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    Cincy Shopper / Recipes / Main Dish

    Monterey Chicken

    January 18, 2022 by Jen Cincyshopper Leave a Comment

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    Monterey Chicken is a delicious combo of juicy BBQ chicken, melty cheese, and tasty toppings! This easy dinner dish is certain to be a hit.

    This Chili’s copycat recipe is one of our favorite chicken dinner recipes- and it’s not hard to see why! Goes great with a side of steamed broccoli and some Crispy Potato Wedges or The Best Mashed Potatoes.

    Monterey Chicken on a plate with BBQ

    Monterey Chicken

    Anyone else having trouble finding a Chili’s nowadays? It used to be there was a Chilis restaurant anywhere I went but now the closest one to me is almost half-an-hour away! That’s unfortunate, because Chili’s has some pretty good food- usually at a pretty good price too. One of my favorite things from the Chili’s menu was the discontinued Monterey Chicken.

    BBQ Chicken Monterey style on a fork

    Thankfully, I have this copycat recipe for it now! If you never had a chance to have the Monterey Chicken, just know that it’s a delicious barbecue chicken dish topped with melty cheese, tomatoes, green onions, and crispy bacon. At home, it’s super easy to make too: you just have to cook up some chicken breasts however you please and bake them up with some BBQ and your toppings!

    Text on image Monterey Chicken

    This tasty but simple chicken recipe is quickly becoming one of our new favorite chicken dinner recipes. It’s a great way to use leftover chicken breast or make chicken taste good. You can even make it ahead of time and leftovers will keep in the fridge for a good while! We love this easy chicken recipe and hope you folks will too.

    Text on image Monterey Chicken

    Enjoyed this Monterey Chicken recipe? Try these other easy chicken recipes next!

    • Another one of our favorite easy chicken recipes is this 2-ingredient Italian Dressing Chicken. Italian dressing makes for an amazing chicken marinade that yields juicy, flavorful chicken breasts! Grilled or baked, this simple chicken recipe is certain to be one of your go-tos.
    • Parmesan Crusted Chicken is a quick recipe that’s great for a busy evening. Pound some chicken breasts thin and you can fry them up real fast in some butter and oil! The delicious parmesan coating adds a lot to this tasty chicken recipe.
    • Casseroles are usually easy to make and so comforting- and our Chicken Pot Pie Casserole is no different! This recipe has always been one of my favorites because it’s so simple to make with store-bought ingredients. A great and delicious way to use up some leftover chicken and frozen veggies!

    Text on image Monterey Chicken

    Ingredients for Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken

    • Chicken Breast – For this recipe, we’ll salt, pepper, and fully cook our chicken in a hot pan with some oil before baking it. If you’d like, you could also use Air Fryer Chicken Breasts or Baked Chicken Breasts instead.
    • BBQ Sauce – Feel free to use your favorite BBQ sauce here! Dark and sweet barbeque sauce will work the best though. If you’re keeping this low-carb, remember to use a sugar-free barbecue sauce.
    • Cheese – Go with a cheddar, monterey jack, colby jack, or a blend if you want!
    • Green Onions
    • Tomatoes – Any cherry tomato, garden tomato, or even canned Rotel tomatoes will work as long as they’re diced. If you don’t have tomatoes, feel free to use a salsa of some kind.
    • Bacon – We used some thick-cut microwave bacon here but you can pan-fry some up yourself if you want. Maybe even cook your chicken in the leftover bacon fat?

    Ingredients for Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken

    How to make Monterey Chicken

    Our delicious Monterey Chicken recipe couldn’t be much simpler. Here’s all you’ll need to do:
    1. Prep and cook your chicken breasts however you like.
    2. Baste chicken breasts with BBQ sauce and bake for 5 minutes.
    3. Top chicken with shredded cheese and bake another 5 minutes. Add toppings and serve.

    Slicing chicken breast in half

    If you aren’t using any of the other chicken recipes we listed above, we recommend pan-frying your chicken. To prep, cut any larger chicken breasts in half to help speed up cooking. Keep the seasonings simple- we just went with some salt and pepper.

    Adding salt and pepper to chicken breast

    Heat up a bit of oil in a pan and give your chicken breasts a good pan-fry. Cook them fully.

    grilling chicken breasts in a pan

    When you finish cooking the chicken, set it aside. Grab your cutting board and give your toppings a quick dicing.

    Diced tomato and green onion on cutting board

    Now we can start making Monterey Chicken! First, add a bit of barbecue sauce to the bottom of a casserole or oven-safe dish.

    BBQ sauce added to casserole dish

    Add your cooked chicken and give everything a quick basting with some extra barbecue sauce. Once everything’s all coated, transfer the dish to an awaiting 350 degree oven.

    Basting chicken with barbecue sauce

    Let the BBQ chicken cook for about 5 minutes before pulling it. Take your shredded cheese and top each chicken breast with a generous amount.

    Cheese added to bbq chicken

    Send the chicken back into the oven for another 5 minutes. Once the cheese is all nice and melted, pull the dish back out. Hit it with any desired toppings.

    Oven baked Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken

    Serve your chicken up and enjoy!

    Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken - Monterey Style like Chili's

    Make-Ahead and How to Reheat Chicken

    Seeing how easy this recipe is, you might be surprised to hear you can make it even easier! If you want to make your chicken later, you can put the dish with the chicken into the fridge after basting with the barbecue sauce. Doing this might actually help that BBQ flavor sink into the chicken a bit better! When it’s close to dinner time, just continue the recipe from where you left off- maybe adding an extra minute or two to make sure everything is heated through. After you finish cooking, remember to store those leftovers: leftover Monterey Chicken will keep in the fridge for about 4-5 days. Store in an airtight container.

    Cheesy Bacon BBQ Chicken piece on fork

    RECIPE
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    Monterey Chicken

    Monterey Chicken is a delicious combo of juicy BBQ chicken, melty cheese, and tasty toppings! This easy dinner dish is certain to be a hit.
    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Keyword CopyCat Chick-fil-A Sandwich, Monterey Chicken
    Prep Time 10 minutes
    Cook Time 20 minutes
    Servings 4
    Calories 595kcal
    Author Jen CIncyshopper

    Ingredients

    • 2 lb boneless skinless Chicken Breasts
    • Salt and Pepper to taste
    • 1 tbsp Oil
    • 1 cup Barbecue Sauce
    • 1 cup Shredded Cheese Monterey Jack and Cheddar
    • 1/2 cup Tomatoes diced
    • 1/4 cup Green Onions sliced
    • 4 slices Bacon cooked and crumbled

    Instructions

    • If chicken breasts are large, slice in half before cooking.
    • Salt and pepper each piece of chicken.
    • Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat. Cook chicken, turning as needed, until done (165 internal temperature).
    • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
    • Pour about half of the barbecue sauce in the bottom of a baking dish
    • Place the chicken in the dish and coat with the remaining sauce.
    • Bake the chicken for 5 minutes.
    • Remove from oven and sprinkle each with the shredded cheese.
    • Return to oven for 5 minutes. Then remove and top with tomatoes, green onions and bacon.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 595kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 58g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 182mg | Sodium: 1362mg | Potassium: 1144mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 523IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 191mg | Iron: 2mg
    Have you made this recipe?Snap a pic and show us on Instagram or Facebook.Tag me @Cincyshopper or #cincyshopper.

    Long pin collage Monterey Chicken a Quick & Easy Meal - Chili's CopyCat

    Long pin collage Monterey Chicken a Quick & Easy Meal - Chili's CopyCat

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    Hi, I'm JEN! A lover of food and frugal living. A wife to a wonderful hubby, momma to 5 fun kiddos. Welcome to my blog. You will find REAL TASTY RECIPES. Be sure to subscribe to my email list and follow me on social media, to never miss a recipe.

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