This Monterey chicken is a Chili’s copycat that features seasoned chicken breasts smothered in barbecue sauce, cheese, bacon and tomatoes. An easy dinner option that the whole family will love!
When I need a meal the whole family will love, I turn to chicken classics like chicken adobo, cider glazed chicken, maple dijon chicken and Monterey chicken. Monterey chicken is loaded with flavor and tastes like it came straight from a restaurant, but you can make it at home in less than 30 minutes.
I used to go to Chili’s all the time in college, but now there are no Chili’s restaurants left where I live! I satisfy my Chili’s cravings with this easy Monterey chicken that’s fully loaded with all the toppings. It’s a great way to jazz up plain old chicken breasts!
How to make Monterey chicken
This recipe starts with chicken breasts, which are seasoned then seared to golden brown perfection. The cook time will vary depending on the thickness of your chicken; I often use thin cut chicken breasts when I’m looking for a fast meal. The chicken is coated with your favorite barbecue sauce, then loaded with toppings.
For the toppings, I use shredded Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, and melt them in the oven until gooey and delicious. You can really use whatever type of cheese you like here, mozzarella would also be a nice choice.
After that comes the bacon, tomatoes and green onions which really take this Monterey chicken over the top flavor wise!
I love this dish because it’s not any harder to make than a standard sauteed chicken, but it tastes like something special. I like to serve my Monterey chicken over mashed potatoes or rice with a green veggie on the side to complete the meal.
The next time you’re thinking about eating at Chili’s, stay home instead and make your own Monterey chicken to save a little cash! Your family will thank you, mine did at least!
More chicken dinner ideas
- Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry
- Sun Dried Tomato Chicken
- Baked Lemon Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
- Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry
Monterey Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 1 cup shredded cheese I used a blend of Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese
- 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 1/2 cup diced tomatoes
- 1/4 cup green onions
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large oven safe pan over medium high heat. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side, or until done. Cook time may vary depending on the thickness of your chicken.
- Pour the barbecue sauce over the chicken. Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese over each chicken breast.
- Place the pan in the oven for 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle the bacon, tomatoes and green onions over the chicken and serve.
Can I use thighs in place of breasts?
Yes that’s fine!
Love this recipe so much. Delicious, easy and an elevated chicken recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Mid 2022 and this recipe is still going strong! Pressed for time this recipe was quick, flavorful, juicy and delicious. My husband moaned when I brought him seconds :)) Thank you
I’ve read recipes (your included form chicken Monterey. The recipes always say cook 4-5 minutes. Don’t chicken breasts take mush long then that to cook? Around 20-30 minutes Why do all recipes for Monterey have that reduced time?
My recipe calls for 4-5 minutes per side in a pan, then it goes into the oven to cook further. I test my recipes with medium size chicken breasts, about 4-6 ounces in size. If your chicken is larger or smaller the cook time can change. Hope this helps!
Making this tonight. Subbing rotel for the tomatoes and green onions. Give it some zest.
I was really feeling stuck on dinners. Thankyou! I found lots that look amazing.
Mines turned out great. I make a citrus bbq sauce and omg good. I also grilled my chicken breast , then added toppings and placed it in the oven. Omgggg good. Next time I’m going to add a bit of cilantro to kick it up a notch.
Wonderful! My husband told me to add it to the rotation! Thanks for sharing!
I had pulled out some chicken breast I thought out of the freezer and they ended up being chicken tenderloins whitch made this meal just amazing. Now that’s all we use with this recipe is chicken tenders.
I’m in Australia, never been to Chilli’s while I was in the US. This dish was amazing! I used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and had it on a bed of mashed potatoes with broccoli on the side. So yum!
Outstanding! I pre-cut the chicken to nugget sized pieces so more bbq sauce and cheese can goo around it! My family loved it!!
Carbs are 31g? Is that per serving? that’s very high if you’re following a low carb or Keto diet. Most of the items in this dish are very low carb so that high of a carb count really doesn’t make sense.
The only item in this dish with carbs is the BBQ sauce, if you’re looking to reduce the carbs I’d recommend using a sugar free BBQ sauce!
I think she may have included the mashed potatoes in her total carbs for the whole dish. Because, other than the BBQ sauce there are not many carbs in the chicken portion alone.
This is one for f the most delicious and simple chicken recipes that I’ve ever made. I don’t like two eat the same foods consecutively but this is one of the very few you can’t stop eating. Everyone in my family has seconds because it is scrumptious! 😍❤️💪🏽😍👍🏽
I have made this for years but I often don’t have tomatoes or green onions. I use chunky salsa or picante instead. I actually prefer it to the Chili’s version! Everything else in the recipe is the same.
So glad you enjoy it, I’ll have to try it with salsa next time!
I made this tonight but because I’m on the Keto diet I used sugar free barbecue sauce. This was AMAZING! Definitely going to make more and more! Thanks for sharing.
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, thanks for reporting back!
I made this tonight and it was delicious! Only thing I did differently was put bbq on the bottom of the pan as well as on top of the chicken when I baked it. All around approval!
I’m not a big Chili’s fan but if I go, this is what I order. I made it tonight and it was so good. Thanks for sharing!
Could this be made in just the oven or just the stove top? I don’t believe I own a pan that is safe to also put in the oven
Yes, you can just put a cover on the pan on the stove top and the cheese will melt, might take a bit longer that way!