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Cheryl MalikPosted: 12/30/21Updated: 01/30/24
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DFDairy FreeGFGluten FreeKKetoLCLow CarbPPaleo30Whole30
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These creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs are absolutely delicious. Crispy skin and tender inside, chicken thighs are coated in a creamy sauce with salty, crispy bacon, earthy mushrooms, and fresh thyme. These creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs might become your favorite quick Whole30 dinner recipe! But for a quick Whole30 dinner recipe, these creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs are totally dinner party worthy.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
- As soon as I tasted the very first bite of these creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs, I knew it was love. The salty, crispy bacon; the earthy mushrooms with their perfect sear; the garlicky, creamy sauce; the heady herbs; and the tender chicken thighs with their crispy skin? True love, plain and simple.
- This recipe is easy enough for a quick Whole30 dinner on a weeknight when you don’t really have a ton of time for something extravagant, but it’s also elegant enough for those nights when you have company to impress. And don’t worry about whether or not your non-Whole-30 friends will enjoy it – they absolutely will.
- Clean-up is a BREEZE because this bacon mushroom chicken dish is a ONE-PAN MEAL. Yup! All the cooking happens in just one large oven-safe skillet. No sink full of dirty dishes looming over you while you eat.
More Delicious Chicken Thigh Recipes
Key Ingredients
Chicken Thighs – Opt for bone-in, skin-on thighs here. The skin crisps up beautifully, and the bone keeps the chicken thighs tender and juicy. You could use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts if you’d prefer, but the cooking time will change slightly since they contain less fat than the chicken thighs.
Coconut Milk – Keeping this recipe totally Whole30-compliant, coconut milk forms the base of this cream sauce. It’s totally dairy free, but it still gives you a rich, creamy sauce, and it won’t overwhelm your dish with coconut flavor.
Chef’s Tips
- To get a really nice, browned skin on the chicken thighs, it’s important that you put them in the skillet and leave them alone. Don’t move them around or pick them up to check them or flip them over constantly. Put them in the skillet and leave them alone for 7 minutes or so. After that, gently pick them up – if the skin sticks at all, set them back down and let them cook a little longer.
- If you’re NOT on a Whole30 round and/or you’re NOT paleo, you can make the cream sauce with heavy cream instead of coconut cream. Add in a little freshly grated parmesan cheese for extra richness and depth. But ONLY IF you’re not following Whole30/paleo ways of eating. No dairy allowed on those!
- All of the cooking in this Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thigh recipe takes place in just one skillet. Just one! Make sure you’ve got a good oven mitt handy, though. The skillet will be super hot and you’ll need to handle it quite a bit.
Try These Whole30 Recipes Next
- Whole30 Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla-Less Soup (Paleo)
- Whole30 Chicken Burrito Bowls (Keto, Paleo)
- Egg Roll in a Bowl Meal Prep (Whole30, Paleo, Keto)
- Whole30 Fried Chicken and Mashed Potato Bowl with Gravy
- Whole30 Chicken Cacciatore
4.99 from 59 votes
Creamy Whole30 Bacon Mushroom Chicken Thighs (Paleo)
Prep:15 minutes minutes
Cook:30 minutes minutes
Total:45 minutes minutes
These creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs are absolutely delicious. Crispy skin and tender inside, chicken thighs are coated in a creamy sauce with salty, crispy bacon, earthy mushrooms, and fresh thyme. These creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs might become your favorite quick Whole30 dinner recipe! But for a quick Whole30 dinner recipe, these creamy Whole30 bacon mushroom chicken thighs are totally dinner party worthy.
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4 servings
Ingredients
- 5 slices Whole30-compliant bacon diced
- 4 medium bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs approximately 1 ½ pounds
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms about 3 cups, sliced
- 2-3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 sprigs fresh thyme
Equipment
Large oven-safe skillet
Plates (2)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. In large oven-safe skillet, cook diced bacon over medium heat until bacon is crisp and fat is rendered. Transfer cooked bacon to plate. Pour out bacon grease, leaving 1-2 tablespoons grease in skillet. Raise heat to medium-high.
Liberally season both sides of each chicken thigh with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Place seasoned chicken thighs in skillet, skin-side down. Place them carefully in such a way that they will cook evenly without needing to be moved. Let chicken thighs cook approximately 7 minutes or until skin is evenly browned and releases easily from skillet. Note: if skin sticks to skillet, continue cooking until skin releases easily.
Flip chicken thighs over so skin-side faces up. Transfer skillet to preheated oven and cook 13 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160º Fahrenheit.
Remove skillet from oven and carefully transfer chicken thighs to another plate. Place skillet on the stovetop and turn heat to medium-high. Take special care to always, always use a pot holder from this step forward; the handle will stay very hot.
Pour out all but 2 tablespoons of fat from skillet. Add sliced mushrooms and cook approximately 4 minutes, stirring only once, or until mushrooms are golden brown and slightly softened.
Add garlic cloves and sauté, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, approximately 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Pour coconut milk into skillet and add salt and fresh thyme. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to gentle boil, then immediately reduce heat to low. Simmer mixture approximately 2 to 4 minutes, until flavors have blended and sauce has reduced slightly.
Add bacon to sauce and stir well. Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired. Return chicken thighs to skillet and coat with sauce. Serve warm with mashed potatoes or cauliflower rice and some leafy greens.
Notes
- To get a really nice, browned skin on the chicken thighs, it’s important that you put them in the skillet and leave them alone. Don’t move them around or pick them up to check them or flip them over constantly. Put them in the skillet and leave them alone for 7 minutes or so. After that, gently pick them up – if the skin sticks at all, set them back down and let them cook a little longer.
- If you’re NOT on a Whole30 round and/or you’re NOT paleo, you can make the cream sauce with heavy cream instead of coconut cream. Add in a little freshly grated parmesan cheese for extra richness and depth. But ONLY IF you’re not following Whole30/paleo ways of eating. No dairy allowed on those!
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1serving, Calories: 561cal, Protein: 30g, Fat: 47g, Saturated Fat: 21g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 160mg, Sodium: 460mg, Potassium: 756mg, Total Carbs: 6g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Net Carbs: 5g, Vitamin A: 200IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 57mg, Iron: 4mg
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
© Author: Cheryl Malik
Meet Cheryl Malik
In addition to being a certified health coach, certified yoga instructor, and mom of 3, Cheryl is also the recipe developer, editor-in-chief, food photographer, and passionate foodie behind 40 Aprons. Having spent the last 10+ years as a food blogger, she's become known for her flavorful recipes, detailed instructions, gorgeous photography, and down-to-earth approach to food and cooking in general.
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- Shannon says
Really tasty dish! Pretty easy too. I let the chicken simmer in the sauce for about 20-30 minutes, and it became very tender. Adding this recipe to my biweekly rotation for sure!
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- Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
It’s such a great meal to keep in rotation! Thanks for sharing, Shannon!
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- Jess Coplans says
OMG so good!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
- Jessica | 40 Aprons Team says
So glad you loved this, Jess! 🙂
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