I’m sorry but I think I’ve added every low carb cliche in this recipe – meat, bacon and cream. But I have been wanting to make low carb tarragon chicken for so long now, it was an absolute favourite of ours.
I would cook it in cider and add flour to thicken the sauce, read to see how I have managed to delete both of those from my low carb version.
Low Carb Tarragon Chicken – with a creamy bacon sauce
This recipe is equally perfect for a special meal for guests, and as a family meal. My children love low carb tarragon chicken and will fight over the scrape out of the sauce. Guests won’t even realise this is a low carb meal, and as with most meals, it is what you serve the meal with that will determine if it is low carb or not.
So instead or potatoes, rice or bread to be served, make simple changes to mashed cauliflower, leafy greens and non starchy vegetables. Shown in the photo is zucchini and parmesan bake, see the full recipe here.
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Note :: Do not use spreadable cream cheese or low fat cream cheese, it will not thicken the sauce properly. Use regular, full fat, solid cream cheese in all it’s glory.
Low-Carb Tarragon Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
Low Carb Tarragon Chicken
- 6 chicken breasts or cut of choice
- 6 slices bacon
- 1 tbsp tarragon or a handful of fresh tarragon
Sauce
- 110 g cream cheese regular full fat
- 375 ml heavy whipping cream
- salt to taste
Instructions
Tarragon Chicken Wrapped In Bacon
- With each chicken breast, make a few knife cuts into the thickest part of the meat, this helps with evenly cooking the meat.
- Push some tarragon into the cuts and sprinkle tarragon on both sides.
- Wrap each piece of chicken in a slice of bacon (you may need 1 or 2 slices depending on size of chicken and size of bacon).
- Place the wrapped chicken into a greased baking dish. Cover the baking dish with a lid or foil to stop the chicken from drying out and to reserve all the juices for the sauce.
- Cook at 180C/350F for 20-30 minutes until the centre of each chicken breast is completely cooked.
- Remove the lid or foil and drain the juices from the baking dish into a saucepan. Place the bacon wrapped chicken back into the oven without the lid or foil and cook for 5 minutes until the bacon is golden. Start making the sauce.
Sauce
- In the saucepan that has the reserved juices from the bacon and chicken, add the cream cheese, heavy cream and some extra tarragon. Heat gently, and using a whisk stir continuously until there are no lumps of cream cheese. Add salt to taste. It may not need much as the juices from the bacon/chicken may be salty already.
Notes
Nutrition
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Is heavy cream same as double cream?
Yes.
Thanks Libby, made this last night, sauce worked a treat, YUM. But I made mistake of using whole boned chicken thighs and bunched them up in glass casserole dish. They didn’t cook after 40 mins prob because of bulk and being in together, and maybe being straight from fridge. Next time if I use thighs I’ll go with roasting dish for more room and just cover with foil.
I think you have a typo on the Protein content. For 130 grams chicken it should be more like 21 plus grams protein (I didn’t add in the small bacon protein)rather than the 11 grams listed.
Thanks Judith, you are correct. I went back and checked my recipe I save in chronometer.com and indeed I had only added 1 chicken breast not 6 so I was completely out of whack here. Updated and correct. Thank you for such sharp attention. Libby.
I made this last night for my husband and I and we thought it was wonderful! One tip: I only had thick bacon in the house so I precooked it in a skillet for 2 minutes per side. It then finished cooking up beautifully in the oven. I used bone in chicken thighs but put them on a baking tray spread apart so they came out succulent and perfectly cooked. Thanks for an excellent recipe.
Excellent dish!!! Everyone loved it. Thank you so much for such a gourmet treat!
Thanks Melodie, this is the dish I always used to make when I was first going out with my (now) husband.
What a delicious sounding recipe Libby! This is definitely one I will have to make soon!
I made this last night and it is awesome!! Of course, l only had the lower fat cream cheese in the fridge, so I added a bit of a good cheddar. I also didn’t have tarragon so I used dried thyme. I accidentally left the sauce simmering while I was talking to my neighbor, so I had no issue thickening the sauce as others stated. I used 4 chicken breasts for a family of 3 and I wound up eating leftovers for lunch for the remainder of the week. This is a very rich and filling dish, half a chicken breast for a serving is bordering on too much.
I’m new to this blog and find there’s so much information, so many recipes, 🙂 I can’t get enough!! I highly recommend making this incredible dish. I tried it because I love tarragon – and this creamy, delicious concoction was amazing. Easy to make, low carb, yummy and hubby approved! Thank you Libby.
Thank you Lynn for such a kind and wonderful comment this morning. Libby.
Confused re the reference to solid cream cheese. In the UK I only see it in tubs, it’s full fat but spreadable but I wouldn’t call it solid. Could someone please direct me to the correct product to buy.
The old style philly used to come in a block so I’m assuming the full fat tub is the same just different packaging. Would love someone more knowledgeable to add to this
This is the full fat Philadelphia that I use and can purchase here in NZ. For me, the spreadable cream cheese comes in a tub, and apart from being higher in carbs, it doesn’t work for so many recipes as as soon as it is heated, seems to go completely runny.
Oh no. I don’t eat chicken but loved the look of the zucchini. I’m just going guess and to give it a go anywa. I’ll look forward to reading the recipe soon. Thank you for changing my meals from dull to dazzling.
I’ve just updated the recipe link for you to zucchini and parmesan bake. It’s pretty easy and a great side dish (or even main meal).
Another fantastic recipe thankyou Libby. I served it with cauli mash and a variation of your zucchini. I didn’t use tomato. And instead I lined an oven tray with baking paper, sprayed it with olive oil and then scattered the tray in an even coating with shredded Parmesan. I then tossed the zucchini in the 50gm of almond meal, salt and pepper. I pl@ced the coated the sliced zucchini in a single layer on the oven tray and sprinkled with more shredd3d Parmesan, and then pressedthem down to coat them and hold them together. Used your cooking temp. and time. My goodness it was delicious.
Yay 🙂 thank you.