This Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce dish is the perfect, speedy Springtime dinner. On the table in just 25 minutes, it goes great with mash, but our favourite way to eat it is with roast potatoes. If I’m cooking it on a weeknight I totally cheat and use shop-bought frozen roasties to save a heap of time.
If you’ve never seen lettuce in a cooked recipe before, please don’t be put off! It really works so well in this dish. Think of it as a lighter alternatively to cabbage or spring greens. Plus if you have young kids, you should find the milder taste and softer texture of the lettuce is much more palatable.
And yes, the double cream and bacon in this meal does push it over to the more indulgent side, but all in moderation I say!
Wondering how to adapt this recipe for your family? See here >
The Stars of my Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce Dish
The Chicken
Go for a pack of diced chicken instead of chopping up chicken breasts yourself as this will save you time. If there are some really large dices of breast in your pack though, just slice those in half. You can of course buy chicken breasts if you prefer, and dice them into roughly one inch pieces.
When you seal the chicken with the bacon, it doesn’t need to brown and it won’t at those timings when cooked with the bacon. I wanted to keep the cook time down to make this meal suitable for weeknights, however, you can of course brown the chicken pieces first, remove and then fry your bacon if you prefer.
The Bacon
Use smoked streaky or back bacon if you prefer less fat. I’ve given a quantity bracket for the bacon so you can choose how much you’d like to use. To keep on the healthier side, or to eat more sustainably, go for just half a pack of bacon.
The best way to chop the bacon is to use clean kitchen scissors. Just snip the wedge of bacon into dice.
The Lettuce
I always use two little gem lettuce for this dish, but if you can’t get those or to save money, you can use a large sweet gem lettuce instead. Starting at the top leafy end slice down thinly until you get about an inch away from the bottom stalk. That can be discarded.
The Cream
Use double cream (or heavy whipping cream US) to keep the sauce on the thicker side. If you are worried about it not being healthy enough - then this meal isn’t for you!
The Peas
I use frozen garden peas but petit pois will work here too if that’s all you have.
The Spring Onions
Instead of white onions, we are going to use a bunch of spring onions (green onions US). Thinly slice the light green and white parts.
Prep my Creamy Bacon, Chicken & Lettuce Ahead
The lettuce, spring onions and bacon can be prepared in advance and stored in lidded or covered prep bowls in the fridge. If you’ve chosen to dice whole chicken breasts, this can also be done in advance. Just ensure you keep raw prepared meat in it’s own section within your fridge.
My Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce Dish Pairs Perfectly With…
Feed a Crowd
To double up on this Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce recipe I would recommend frying the chicken and bacon in step 1 in two batches.
Storing My Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce Dish
I wouldn’t recommend storing and reheating this meal as the lettuce will go very limp. Also, if you freeze it, the cream could curdle a little - although the taste will be fine and it will be safe to eat. If you still want to store and reheat my Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce leftovers, store in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). You can also freeze them, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat until steaming hot all the way through.
For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >
Diet Details
My Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce dish is gluten, nut and egg-free.
Adapting My Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce Dish For Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, to help make it easier for you to eat together as a family.
Keeping Picky Eaters Happy
If you have a child who doesn’t like meals with creamy sauces, dish theirs up using a slotted spoon.
See more from me on fussy eaters here >
Making My Creamy Bacon, Chicken and Lettuce dish Suitable for Baby Weaning
Babies under 12 months should not have processed meats like bacon. Also bacon is very salty and the salt from it will seep into the sauce which is not good for baby. I recommend you fry the bacon separately in a frying pan and add into the chicken pan once baby’s serving has been removed. Stir in well.
How to Serve to Babies & Toddlers
BABY-LED WEANING
Use forks to shred the chicken finely. You’ll also need to smash the peas down with the back of a teaspoon for babies under 12 months.
SPOON FED-WEANING
6 months
Add their serving, along with some potato to your stick blender pot or food chopper (if you have that one that purées) and whizz into a purée. Add a little warm boiled water to loosen as needed.
7-9 months
Add some of the chicken and lettuce sauce to your food chopper along with some potato. Use short sharp pulses to finely chop, checking and adding a little warm no or low-salt chicken stock or warm boiled water to loosen as you go.
10-12 months
Add their serving and some potato to your food chopper pot. Gradually pulse, just a few times then check the consistency. It should lumpy with small chicken pieces. If it needs loosening, add a little warm no or low-salt chicken stock.
12 month + Transitioning Period
Shred the chicken pieces using forks and slice through the lettuce.
Toddlers
Chop the chicken into bite-size pieces. You can chop up larger pieces of lettuce if you like.
I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals suitable for baby weaning, read here >
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CREAMY BACON, CHICKEN AND LETTUCE
Equipment
- Chef’s knife + chopping board
- Garlic crusher , optional
Ingredients
- A glug of olive oil
- 650 g diced chicken
- ½ - 1 pack smoked bacon, diced
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped/crushed
- 1 bunch of spring onions (green onions US), thinly sliced white & light green parts
- Black pepper to taste
- 150 ml double cream (heavy whipping cream US)
- 200 g garden peas
- 2 little gem lettuce sliced (discard bottom inch) or 1 large sweet gem
For baby weaning tweaks see Notes
Instructions
- Heat the oil a large bottomed non-stick pan on a high heat and add the bacon and chicken. Fry for about 6 mins, until the chicken is sealed all around.
- Then add the garlic, spring onions and black pepper and fry, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Then add in the peas, cream, spring onions and black pepper. Stir and bring to a steady simmer. Add the lettuce, give it a stir and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Baby & Toddler
BABY-LED WEANING
Using forks, shred the chicken finely. Smash the peas down with the back of a spoon for babies under 12 months.SPOON FEEDING
6 MONTHS transfer to your stick blender pot along with their potato. Whizz until puréed. Add a little warm boiled water and sauce from the meal to thin out as needed. 7-12 MONTHS transfer to your mini-chopper with their potato. Pulse slowly until you reach the right consistency for your little one. As a guide: finely chopped for 7-9 month olds (and more liquid added) or a more lumpy, chopped consistency for 9-12 month olds. Add more sauce and a little chicken stock as needed. 1 YEAR + chop through the lettuce with a sharp knife and fork and cut chicken into small bitesize pieces.YOUNGER CHILDREN & FUSSY EATERS
STORAGE
Nutrition
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