You are in for a real treat today! I spent an evening in the kitchen with my BFF Michelle. We cooked this delicious recipe together one evening while she was visiting. She wanted to give it a practice run before making it for a large group of her foodie girlfriends later this month. It was so easy to prepare, and it was lip smacking good! Even though it’s fancy enough for company, I think you will be making it for your family on a regular basis. A quick and easy meal that uses just 6 ingredients. I think it qualifies as a winner-winner chicken dinner!
Michelle’s girlfriends are in for a real treat!!!
Don’t let the name give you the idea that this dish has an overwhelming coconut flavor. I have never used coconut milk when cooking, so I initially thought this would have a very distinct coconut flavor, but it was actually very subtle. It’s just rich, creamy, dreamy, and utterly delicious.
The only change I made to the recipe was to double the ingredients for the sauce. Because we all agreed it needed more sauce! We were literally scraping the pan to get every last drop of it. Yes it was that good!!!!! Hub’s had seconds, so I know he liked it too!
To get started, cook up a batch of white rice. You will want to get it going first since it takes the longest to cook. Learn how easy it is to make cooked white rice on your stovetop here. No special equipment or complicated techniques needed to produce light and fluffy rice.
While the rice is cooking, cut the bacon into bite sized pieces and fry it up in a large skillet, until nicely crisp. Remove the fried bacon from the pan to drain on a paper towel lined plate.
Remove all but a couple tablespoons of the bacon fat in your pan.
Turn up the heat and make sure the bacon fat is good and hot. Add chicken thighs, skin side down into the skillet. Allow the chicken to cook for 7 minutes. Don’t move the meat around in the pan. Check it after several minutes, it should not stick to the pan. If it is sticking, allow the meat to continue to cook until it easily releases from the pan and no longer sticks.
Once the chicken is nicely browned on the one side, flip the thighs over and cook on the other side for another 7 minutes until deep golden brown.
Once the chicken is golden brown on both sides, remove it and place in an oven safe dish.
Bake chicken in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Chicken is cooked through when you cut into the meat and the juices run clear.
While the chicken is cooking in the oven, it’s time to address the best part, the luscious sauce for this dish!
In same skillet you used to fry up the bacon and chicken, turn up the heat to medium high. Add the sliced mushrooms.
Cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally to prevent them from burning, until they release their juices and reduce in size.
TIP: Mushrooms contain a lot of water. Cooking mushrooms for a longer period of time will allow them to release their liquid which intensifies their mushroomy flavor. Cooking out all the liquid concentrates their flavor.
Once the mushrooms are lightly browned, add the minced garlic. Stir to combine with the mushrooms. Be careful not to let the garlic burn! Cook for about a minute. Once garlic is fragrant add the coconut milk and sprigs of thyme.
Allow the sauce to simmer for several minutes to thicken the sauce.
TIP: If the sauce is not thickening adequately, combine a tablespoon of cornstarch with a couple tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir until all the lumps are gone. Add the cornstarch slurry to the sauce. Stir to combine with the sauce and continue to cook until the sauce thickens to your liking.
Return chicken thighs and cooked bacon to the skillet.
Move the thighs around the skillet, coating them with the bacon, mushrooms and sauce.
Serve chicken over a bed of rice and top with mushrooms and sauce.
This meal would also be equally delicious served over pasta or a bed of creamy mashed potatoes. Learn how easy it is to make the world’s creamiest, fluffiest mashed potatoes, here. If you master making mashed potatoes, you will become legend in your family!
Michelle’s Creamy Coconut Chicken
- 4-6 chicken thighs, bone-in, skin-on
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 12 oz sliced Cremini or baby Bella mushrooms
- 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 6-8 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Prepare white rice in a large saucepan. Click here for step by step instructions on how to cook rice if you don’t know how.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat and fry up chopped bacon.
Remove bacon from the pan and drain bacon on a paper towel lined plate.
Season chicken generously with salt and pepper.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the pan. Turn heat to medium high and place chicken skin side down in the pan.
Cook for 7 minutes, or until deep golden brown. Do not move chicken around in the pan, allow it to sear.
Flip and cook chicken for another 7 minutes on the other side. Chicken should be a rich golden brown on both sides.
Remove chicken from the skillet and place in an oven safe dish.
Finish cooking chicken in the preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until juices run clear.
Reduce heat under the skillet to medium, and sauté mushrooms until they have released all of their liquid.
Add garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Be careful not to let the garlic burn; it will taste bitter if it burns.
Pour in coconut milk and add sprigs of thyme. Simmer sauce over medium low heat for a few minutes until thickened.
Add a cornstarch slurry to thicken sauce if desired.
Return chicken and cooked bacon to the pan and coat with sauce and mushrooms.
Serve chicken over a bed of cooked rice and top with a generous helping of sauce and mushrooms.
Since I doubled the amount of sauce for this recipe, you will want to serve this with something that you can use to mop up any of the scrumptious sauce that is left on your plate. Cue a loaf of freshly baked bread. Learn how I bake crusty loaves of french bread here. Give it a try! It’s so easy to do and you will wonder why you never attempted to bake your own bread before.
Whether you serve this dish with rice, or mashed potatoes, or even pasta, I promise you are going to love every delectable scrumptious bite!
Thank you for the fabulous recipe Michelle! I had so much fun cooking with you!!! Your dinner party is going to be a huge success! If any of the ladies at the party ask for the recipe, let them know they can find it here at Nature Way ☺️