Juicy chicken wrapped in sizzling turkey bacon
Who doesn’t love sizzling and crispy bacon? I know I do and now I can make it into a meal! This sassy dish is full of flavour and because it’s cooked in the air fryer, you are biting into crispy bacon with a cheesy and tender chicken core.
This meal can be a satisfying lunch meal or a light dinner meal or even a great cocktail dish for your parties!
Things to note:
Air Fryer: Depending on the shape and the size of your air fryer, you may need to cook the turkey wraps in batches. In my Consori air fryer with a 5.8 quarts (5.5 litres) capacity and it has a square basket , I was able to fit seven pieces of turkey wrap in one cooking setting.
If you have an oval shaped basket or a smaller capacity air fryer, you would need to split the cooking into two batches. To get the best results when cooking in your air fryer is to avoid overcrowding the basket. Because overcrowding would result in uneven cooking of the food.
Bacon: I have chosen turkey bacon because I find it less fatty than regular bacon. However, you can use regular bacon instead. Bacon strips would be easier to wrap around the chicken breast.
Toothpicks: Wooden toothpicks will need to be soaked in water for a minimum of 10 minutes to prevent burning. Please note that if you decide to use strips of regular bacon, you do not have to use toothpicks as regular bacon holds better when wrapped around the chicken.
Tools: You can opt not to use any oil to spray the air fryer alternatively you could use parchment paper made especially for air fryers.
Internal temperature for chicken: It has been recommended by the US Department of Agriculture that chicken should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) in order for it to be safe to eat. Therefore use a temperature probe to check the temperature of the chicken once it is cooked.
Serving Suggestions:
- Roasted butternut squash/pumpkin or air fried garlic butternut squash/pumpkin.
- Steamed broccolini with some garlic and salt.
- Stir fried brussels sprouts with garlic and oyster sauce or air fried garlic brussels sprouts.
- Grilled cauliflower in air fryer.
- Air fried mushrooms and zucchini.
- Your favourite salads. My favourite light salad is leafy greens with cherry tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.
- Grainy brown rice tossed with cherry tomatoes, chopped spinach, shallots (spring onion), balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add a few drops of lemon juice for zest.
Simple air fried chicken wrapped in turkey bacon recipe
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Wooden toothpicks
- Tongs
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 600 grams Chicken Breast
- 200 grams Turkey Bacon
- Pesto paste
- Grated cheese or sliced cheese I use tasty cheese but mozzarella is great too
Meat marinade
- 5 tablespoons Soy Sauce
- 4 tablespoons Oyster Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Mixed Italian dried herbs
- 1 tablespoon Crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
Instructions
- Cut the chicken breast in half so that the breast length is shortened.
- Combine the chicken breast pieces with the meat marinade ingredients.
- Let the chicken pieces marinade for at least 45 minutes. For best flavours leave the chicken pieces in the marinade over night.
- Grate the cheese or if the cheese is in slices cut the slices into four small squares.
- Soak skewers in water for at least 10 minutes.
- Once the meat is done marinating you can start wrapping the bacon around the chicken pieces.
- Lay a slice of turkey bacon on the chopping board.
- Spread some pesto paste along the bacon strip.
- Sprinkle some grated cheese or place the squares of sliced cheese along the bacon strip.
- Place one piece of chicken breast at the bottom of the bacon strip and roll upwards so that the bacon strip wraps around the chicken. Wrap it tightly so that all the ingredients are holding tightly in a roll.
- Use one toothpick and pierce the roll on one end moving diagonally towards the other end. Then do the same with another toothpick on piercing the other end. These toothpicks should hold the roll in form while cooking.
- Pre-heat the air fryer with a temperature of 175 degrees Celsius (347degrees Fahrenheit) for 2 minutes.
- Spray some oil in the Air Fryer basket. Alternatively, you can use Air Fryer parchment paper.
- Pull the air fryer basket out after the pre-heating is completed. Make sure to use tongs, as the air fryer basket is hot after the pre-heating, and place the chicken and bacon rolls in a single layer in the air fryer basket.
- Set the air fryer at 175 degrees Celsius (347 degrees Fahrenheit) for 25 minutes. Then place the basket back into the air fryer for grilling.
- When the timer has reached 15 minutes pull the air fryer basket out and turn the chicken and bacon rolls around.
- Place the chicken and bacon rolls back into the air fryer for the remaining 10 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius (347 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Pull out the air fryer basket when the air fryer has finished grilling.
- Use cooking thermometer to check that chicken has been cooked through at 165 degrees Celsius (329 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Take the chicken and bacon rolls out with tongs and serve with your favourite sides (look at serving suggestions above for some ideas).
