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Home » Chicken Tapenade with Bacon

Chicken Tapenade with Bacon

By Kim Hardesty

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This easy chicken tapenade recipe boasts juicy pan seared boneless-skinless chicken breast with a piquant sauce of bacon, caper, olives lemon, and butter. It’s a great one pan, 30-minute entre with stand-out flavor. Perfect for low carb and keto diets.

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Chicken tapenade with a piquant sauce of bacon, caper, lemon, olives, and butter, shows low carb eating at it's best.

THIS POST INCLUDES AFFILIATE LINKS TO SHARE THE THINGS I LOVE.

Although I am a bona fide steak-lover, chicken is the protein of choice at my house. I have tons of chicken recipes on the blog, some of which include this chicken cacciatore, chicken tarragon, and my favorite chicken with poblano cream sauce. We really get our chicken on in this house! Lol.

One of the things I like about chicken is that it’s easy to cook and its neutral flavor goes well with many spices, seasonings, and sauces. It also tastes great served with any low carb vegetables (see low carb vegetable list). Chicken can be grilled, smoked, poached, roasted, baked, fried, or sautéed. But for me, searing or sauteing chicken in a pan is one of the easiest and fastest cooking methods – at least that’s my experience.

This chicken tapenade is full of piquant (pleasantly appetizing) flavor. Did you say the word “piquant” in a Thurston Howell III accent like I did? I just couldn’t help myself. For those of you who were not children of the ’70’s, that was a “Gilligan’s Island” reference! Anyhoo…

Chicken tapenade with bacon, capers, lemon, olives, and butter, shows low carb eating at it's best.

Tapenade with Bacon

I played around with tapenade recipes for a client. I liked this one so much, I kept it for myself. It goes great with chicken, pork and fish.

Tapenade is made of chopped olives, garlic, capers, herbs, an acid, and olive oil. It can be left more chunky or processed into a paste-like consistency. It’s a great condiment to slather over bread or added as a pop of flavor to roasted vegetables or meat.

This tapenade version has a smoky component via bacon. Its chunky texture beautifully shows-off each ingredient, which is striking against the chicken breasts. A little wine, cream, butter and lemon juice combine to make a flavorful glistening sauce.

How to Make Chicken Tapenade

Like many of my favorite recipes, this one starts with cooking bacon. Then, boneless-skinless chicken breasts are seared and browned in the pan. Next, a quick-and-dirty pan sauce is made with more of my favorite things like shallots, lemon juice, white wine, capers, and cream. This chunky sauce is poured over the chicken and you’re good to go with restaurant quality flavor.

Conclusion

This chicken tapenade is the perfect week night dinner because the prep-work for the dish is completed while the bacon cooks. Then, there’s time to prepare a side while the chicken cooks resulting in a whole meal that’s ready in 20-30 minutes. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty great to me.

Pan seared chicken with a piquant sauce of bacon, caper, lemon, olives, and butter, shows low carb eating at it's best.

Chicken Tapenade with Bacon

This easy chicken tapenade recipe boasts juicy pan seared chicken breasts with a piquant sauce of bacon, capers, olives, lemon, and butter. 
4.86 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 330kcal
Author: lowcarbmaven.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 pounds boneless-skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 slices bacon, cubed
  • 1/4 cup shallot, sliced
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • 1 tablespoon capers, not rinsed
  • 5 small green olives chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preparation:

  • Let the chicken breasts or cutlets come to room temperature for 30 minutes.
  • Pound the cutlets until they are more uniform in thickness for even cooking.
  • Dry the chicken, rub all surfaces with 1 tablespoon of oil, then salt and pepper both sides.
  • Slice the bacon into 1/4-1/2 inch squares.

Bacon:

  • Place a frying pan (not a cast iron skillet or your sauce will turn gray) over medium heat and add the bacon. Stir after two minutes and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp - about 6 minutes total. Remove the bacon and leave 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan. If your bacon was lean, add olive oil.

Chicken:

  • Place the chicken in the pan so it isn't touching and cook for 4 minutes or until the chicken turns white 1/2 way up the thickest part. Flip the chicken and cook for 4 minutes more or until the chicken is firm when pressed with your finger, or the internal temperature is 160 degrees. Remove to a plate and cover loosely with a piece of foil.

Sauce:

  • Add the shallots to the pan. Turn the heat down to medium-low and saute the shallots for 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the wine. Turn the heat back to medium and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until the about 1 tablespoon of wine is left and then add the cream and water; stir. Add the butter, lemon juice and the accumulated juice from the chicken to the pan and bring to a simmer, reducing slightly until it sauce looks glossy and velvety. Add the capers, bacon, olives and parsley, heating through.
  • Serve: Place the chicken on individual serving plates and top with the sauce.
  • Serves 4 at 2 g carbs each.

Notes

Salt until the flavors in the sauce stand out but aren't salty. Then, add enough pepper to make the sauce taste savory.
Nutrition Facts
Chicken Tapenade with Bacon
Amount Per Serving
Calories 330 Calories from Fat 198
% Daily Value*
Fat 22g34%
Carbohydrates 2.11g1%
Fiber 0.04g0%
Protein 28g56%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 330kcal | Carbohydrates: 2.11g | Protein: 28g | Fat: 22g | Fiber: 0.04g

About Kim Hardesty

Kim HardestyKim is a self taught cook with over 30 years experience in the kitchen. She develops and tests low carb and keto recipes in her California home. She began her low carb journey in 2009 and at the urging of friends, started blogging in 2014. Kim shares delicious low carb and keto recipes no one would believe are sugar-free. Her recipes are featured in newsstand publications and on sites all over the internet.

View all posts by Kim Hardesty | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

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Filed Under: Bacon, Chicken, Dinner Tagged With: One Pan, Under 30 Minutes

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  1. AvatarNancy

    January 7, 2019 at 5:38 pm

    Very good. I healed e recipe and used 1/2 & 1/2 isead of cream. Delicious. Thanks or he recipe.

    Reply
  2. AvatarNancy

    January 7, 2019 at 4:22 pm

    Can I use half and half instead of wavy cream? Thanks. It sounds good.

    Reply
  3. AvatarSandra

    August 31, 2018 at 11:49 am

    Well I have to share a failure. I decided to bake and coat the chicken and it turned out terrible. The chicken itself was great but the armour that I playfully call coating was terrible

    Reply
    • KimKim

      August 31, 2018 at 2:42 pm

      Oh, no, Sandra! I’m sorry to hear about your failure. I like using a mixture of Parmesan Cheese and pork rind dust for my coating, but I have mixed almond flour and Parmesan Cheese before, too.

      It is so easy to cook the chicken for this recipe in a skillet, and that is how the flavor for the sauce builds. I wish you better luck in your next cooking adventure! Have a nice evening. -Kim

      Reply
  4. AvatarChristina G

    June 28, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    This is really good. But I do suggest rinsing the olives and capers. With salting the chicken, plus the bacon, plus the olives and capers, without rinsing, it’s way too salty. I just made it tonight for the second time, and it was much better.

    Reply
    • KimKim

      July 6, 2018 at 10:38 am

      Thank you Christina, for sharing your thoughts. I’ll make a note in the recipe. Enjoy your day. -Kim

      Reply
  5. AvatarJean

    June 3, 2018 at 6:20 am

    Hi Kim
    I am making this dish for the second time. Restaurant quality recipe. Love your site.

    Reply
    • KimKim

      June 3, 2018 at 6:46 pm

      I’m so glad you like this recipe, Jean. I love it, too. Thanks for taking the time to let me know and for rating it. Have a wonderful week. -Kim

      Reply
  6. AvatarCarol

    October 22, 2016 at 9:22 am

    I tried this recipe and it was delish! I wasn’t sure about adding the bacon back in since the recipe didn’t state this, but I did.

    Reply
    • KimKim

      October 22, 2016 at 11:27 am

      Carol, I’m glad you liked the recipe. Yes, adding the bacon back was the right move. I’ll go fix that right now. Have a great weekend! -Kim

      Reply
  7. AvatarTaryn

    September 28, 2016 at 10:15 am

    This looks amazing!

    Reply
    • KimKim

      September 28, 2016 at 11:13 am

      Thanks Taryn! -Kim

      Reply
  8. AvatarKatrin

    September 21, 2016 at 10:50 am

    Kim, this looks OMG incredible. Capers and lemon together with bacon… and white wine?! This combo is divine.

    Reply
    • KimKim

      September 21, 2016 at 11:21 am

      Thank you so much, Katrin! My family just loved it. Thanks for the nice comment. -Kim

      Reply
  9. AvatarTez @ Chile and Salt

    September 20, 2016 at 8:03 pm

    Hi Kim, So glad I just found your site from IG. I`ve recently started to follow a low carb regimen & this is definitely going to be an inspiration!to Am LOVING your photos & the recipes are so easy to follow! Subscribing now & please keep the recipes coming. Can`t wait to check out your older posts!!

    Reply
    • KimKim

      September 21, 2016 at 9:45 am

      Tez, it’s an absolute pleasure to hear from you. I do a fair amount of drooling over the photos of your latest culinary creations on your IG! Thank you for your kind words! A word to the wise…. don’t dig too far into the archives! I have some horrible posts that I still need to update and just plain old delete! Lol. Thanks again and have a great week. -Kim

      Reply
  10. AvatarStacey

    September 20, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    This looks fantastic. Always looking for new chicken recipes ?

    Reply
    • KimKim

      September 20, 2016 at 4:29 pm

      Aww, thanks Stacey! -Kim

      Reply
  11. AvatarGeorgina

    September 20, 2016 at 10:37 am

    I haven’t used capers in ages! Thanks for the reminder!

    Reply

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Kim HardestyHi, I'm Kim. I love coffee, steak, and love to bake. Are you looking for great Low Carb, Keto recipes that taste like the real thing? You're in the right place! Sign up for my NEWSLETTER and never miss a post!


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