Monterey Chicken Chili’s Copycat 💃🏼
Many of you know that I worked at Outback Steakhouse when I was in college and from that I gave you my alice springs chicken recipe, my cheese fries recipe, my coconut shrimp recipe, and more. But, actually my very first job as a waitress was in Ocala, Florida and I worked at the local Chili’s. When I worked there one of the most popular recipes was the Monterey chicken! Not only was it popular with the customers, but it was popular with the waitstaff because we constantly ordered it at the end of our shift. To my shock and surprise it was discontinued! So I decided to recreate the Monterey chicken recipe from Chili’s as a copycat! But quite honestly after my attempt if the Monterey chicken from Chili’s tasted like mine it would have never been discontinued! Let’s make it!
I absolutely love using this Lodge Cast Iron Deep Skillet because it evenly distributes heat from the bottom through the sidewalls and it retains heat for a longer time.
Here is my Fresh Pico de Gallo recipe or you can use store bought!
🍽️ What I Served This Recipe With
🗒 More Delicious Restaurant Copycat Recipes
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Store in an air-tight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
🤔 Common Questions
You can also use cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, or pepper jack for a little kick! Just make sure you freshly shred it!
Absolutely!
🎥 Items Featured in the Video
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Monterey Chicken Chili’s Copycat
Ingredients
- 7 slices of bacon cut in half lengthwise
- 2 chicken breasts about 1.5 lbs, room temperature, patted dry, & butterflied
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- ½ tbsp adobo all purpose seasoning
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 oz freshly shredded colby jack cheese
- 4 tbsp bbq sauce 1 tbsp per chicken
- A couple tbsp of Pico de Gallo per chicken you can use my Fresh Pico de Gallo recipe or store bought
- 1 tbsp green onions sliced
Instructions
- In a cast iron or pan, add in your bacon slices and saute them at a medium heat for about 10 minutes or until it’s brown and crispy, but still a little fatty. Once the bacon is done, remove it from the pan and set it aside on a plate. Leave the bacon grease in the pan, you are going to need it to cook the chicken!
- Now, take your chicken breasts and butterfly them. Once they are butterflied, drizzle the avocado oil over top of the chicken and rub it onto both sides. Then, shake over the adobo seasoning and smoked paprika. Run the seasonings onto both sides of the chicken. Now, place the butterflied chicken in the SAME pan you cooked the bacon in with the bacon grease. Saute them on a medium heat for about 5 minutes on each side until browned and the internal temperature reaches 165°F. Once the chicken is done, remove them from the pan and set them aside onto a plate.
- For this next part you can either make my Fresh Pico de Gallo Recipe or you can use store bought!
- Now, time to assemble the Monterey chicken! Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place your cooked chicken back into the cast iron or pan you cooked your chicken in (make sure it’s an oven safe pan). Drizzle about a tbsp of bbq sauce over each piece of chicken and smooth it out so that it covers the whole piece of chicken. Next, take your cooked bacon and place a few pieces on each piece of chicken. Then, take the fresh pico de gallo and add a few tbsp of it onto each piece of chicken. Lastly, sprinkle the freshly shredded colby jack over each piece of chicken to cover everything. For garnish, sprinkle some sliced green onions all over the top.
- Now, transfer it into the 400°F preheated oven for just about 5 – 7 minutes so the cheese can get melty. Serve & enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
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