smaller size was enough to satisfy. Added some Parmesan mashed and some corn we had in the house to complete the meal. Great recipe! A+!

Posted by: Kristen on December 14, 2010 10:37 AM

I dont say this about many meals. But, this was FANTASTIC!!!!! This recipe is a keeper. Everything was wonderful. Great meal to make if you were trying to impress someone. Thank you for sharing.

Posted by: Kimberly on January 11, 2011 6:05 PM

Would you recommend tossing pasta in this cream sauce and placing chicken on top of the pasta? We are pasta lovers at my house, or what do you recommend serving this with?

Sure, that sounds good. You might want to make a bit more of the sauce though, if you are going to also serve it with pasta. ~Elise

Posted by: TERESA on January 15, 2011 7:13 AM

This recipe rocks! Made this as an early Valentine's Day dinner and it was beyond good. Love this site, it really has the best recipes ever!

Posted by: Ginger on February 14, 2011 6:53 AM

Tried this recipe for dinner tonight GREAT! My husband gave it a 9.5 out of ten. My daughter said it was the best chicken ever.

Posted by: Misty on March 9, 2011 6:12 PM

OMG this was the very best recipe I have cooked for almost a year!

Posted by: Kelly Santos on April 5, 2011 6:41 PM

Made this for the 5th time...I found the parm is too dry, I used Camembert, and it pairs great with the speck and shallots. I might experiment with adding green apple next time. I used a Spanish Chardonnay, worked great. Obviously this is a hugely popular recipe. Eet smaaklijk!

Posted by: Carl on May 17, 2011 11:33 AM

Oh my...I think I almost passed out reading this recipe. This is a must try!

Posted by: Emily R on May 31, 2011 1:14 PM

Hi there! This is currently making my mouth water, can't wait to try this in my dorm's kitchen! Do you think it would be difficult to simply replace the bacon with a more personally desired meat like turkey or ham bacon? Thanks for the wonderful recipe!

Sure. Prosciutto would be good too. ~Elise

Posted by: Sara on August 12, 2011 10:09 PM

My family loves rouladins, we usually do beef marinated with mustard, pickles, bacon, and onions wraped inside and we tried this out a few months ago and it is a toss up as to what is our favorite! Mmm, we don't drain the tid-bits though, that is what makes the sauce so good (we skip the wine and use more chicken broth)! Love the sauce over the chicken and mashed potatoes.

Posted by: Amy M. on August 16, 2011 10:04 AM

One of the best recipes I've ever made. It took me about an hour and a half to make (slow chef, small kitchen), but it was SO worth it. I added mushrooms to the chicken filling and used extra chicken broth instead of the white wine. Served with broccoli and rice.
I was especially happy that this was also a great recipe to serve a gluten-free friend (I used cornstarch instead of flour in the sauce).

Posted by: April on January 21, 2012 9:20 PM

I apologize for the inconvenience, comments are closed. ~Elise

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