Gluten-Free Meat Lover’s Chicken. That name might make you laugh because it’s a bit of a “dog puppy”—the term that my friends and I in the writing world used to use for redundancies—but it’s accurate.
This chicken recipe, which I’ve previously heard called Continental Chicken or Special Baked Chicken, is my variation of a meat-centric recipe that we used to enjoy before I went gluten free.
The recipe includes not only chicken breasts, but also dried beef and bacon. The bacon is wrapped around the chicken breasts and the dried beef is used as the base of the dish.
The original recipe called for a mixture of sour cream and cream of mushroom soup as topping for the bacon-wrapped chicken breasts halfway through baking. While there are some ready-made gluten-free products that can substituted for “cream of” soups and there are recipes for homemade “cream of” soups (mushrooms, celery, and more), the ready-made products often include a list of questionable ingredients and the homemade versions can take some time to assemble. (Note: I do know that dried beef isn’t a prize when it comes to ingredients either, but eating it once every few years is okay by me.)
So I thought I’d come up with a much simpler dairy-free alternative to use as “pour-over” topping. How simple? Only two ingredients. My solution was a mixture of coconut cream (that thick cream skimmed off the top of a can of full-fat—not lite—coconut milk) and chicken broth.
To be honest, the resulting dish was even better than I remember the original being. Don’t you love that? Simple flavorful ingredients rule! I really never taste coconut flavor from coconut milk any more (desensitization from using coconut milk often perhaps?) and Mr. GFE didn’t note a coconut flavor, so this recipe *might* even pass muster for you folks who are not crazy about coconut flavor.
I’ve also made this same recipe in the slow cooker before. In that case, I use whole chicken breasts (because halved chicken breasts would cook too quickly and end up too dry) and usually about 1 1/2 slices of bacon per chicken breast although you can go crazy and use 2 slices per breast if you’d like. I also usually cook at least six chicken breasts as I find that a fuller slow cooker tends to yield a better meal.
More Gluten-Free Chicken Recipes You’ll Love
~ Top 20 Gluten-Free Chicken Noodle Soup and Other Chicken Soup Recipes
~ Gluten-Free Cheesy Chicken Fritters (Keto)
~ Gluten-Free French Onion Chicken (Keto)
~ Gluten-Free Green Chile Chicken Casserole
~ Perfect Gluten-Free Fried Chicken Breasts
~ Gluten-Free Zesty Italian Barbecued Chicken
Gluten-Free Baked Meat Lover’s Chicken and Gluten-Free Slow Cooker Meat Lover’s Chicken Recipes
Here are the two versions of my recipe below—the first is made in the oven and the second is made in your slow cooker.
Three main meat ingredients and a lovely, simply sauce are used to create this Meat Lover's Chicken. Naturally gluten free and dairy free. I like a lot of sauce with this recipe, but you can reduce the amount of coconut cream and chicken broth to make less sauce if you like. A little prep time and a few simple ingredients creates a meal that you'll love coming home to or having ready after you busy yourself all day with other things besides cooking. I like a lot of sauce with this recipe, but you can reduce the amount of coconut cream and chicken broth to make less sauce if you like.Baked Meat Lover's Chicken
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Slow Cooker Meat Lover's Chicken
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Originally published July 14, 2014; updated October 23, 2024.
Christina says
LOVE this recipe and can’t wait to try it! (Bacon is, after all, one of the staples of life, IMO.) A few questions, however. First, are the chicken breasts skinless as well as boneless? (I would assume so, but hate to assume anything.) Second (and this just occurred to me), what about using chicken legs or quarters, as long as they’re boneless? Third, what exactly do you mean by “dried beef?” Is that beef jerky, dried brisket, or something else? Oh, and I also love your use of the term “dog puppy” — I had a proof-reading class years ago and my instructor used that term; never forgot it! 🙂
Shirley says
Hi Christina–Welcome to gfe! 🙂 So glad this recipe appeals to you and I’m in full agreement on bacon being a staple of life. 😉 The breasts are boneless and skinless. I’ve never seen boneless breasts with skin around here, but they might work just as well. I’ve just never tried them before. I’m sure that other boneless pieces would work, but you might have to adjust your cooking time. The dried beef I use is the kind, dried sliced beef, that comes in a jar. It’s either 2.25 or 2.5 ounces so it’s a small jar. I’ve added it to the product listing on the sidebar for this post, so you can see what I’m talking about. And too funny on knowing about “dog puppy”! Just saying it makes me laugh and it’s perfect for many situations!
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Shirley