Pioneer Woman's Ranch Style Chicken

While on vacation last week, I made this for our family. It was a total hit! My little brother even said, "I love this chicken!" TWICE! haha Pioneer Woman also serving this as a sandwich, which my husband did the following night. He thought that it was tasty as a sandwich as well. If you wanted to skip the frying step, you could probably just grill the chicken, top it with the bacon and cheese, then pop it in the oven. Either way, it's good! I served mine on top of mashed potatoes.

Ranch Style Chicken
slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
½ cups Dijon Mustard
½ cups Honey
½ lemon (juice)
½ teaspoons Paprika
½ teaspoons Salt
Crushed Red Pepper (optional To Taste)
6 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 pound Thick Cut Bacon
Bacon Grease
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, to taste
Canola Oil

Directions:
In a large bowl mix together ½ cup Dijon mustard with ½ cup honey, juice of ½ lemon, ½ teaspoon paprika, and ½ teaspoon salt and whisk until smooth. Sprinkle in some crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne if you want to add some kick. Set aside.
Next, add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade, cover and place in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 hours.

While the chicken marinates, cook some bacon. You can fry it, microwave it, or bake it. I baked mine. When finished cooking, reserve ¼ cup of the bacon grease and clean out the skillet.

When the chicken is done marinating, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the chicken from the fridge and pour off excess marinade. Heat half of the reserved bacon grease with an equal quantity of Canola Oil in the clean skillet over medium-high heat. When the grease is nice and hot add two or three pieces of chicken to it. Cook until brownish/blackish, about 1 to 1 ½ minutes per side. Remove chicken to a large baking sheet. If cooking many pieces of chicken, repeat skillet process and remove finished chicken to baking sheet. Place chicken in preheated oven and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from over.

Lay bacon over each chicken breast. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese over the top of the chicken. Return pan to oven for an additional five minutes until cheese is melted and bacon is sizzling.