Chicken Fried Bacon, is your mind blown yet? You’ve heard of chicken fried steak, country fried steak, even the Zac Brown band song Chicken Fried. But chances are you haven’t heard of Chicken Fried Bacon served with Cream Gravy.
Chicken Fried Bacon is thick cut bacon dredged in seasoned flour, like chicken fried steak, and then fried to a golden brown and served with Cream Gravy.
Deep Fried Bacon
I hadn’t either until a few days ago. I had a friend who posted a picture of it on Facebook and I had *mind blown* moment. Was this a novelty?
I Googled it. Nope, turns out Chicken Fried Bacon is a dish commonly served in Texas.
Basically a deep fried bacon. Deep fried bacon tossed in seasoned flour.
Which is odd because I lived in Texas for a period of time and never once heard of it or remembered seeing it on a menu.
But, hey, why not. Everything tastes good battered and fried, right?
How to Make
The technique behind Chicken Fried Bacon is exactly like chicken fried steak. I used a seasoned flour suitable for a fried chicken recipe, but instead of chicken or beef, I used a thick cut bacon.
Fry it up golden brown and pair it was a simple cream gravy and there you have it!
Choose Your Bacon Wisely
I would suggest making sure you have a quality thick cut bacon before proceeding. This recipe won’t work with a piece of flimsy, fatty bacon. If you watch the video, you’ll clearly see that these bacon strips were no joke.
At nearly 1/4 inch thick each with little fat, they were perfect for the job. I got these special from the meat counter.
Creamy Gravy
The cream gravy recipe is as simple as it gets. The flavor comes from developing a nutty flour and butter mix known as a roux. The deeper the color and more fragrant it gets, the better flavor of your gravy.
I also go heavy on the pepper for my cream gravy. Feel free to season it however you’d like or even use duck fat or rendered bacon grease instead of butter.
I used light cream, as it doesn’t need to be heavy or whipping to get thick after using a roux, but you can certianly substitute those in if you’d like.
If you gravy gets too thick, remove it from the heat and add milk by the tablespoon until it thins to your desired consistency.
Tools:
Heavy Bottom Sauce Pan – You’ll need a heavy bottom sauce pan for this type of recipe so it heats evenly and doesn’t burn.
Whisk – Sounds simple, but having a quality whisk is key! I have several in different sizes for different jobs.
Glass pie plates – My glass pie plates get used more frequently for marinating, dredging and breading than they do for actually baking pies. I recommend having at least three for these types of processes.
Cast Iron Skillet – there is nothing better to fry something in than cast iron.
You’ll like these other comfort food recipes:
- Buttermilk Fried Chicken
- Best BBQ Ribs
- Slow Cooker Mac and Cheese
- Fried Green Tomatoes
- Easy Chili
- Beef Stew
Chili Cheese Dip
How to Boil Hot Dogs
Best Hush Puppy Recipe
Chicken Fried Bacon
Ingredients
Chicken Fried Bacon:
- 1 pound thick cut bacon cut in half
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3/4 cup flour
- Vegetable oil for frying
Cream Gravy:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups cream
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Instructions
- Whisk egg and milk together in a shallow dish or pie plate.
- In a different shallow dish, mix together flour, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika.
- Dredge each strip of thick cut bacon in egg, then flour and repeat. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a frying pan over med-high heat.
- Fry until each strip is golden brown. The cooking time vary greatly based on the thickness of your bacon. The average will be about 4-5 minutes per strip. Flip halfway to ensure even browning.
- To make cream gravy, melt butter in a heavy bottom sauce pan over medium high heat. Add flour, whisking together until it forms a paste. Continue to whisk until it turns a dark brown and smells nutty.
- Whisk in cream, ground pepper and salt.
- Continue to whisk for 2-3 minutes or until cream gravy starts to thicken Remove from heat.
- Serve cream gravy with chicken fried bacon.
Wow, this bacon is seriously next level. Now I’m hooked on this too!
O. M. Deliciousness! I’m not even going to tell my family I’m making this. I’m going to surprise them with it and watch the looks on their faces.
Oh you genius! I love anything chicken fried, and I love bacon so this is a mashup I can totally get behind.
Woahhhh chicken fried bacon is just a fantastic idea! Soooo tasty!
This is now on top of my favorites list. It is amazing having two my favorites combined. Thank you for sharing this recipe. We’re having this again tonight.