{Smothered Chicken}

And yet another Pioneer Woman recipe!!!!

She just makes good food, what can I say!

My family loves the Cracker Barrel restaurant, and several years ago, they used to serve a dish called Smothered Chicken. It was fabulous, and we all loved it. Unfortunately, for some reason they stopped serving it. So as I was diligently reading through my newest cookbook, I came across this recipe. 

Ree Drummond called it Ranch-Style Chicken. 

I tweaked the recipe a little to what I had, and my family's tastes, but it's pretty much exactly like what Cracker Barrel used to serve!

My family loved it, and it was really easy to make!

I hope you try it!!

9 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts (please see note!)

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 & 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 - 1 teaspoon chili powder, depending on your taste

9 large slices, thick-cut bacon

2+ cups shredded cheddar cheese

Place chicken in a zip-lock bag. 

In a small bowl, whisk together honey, mustard, lemon juice, paprika, 

salt and chili powder until smooth.

Pour over chicken and seal bag, removing as much air as possible. 

Gently toss bag back and forth to coat all the chicken.

Refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Line a baking sheet with foil, and coat lightly with cooking spray. Place the bacon slices on the pan, and broil (at least 6 inches away from the element) for 5-7 minutes. Flip the bacon slices, and broil 5-7 minutes longer, or until chewy; set aside on paper towels until ready to use. Discard the bacon grease, but keep the foil on the pan.

Meanwhile, grill chicken on medium-high heat 3-4 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees; set aside.

To assemble, place the chicken on the foil-lined baking sheet. Take a piece of bacon, and cut or tear in half, and lay both pieces on top of the chicken. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Serve!

Note:

-You want 9 "pieces" of chicken. If the chicken breasts are very thick, you will need to cut them in half, length-wise (before you marinade them)...this will make 2 pieces of chicken. So the number of chicken breasts, will depend on how thick they are, and therefore how many "pieces" you will get. I hope that makes sense!

-You can use more or less chili powder, depending on how spicy you like things. My family is not into that, so I just used 1/4 teaspoon.