One Pan Smothered Chicken is a classic recipe of seared chicken that is easy to make in 30 minutes! Tender chicken is smothered in a rich and creamy gravy with bacon!
I have to say that my love of smothered chicken started at a pretty young age. Scratch that, my love of GRAVY started at a young age because I grew up on comfort food! Chicken with gravy was a must for us served up with mashed potatoes or even just white bread to sop up the goodness. We all know how much I adore chicken thighs too and serving them in a delicious bacon gravy, it doesn’t get better!
How to Make Smothered Chicken:
- You will only need one skillet for this recipe. To keep things super easy I like to dice my bacon and get it in the pan first.
- While the bacon is cooking, grab your chicken thighs out of the refrigerator and pat them dry on both sides with a paper towel. Set them aside on a cutting board for now.
- Get a pie plate or another shallow bowl and use a fork to mix together your flour and seasonings.
- Dredge each piece of chicken completely on all sides in the flour. Shake off any excess flour and set the chicken pieces aside.
- Now, remove the bacon from the pan to a paper towel lined plate, and add 4 Tablespoons of butter to the hot skillet.
- Add your chicken pieces to the pan and allow them to cook on the first side for 4-5 minutes without turning until they are nicely seared and golded. Flip the chicken and repeat. Once the chicken is seared on both sides, you can remove it to a clean plate.
- Add the remaining butter to the hot skillet and reduce the heat to medium. You will whisk in 1 Cup of the remaining seasoned flour that you dredged your chicken in.
- The flour should cook while being whisked constantly for one minute. Then, you can gradually whisk in your chicken broth and milk until you have a smooth gravy.
- Next, add your cooked bacon and seared chicken back to the skillet. Cover and let the chicken simmer over low heat until cooked through to 165 degrees, about 20 minutes.
Is Smothered Chicken Fried?
Basically, yes! It consists of bone in, skin on chicken thighs that are dredged in flour, then fried in butter. However, they don’t finish cooking all the way through while frying. They will be seared until golden brown on both sides, then finish cooking as they simmer in the gravy.
What Goes with Smothered Chicken?
This smothered chicken recipe makes a whole lot of gravy! I recommend serving it with these Mashed Potatoes or if you have an Instant Pot try this Mashed Potato Recipe. It is also great served with rice, crusty bread, and veggies like cooked green beans.
Enjoy!
~Nichole
One Pan Smothered Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 Slices Bacon, Diced
- 2 Pounds Chicken Thighs, Bone in and skin on
- 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 Stick Butter, Divided
- 3 1/2 Cups Chicken Broth
- 1 Cup Milk
Instructions
- Cook the diced bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.
- While the bacon is cooking, mix together the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning in a shallow bowl or dish.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and dredge the chicken on each side into the seasoned flour until coated. Shake off any excess flour and set the flour mixture aside for later.
- Once the bacon is removed from the pan, add half of the butter to the pan and allow to melt.
- When the butter is melted, add the flour coated chicken and cook for 4-5 minutes per side until golden brown.
- Remove the chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add the remaining butter to the pan and allow it to melt.
- Sprinkle one cup of the remaining seasoned flour to the pan and whisk for 1 minute until the butter and flour are well combined.
- Gradually whisk in the chicken broth and milk until gravy is smooth.
- Return the cooked chicken and bacon to the pan.
- Bring the mixture to a boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
My husband and kids loved it. Made it once and he kept asking me, “When are you going to make that chicken again?”
This dish is fantastic! It was a big hit at our house and makes a ton of delicious gravy! Thank you for another recipe to add to the regular rotation.
Just made . Very good. Gravy is amazing. I made with rice. I wish the skin of my chicken was crispy. Did I do something wrong?
Going to make the one pan smothered chicken today. Looks great !!
I made this with thin chicken breasts! It was AMAZING ❤️ Next time I may get more creative and add mushrooms, or go more Italian and add in sun-dried tomatoes and capers. This is such a great platform recipe! Thank you!!! I’m inspired ?
Can I use chicken breasts instead of thighs?
You can! I would probably pound them thin so that they cook evenly 🙂
Made this recipe and my whole family loved it thanks to you.
I have made this twice (sans bacon) and it was SOOOO yummy, Downloading and saving this in my personal recipe book! Thank you 🙂
This is soooo easy and taste awesome….
Can’t wait to make tonight! Can heavy cream be used in place of milk?
Hi! You should be able too, your gravy will just be thicker 🙂