hi! just as promised, i am back this week with your thursday dose of football finger food!
while i didn’t invent the idea of layering delicious ingredients + wrapping them in bodacious bacon. . my looming obsession with bbq chicken pizza did have a general hand in the make up of this recipe.
a while back we found out that aj {the boyfriend aka head food critic of kellys ambitious kitchen} had an aversion to red sauce on pizza. so the days of marinara went out the window + in came the alfredos + bbqs.
guysssss.
bbq pizza is so delicious!
generally, theres sweetness from the bbq balanced by smoky bacon, tart pineapple + the heat of jalapeno {seeds included. duh} to keep it all gangsta.
with that combo, i just knew i had to recreate it’s perfect marriage any chance i got! so, you guessed it, football + finger food? DONE!
there’s a few really awesome things about these bites that are non-flavor related.
one being that this is a 5 ingredient recipe!
saay what! there’s a whole show on the mothership food network dedicated to 5 ingredient meals, so you know its low ingredient count is totally worth a touchdown dance!
next super neat thing? customize ‘em! not into jalapenos? use a green bell pepper! no fresh pineapple ‘round your market parts? go for canned or frozen! or, hey, skip the list + just layer whatever you’ve got in the fridge thats about to go to mold-town!
lastly -to wrap things up {PUNS!}– the layering + wrapping process is simple as 1-2-4! then, in under 25 minutes, you’ve got flavor bites that will keep all your guests coming back for more!
now, i usually encourage the creative juices to flow but one thing i would recommend staying on the cooking path with is to use a wire rack over your sheet pan.
why do i recommend this?
well, internet bestie, this is so your chicken bites don’t drown in a pool of bacon grease! while i know that sounds like heaven to most of you, it’ll turn your finger food into a slippery oily hot mess!
the wire rack will also ensure that your bacon gets 360º of crisp!
so if your kitchen isn’t equipped with a wire rack delight then hop on over to amazon, order one STAT on prime + move these from the thursday football menu to the sunday super bash, instead!
- 1lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 12 even-sized tenders
- 6 slices of bacon, cut in half from top to bottom
- 2 jalapenos, cut into matchsticks {about the width of your chicken tender}
- ½ of a pineapple, cut into matchsticks {about the width of your chicken tender}
- ½ cup of your favorite bbq sauce {i recommend choosing a thicker bbq sauce over the vinegar-based options out there}
- preheat the oven to 350°
- lay the chicken tenders in a shallow bowl + ‘marinate’ the chicken in bbq sauce while you do your cutting.
- in a skillet, par cook the bacon for roughly 3 minutes. you want the bacon to start it’s cooking process but still be pliable for wrapping around the tenders. remove the slices to a paper-lined plate to drain + cool. {see notes below on why this extra step is important!}
- once everything is cooled, cut + ready, lay a tender down, layer a pineapple stick then the jalapeno stick on top of each piece + wrap each tender with half slice of bacon.
- lay the bacon-wrapped tender, seam-side down, on the greased wire rack.
- sprinkle the tenders with salt + pepper, to taste.
- bake for 20 minutes until chicken is cooked + bacon is crisp!
- enjoy!
while parcooking the bacon does add an extra pan + step, this is super important because the bacon takes longer to cook than the chicken bites! so by getting the process started, this will help yield juicy chicken tenders alongside crisp bacon!
pineapples + peppers will vary in size therefore you may need more of each! judging by the size you find, adjust your ingredient list so that you wind up with equal amounts of slices to chicken tenders!
jalapenos too hot? although removing the seeds + ribs extracts nearly 100% of the heat, you can swap in a milder pepper like the anaheim or keep it totally cool {PUNS!} with a green bell pepper.
layering + wrapping is kinda fun, right? you could make up a whole sample platter with other flavor combos like. .
→ chicken + peach slices wrapped with proscuitto!
→ chicken topped with matchsticks of cured chorizo + dates, wrapped in bacon!
these are pretty skinny jean friendly but using a turkey bacon would be an easy cal drop!
. .you won’t have any leftovers, duh!
as these are modeled after the bbq chicken pizza, here’s a fun fact about the delightful combo:
did you know the california-style pizza, as the combination is now famously known, was made popular by wolfgang puck in the 1980s!
watch the recipe come together from my snapchat story!
{don’t forget to follow me @kellymaurine}
join along as kelly posts, pins + peruses for inspiration in her ambitious kitchen!
I’m making these for my next girlfriends get together in october! they look delish!