Sweet Heat Bacon Wrapped Smoked Chicken Breasts
An easy way to get a flavorful, low budget meal, these Sweet Heat Bacon Wrapped Smoked Chicken Breasts are the way to go. They’re the perfect set it & forget it recipe- great for entertaining and can be served as either an entree or an appetizer.
Ever since we bought our smoker, we’ve found reasons to use it. We’ve smoked every meat you could think of, in every normal way.
The whole family has loved everything that’s come out of our smoker. Every. thing. From smoked pulled pork for barbecue, to smoked chicken wings.
While we still regularly cook family favorites, as time has gone on- we’ve been branching out.
To the point where we’ve smoked meatloaf, mac and cheese, and even cheesecake.
There’s nothing we won’t consider runnin’ through our smoker if it might give it an infusion of great flavor.
We’re no strangers to adding bacon to our smoker game. It gets crispy, crackly and a lovely shade of golden brown when smoked.
When it’s wrapped around something savory, the delicious juices are absorbed into your smoke dish and soaked right on up.
It’s a flavorful experience. One you won’t want to miss.
We’ve done bacon wrapped meatloaf. We’ve even done bacon wrapped smoked corn on the cob. We’ve done bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers before, too.
We’ve finally reached the pinnacle of bacon-wrapped perfection with our Sweet Heat Bacon Wrapped Smoked Chicken Breasts.
Oooohhh, yeah. That right there’s the stuff.
How To Make
You’ve got your chicken breasts, removed of fat and any imperfections.
Wrapped in thick cut bacon, because when is bacon not a perfect addition to any recipe? Bacon is always good, makes everything- anything- better.
In a small mixing bowl, brown sugar, chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne are stirred together for a delicious ‘sweet heat’ rub.
Sprinkled over the wrapped breasts, the mixture gets physically pressed in, because you don’t want to miss a single bit of this flavor.
You can smoke your chicken directly on the racks, but when wrapped with bacon- they can be prone to sticking, especially in an electric-style smoker.
Knowing this, we choose to make use of the aluminum disposable-style metal 9×13″ tins. We poke a few knife holes in one, layer our prepared meat in it, and then place a solid one directly underneath the perforated one so any juices fall into it.
I love this option since it’s cheap, efficient, and keeps the fat from accumulating on my meat. With it all falling perfectly into the drip pan, it also makes clean up a breeze!
Other Smoked Meat Recipes You Might Also Enjoy
- Maple Chipotle Smoked Chicken Breast
- Smoked Bologna
- Smoked Brisket
- Smoked Pulled Pork
- Smoked Beer Brats with Caramelized Onions
- Smoked Burgers
If you’ve tried these BACON WRAPPED SMOKED CHICKEN BREASTS, or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK, and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and whatever else we’ve got going on!
Sweet Heat Bacon Wrapped Smoked Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken breasts, about 4-5
- salt & black pepper, to taste
- smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 lb thick cut bacon
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
- pinch cayenne
Instructions
- Trim each breast of fat. Liberally salt & pepper each chicken breast.
- Using the strips of bacon, wrap each breast completely in bacon, tucking & weaving as necessary.
- In a small mixing bowl, add the brown sugar, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Using a fork, stir everything together until evenly incorporated.
- Sprinkle the mixture evenly out over the bacon wrapped chicken breasts. Use your hands to press the mixture in, so that it sticks.
- Smoke at 275 degrees for 3- 3 1/2 hours, using your favorite chips. Replenish chips half way through the cooking.
- Remove the chicken immediately, and wrap the breasts in tin foil and let 'rest' for an hour before opening, and serving. If the bacon isn't crisp enough, you can set it on a pan under the broiler for a couple minutes to crisp up.
Nutrition
Having a smoker must give you so many more possibilities. I would love to have one, but somehow it just hasn’t happened. Maybe if I see enough recipes like this one I’ll get up the energy to get one for myself.
Mmm…I can imagine how tantalizing this must smell while you’re making it! I’m impressed by how many things you’ve done with your smoker. Smoked creamed corn sounds amazing! Thanks for bringing this to Fiesta Friday!
We’ve definitely put it through it’s paces, but it’s been a totally great experience. The corn is great and easy to throw in with the meat. The smell is enough to get your tummy grumbling for hours before dinner’s ready 🙂
Just bought our first smoker and this was the very first recipe we tried. Absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing I’m looking forward to trying some of your others.
I can honestly say that our smoker is one of the best appliances we’ve ever purchased. Love that thing! Happy to have you hear, and that you thoroughly enjoyed this chicken. Can’t wait to hear your feedback on the other recipes you try. We’ve got more headed your way as we get closer (and into) Summer.
I made this today and followed your directions, but it was totally done smoking within an hour. Next time I a I’m going to set it at 225 not 275. Even though it cooked fast, it was still moist. Also, I didn’t see anywhere in the directions where the smoked paprika was used.
Do I keep them on the grill when resting for an hour? An hour without heat seems long.
Off the grill, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil as the instructions state. If sealed well, the foil should keep them piping hot and the heat in. If you want to be extra sure they’ll stay hot, you can place the sealed chicken breasts in a small closed cooler for the hour. Hope that helps, Jack!
Jack;
How much smoked paprika?
Making these for the second time today! Came out delicious first time around; although I’m finding they take a bit less time to cook. Variability may be due to the thickness of the chicken breasts. I like to pound mine out to get them a little thinner, more tender.
Would the instructions be the same if you are using a pellet smoker?
I haven’t used one of those, but I assume it would be similar.
My chicken came out pretty dry, I took Chicken out early because it made it to 165 degrees in a couple hours, even though smoker was running at 275. Let sit for 30 minutes in tin foil and instructed and still dry. It was super sad 😞!
Also nowhere is the amount of ingredients for paprika.
You can add a disposable loaf pan to your smoker, filled with water or apple juice. It especially helps to keep chicken moist. I just sit it on the grates near the meat. Works wonderfully!
Great recipe. Excellent taste. Paprika and chicken are made for each other. My times were a bit different from the time found here. I smoked at 275 for 35 minutes until internal temp hit 140, then I put it on the grill to crispen the bacon for 7-8 minutes. When internal hit 160 I pulled it off. I let it rest on a cutting board for a few minutes until the internal temp hit 165, then served.
Great recipe. I very rarely smoke anything above 250, smoking higher than 250 degrees is like baking in the oven. It takes time and patience, I started out on “smoke” for an hour, (180-200) then turned to 250 until the internal temp was 160. The double disposable aluminum pan was a great idea, thank you for sharing that!!!
Hi. I was just checking out your recipe and noticed the calories are super high – is that for the whole recipe or for a serving?
It’s for one bacon wrapped whole chicken breast.
I received my pellet grill for Christmas last year. This was the first recipe I made on it and it came out fantastic. I have made it several times now and my friends have started requesting it. This is my go to all time favorite chicken recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you for the glowing review- that’s high praise! I love it because it’s pretty easy to prepare, but the flavors blend beautifully when smoked. Be sure to check out some of our smoker recipes too 🙂