Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

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SWFinatic
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Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 9:31 am

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

Post by SWFinatic »

Thought I'd post the recipe for this one. It is good!

This is a bacon wrapped stuffed chicken cooked on the smoker using boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Contents:
Pack of boneless skinless chicken thighs (this time I had a pack that had 8 thighs)
1 lb pack of thin cut bacon (for 8 thighs)
7.5 or 8 oz cream cheese (we like the jalepeno cream cheese)
8 oz shredded monterey jack cheese
1 lb breakfast sausage
Rib seasoning or low sodium sweet rub
cayenne powder
chicken brine (4 cups water, 1/3 cup kosher salt, 1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite)

Step 1- Make brine
Make up the chicken brine by adding salt and brown sugar to a small saucepan and heat on medium while stirring. Heat until salt/sugar has dissolved. Remove and cool. You can add ice cubes if needed to cool it down. I added a couple tablespoons of Chupacabra Rub to my brine. Let it sit in the fridge to chill while you get the chicken ready.

Step 2- Prep chicken
Lay the chicken on a cutting board or flat surface, trim off any unwanted fat or small pieces and cover it with plastic wrap or parchment paper. Pound the chicken flat so that it's approximately 1/2" thick.
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Step 3- Brine chicken
Place chicken in brine for 3 hours. I just used a gallon zip top bag inside a larger container because most bags do leak a little
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Step 4- Make stuffing mixture
While the chicken is in the brine make the stuffing mixture that goes inside the chicken.
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For this recipe I like to use deer breakfast sausage which is a 60/40 mix of venison/pork. You can use regular pork breakfast sausage though. For the cheese I prefer the 7.5 oz container of cream cheese because it's a little easier to work with but a standard 8 oz "brick" of cream cheese will work too. Montery jack cheese of your choice (I was able to find some with hatch chiles that is good). Make sure your cream cheese is softened and blend ingredients together by hand in a mixing bowl. I added some cayenne to the mix because we like spicy.
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Step 5- Remove chicken from brine
Remove the chicken from the brine after 3-4 hours. Lay chicken on paper towels to absorb as much moisture as possible.
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Step 6- Assemble
Lay a chicken thigh upside down, season the chicken with rib rub or other low sodium sweet seasoning and place roughly half a cup of the mixture in the center. Roll the chicken then wrap bacon around the chicken. Make sure the ends of the bacon are on the bottom of the rolled thigh. Season the exterior of the chicken/bacon and set on a rack.
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You will likely have some leftover mixture. I create a small aluminum foil boat and place the mixture on the foil, season it will some rib rub and cook it on the smoker too. If you haven't ever had smoked breakfast sausage you'll be shocked at how good it is.
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Step 7- The cook
Set the prepared chicken thighs in the fridge to chill. Bring your smoker to 300. I prefer post oak wood for this cook. Once the smoker is ready set the chicken and sausage on the smoker and let it go for about 45 minutes depending on your smoker.
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On my drum smoker the sausage was done at around 50 minutes but this will vary due to differences in smokers and thickness of sausage.
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Step 8- The best part
Once the internal temp of the chicken hits 165 (inside the sausage mixture) it's done (on my smoker that was at the 70 minute mark). Brush on a light coating of your favorite bbq sausage and let that sit on the smoker for 5-10 minutes. Remove and let rest in the kitchen for about 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
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Main thing with this recipe is use a rib rub or seasoning that doesn't have a lot of salt. With the brine and the cheeses this recipe already has a good amount of salt.
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SWFinatic
Moderator
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu May 31, 2018 9:31 am

Re: Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

Post by SWFinatic »

Sorry some of the photos are upside down not sure why. I tried to correct that with no success.
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