Crispy Pesto Chicken Thighs Wrapped in Bacon

Crispy outside, super tender and moist inside and best of all, loaded with flavor! The combination of flavors made this dish company-worthy. I made the Basil Pesto as I happened to have a bunch of basil that was on the edge so wanted to use it up. Pesto is also very easy to make with only a few ingredients: Basil, olive oil, pine nuts, parmesan, garlic and a little salt. That’s it! Blend everything until smooth. You can make pesto with almost any herb. Next time I’m going to try Arugula Pesto!

Start by cleaning the inside of the bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Remove any excess fat and cut out any sinewy or nasty looking bits. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the thighs.

Drop about 3 generous tablespoons of pesto on the inside of each thigh. Prepared pesto is fine, too if you don’t have home-made. Spread the  pesto so it comes nearly to the edge.  Roll the thighs around the pesto. Line a baking dish with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray. Place the thighs seam-side down.

You don’t need a lot of cooking spray as these thighs get very juicy because of the oil and cheese in the pesto and also the bacon. No chance of sticking! Gently stretch one strip of thick cut bacon and wrap around each thigh. Tuck the bacon in so it remains around the thigh as they bake.

Place in the fridge, uncovered for a few hours or even all day if you’ve put this together in the morning. This technique slightly dries out the skin of the chicken, which helps it get very crispy when you bake. By sitting in the fridge for a few hours, the thighs also marinate in the basil pesto.

Heat oven to 375 degrees and bake the thighs for 40 to 45 minutes or until they reach an internal temp of 165. The bake time depends on how large your thighs are. These thighs were huge! Baste every 15 minutes to keep them very moist.

Look at all that beautiful fat. Do NOT throw it out. Use is for another dish.

I roasted the thighs with potatoes right in the pan. The skin became very crispy and a beautiful mahogany color and inside the potatoes were light and fluffy.

A little steamed broccoli and the meal was complete.

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Crispy Chicken Thighs with Basil Pesto and Bacon

Ingredients

• 4 large chicken thighs, bone-in; skin-on
• 4 strips Thick-cut bacon
• 12 Tbsp. Basil Pesto
• Salt/Pepper

Instructions

• Clean the chicken thighs. Lightly salt and pepper both sides.
• Drop 3 heaping tablespoons of basil pesto on the inside of each thigh. Spread until it nearly reaches the edge.
• Roll the thighs around the pesto. You may have to push the pesto back inside as you roll.
• Gently stretch each bacon slice and wrap around the thighs.
• Place, uncovered, on a lightly oiled baking dish lined with foil and refrigerate for a few hours or all day if you assemble this in the morning.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 degrees. Baste every 15 minutes to get the skin very crispy and this keeps the meat very tender and moist.