Bacon Wrapped Stuffed BBQ Chicken

If you haven’t spent the last few weekends outdoors and grilling, what the heck are you waiting for?! Summer is the perfect time for enjoying time outdoors and making delicious meals while you’re out there.

The nice thing about Hawaii is that is always feels like grilling season, which means that I’ve had plenty of practice making the dish that I’m sharing today. Considering it includes many of my favorite ingredients- bacon, BBQ sauce, and cream cheese, this stuffed chicken recipe has become one of my favorite grilling recipes. It’s sweet, salty, savory, all in the same bite. You really can’t ask for more!

Lately, I’ve taken a liking to pounding chicken. Call me crazy, but there a few things better than getting your frustration out with a mallet. After slicing each chicken breast into equal halves, pound them between sheets of plastic wrap to about a quarter inch thick. Gotta have the plastic wrap to avoid splattering salmonella all over your kitchen!

You then drop a heaping spoon of cream cheese and diced banana peppers onto the narrowest end of the chicken. Make sure to taste a few spoonfuls before it too catches the salmonella. The stuffing is good!

Roll up each piece of chicken before wrapping it in bacon. The way I do it, is to wrap once slice lengthwise around the chicken to cover up the open ends and not allow the cream cheese to seep out while cooking. I then take two more slices of bacon and wrap them around the entire chicken roll. Two tooth picks is all it takes to secure the bacon to the chicken and the chicken to itself.

A nice BBQ sauce bath is the last step before setting your rolls of goodness on the cool (not hot?) side of your grill. Give it about 35-40 minutes, flipping once, and then place on the hot part of the grill to get a nice crispy char.

My favorite way to serve this chicken is with oven-roasted potatoes, but honestly it goes well with just about any side dish!