Nom :: Bacon-Wrapped Chicken & Cheesey Pepper Sauce

This is one of my go-to recipes mostly because I have it memorized.  We don't have this all that often, but I've been making it since college & everyone who has ever had it has loved it.  Warning :: This is not a skinny recipe. It is just delicious & that is all.

Ingredients:

About 1 lb. of chicken breast tenderloins or chicken breasts, sliced into tenders (below are about .8 lbs.)
Bacon--enough slices to wrap around your chicken
1 can of condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/4 c. skim milk
1 tsp. red pepper flakes OR 1 can of diced green chiles (adjust this to your tastebuds and how hot you like things!)

Steps:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Do any trimming of your chicken, and spiral wrap a piece of bacon around each tender.  It should look like this:

perfect wrapping done by b

2.  Once you pop your chicken in the oven, set the timer for about 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  This will vary depending on how large your tenders are cut/if you cut them yourself from chicken breasts.  Usually 15-20 minutes is right on the money.

3.  With your timer going, begin the sauce.  In a small saucepan, combine the cheddar cheese soup, milk, and red pepper flakes or green chilies over low heat (3-4).  You want this to slowly meld the pepper/chile flavor and cheesey goodness together, so leave it on low and adjust as necessary.

4.  Once the timer goes off, take your chicken out and preheat your broiler to high or in my case, 500 degrees.  When the broiler is hot, the chicken goes back in so the bacon can crisp up!

:: I can't emphasize enough how much the time will vary on this part ::

I broiled mine for about 5 minutes on each side, maybe 6 or 7 sometimes if we thought it wasn't crispy enough.  In other ovens where I've made this recipe, it's been more like 3-4 minutes.  Bottom line is just to keep an eye on it at this point.

5.  Once the bacon is crispy perfection, take it out of the oven, and serve 3-4 tenders covered in delicious cheesey pepper sauce!

my #1 husband pleasing meal (bacon+cheese+spice=love)

Linking up for Taste of Tuesday!