Monterey Chicken (Chili’s Copycat!) (2024)

This Monterey Chicken Bake is the one dish dinner that will knock your socks off! Tender chicken breast is smothered in tangy BBQ sauce, smokey bacon, and gooey cheese and baked to perfection then topped off with fresh tomatoes and green onions. Both tasty and easy with only 6 ingredients and one pan, you can have this prepped and in the oven in minutes!

Monterey Chicken – The EASY Way!

There’s easy…. then there’s 1 pan, 6 ingredients, hands off cooking kind of easy.

And this Monterey Chicken bake is the later.

As far as crazy weeknight dinners go, this one is a winner for us!

It was inspired by Chilis Monterey Chicken which my family has always loved! This Monterey Chicken recipe is so easy, you may not need to go back to the restaurant to get it!

Recipe Notes

This Monterey Chicken is super simple to make. I am going to share a few of my notes and tips for getting the absolute best out of this recipe, cover substitutions, and hopefully answer any questions that may pop up along the way.

Ingredients

• Chicken – This recipe starts with chicken breast. I always recommend that you either cut them in half, so that they are half the thickness, use small chicken breasts, or pound them out a bit.

  Thin chicken breasts cook more quickly and evenly, that results in it being more tender, juicy when cooked. And that is half the battle to a delicious dinner!

  Frozen or fresh chicken breast can be used in this recipe, however, if you use frozen, you will need to thaw it completely first.

  Substitutions: If you prefer, you can use other cuts of chicken for the Monterey Chicken. Any boneless, skinless cut will work such as chicken thighs or tenderloins.

• The Bacon– When you select bacon for this recipe, choose a regular or thin cut. Thick cut bacon does not work as well.

  Use kitchen shears to cut the strips of bacon to the size of the chicken breast. I usually use 1-2 cut down strips per chicken breast.

  The bacon should be put right on top of the chicken breast covered in BBQ sauce. I try to cover the top and overlap the two pieces ever so slightly because it helps them to stay on top and not slide off during cooking.

  The dish then goes in the oven. The oven is heated to 425˚F which is higher than normal for cooking chicken. This is because the bacon protects the chicken, and the high temperature will help to give the bacon more crispy edges.

  The bacon will not be completely crispy with the easy, one dish method. If you like your bacon extra crispy, you can use the alternate method below.

  Crispy Bacon Method: To make this dish with crispy bacon, pre-cook the bacon to your desired level of crispiness. Reduce the cooking heat of the recipe to 350˚F. Bake the chicken covered in BBQ sauce for 20-25 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Top each chicken breast with the crispy bacon, cover with cheese, and put back into the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Remove and continue with recipe as directed.

  Substitutions: You can use most any bacon or bacon product you like for this recipe including turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon, or any flavor of regular bacon. If you use thick cut bacon, I recommend using the alternate method detailed above to make sure it gets cooked through.

• Barbecue sauce – Use your favorite flavor or brand. We generally use Sweet Baby Rays.
• Colby Jack cheese– Colby jack is traditional here, but you can sub cheddar or Mexican blend.
• Grape tomatoes– I like grape because they are extra sweet, but any diced tomato will do. Substitution: Try using pico de gallo instead for a zesty flavor.
• Green onions

Recipe Step by Step

Lay thin chicken breast cutlets flat in a baking dish. Cover with BBQ sauce.

Cut thin strips of bacon to the size of the chicken and lay them on top of the chicken.

Bake the chicken until almost done, then remove from the oven, layer cheese over the top, and bake.

See Also

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Garnish the top with diced tomatoes and green onions and serve.

How Long to Cook the Chicken

I talked about the method a bit in the bacon section above, but the method is important and a little different than how we normally cook chicken so I want to share a few notes.

We start out at a higher temperature in this recipe. This is to help the bacon get crispy. Make sure you are using the upper rack (middle or higher) in your oven so the bacon is close to the heating element.

It is important to make sure you have thin chicken breasts, or else the high temp can cause your chicken to become more tough, by the time it takes to cook thicker chicken all the way through.

With thin chicken breasts, the chicken shouldn’t take longer than 20-25 minutes to cook. If you want the most tender chicken, I recommend using a meat thermometer and cooking to 165˚F exactly!

You can turn the oven to broil right at the end of the cook time if you want crispier edges on your bacon. Just make sure to watch it closely or you could end up with burnt bacon! This step is optional, but tasty!

At this point, you can throw the cheese on and reduce the temp to 350˚F. The chicken should be cooked, you just want to get the cheese nice and melted so give it a few minutes and you should be good to take it out and get ready to serve.

Recipe Variations

This recipe is deliciously classic as is. If you love it and make it often, you may want to try some of these variations for a fun flavor twist!

• Monterey Ranch Chicken– Make as directed. When done, drizzle with ranch dressing (this homemade ranch recipe is AMAZING) and then top with the tomatoes and green onions.
• Spicy Monterey Chicken– Use a spicy BBQ sauce (I like the Sriracha BBQ sauce from Trader Joes) or mix Sriracha into your BBQ sauce. Make recipe as directed subbing pepper jack for colby jack, then add jalapeño slices to the tomato and green onion garnish (or use pico de gallo.)
• Monterey Chicken Casserole– Use precooked shredded chicken, mix with BBQ sauce and bacon crumbles. Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes. Top with cheese to melt, then garnish with tomatoes, green onions, and extra bacon!

Freezer Friendly

This recipe is quick and easy enough to whip up fast, but if you like to prep ahead using freezer meals, then this can be prepared in a freezer meal method and kept frozen up to 3 months.

Freezer Meal Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken breasts and layer BBQ sauce and bacon on top of them. (For crispy bacon method, pre-cook bacon and freeze separately)
2. Place in an airtight container or zip top bag.
3. Freeze.
4. When ready to make, thaw for 24-48 hours.
5. Place in an oven safe dish and continue with recipe as directed.

Monterey Chicken Leftover Ideas

Leftovers of Monterey Chicken can be made just as delicious as the original meal. As a matter of fact, some of my kids favorite dinners are made from leftovers of this meal.

To save leftovers, place in an airtight container and store in the:

• Refrigerator for 3-4 days
• Freezer for up to a month

Leftover Recipes

• Monterey Chicken Nachos– Layer tortilla chips on a sheet pan. Sprinkle with colby jack cheese. Dice leftover chicken and spread it over the chips. Add black beans. Cover with additional cheese. Bake at 425˚F for 8-12 minutes or until the nachos are heated through and the cheese is melted. Drizzle with BBQ sauce and serve with pico de gallo and sour cream.
• Monterey Chicken Stuffed Peppers– Prepare white or brown rice. Chop up leftover chicken and mix with rice at about a 1:1 ratio. Add extra BBQ sauce as needed to keep it moist. Cut peppers in half and remove seeds and ribs. Fill with chicken mixture and top with cheese. Bake at 350˚F for 35-45 min or until the peppers are tender.
• Monterey Chicken Quesadillas– Chop leftover chicken. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Butter one side of a large tortilla. Place the tortilla in the skillet. Fill half of the tortilla with the chopped chicken and an extra sprinkle of cheese. Fold the tortilla over and cook until golden brown, then flip and repeat on the other side. Cut into triangles and serve with sour cream and salsa.
• Monterey Ranch Chicken Sandwich– Heat leftover Monterey chicken. Lightly toast a bun in a skillet or toaster. Place the chicken breast on the sandwich. Add lettuce, tomato, and spread ranch dressing on the top of the bun. Cut in half and serve hot!
• Monterey Chicken Stuffed Baked Potatoes– Bake potatoes using your preferred method. Split the potatoes and fluff. Chop and heat leftover Monterey Chicken. Add a pat of butter to the potato then the chopped chicken. Top with an additional sprinkle of cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with sour cream and green onions.

More EASY Chicken Recipes

If you enjoyed this recipe, I hope you will browse through a few more of our recipes and bookmark some for another day. You can find all of our chicken recipes here, or see a few of our favorite one dish recipes below.

• Spinach and Artichoke Chicken
• Italian Chicken and Peppers
• Baked Hawaiian Chicken
• Alice Springs Chicken

4.72 from 7 votes

Leave a Reply

1. Heather

   May 11, 2024

   
   This was very easy a delicious! I just wish the little “helpful tips” on the thin chicken breasts or to cut them were included in the ingredients and/directions. I did see that until after the fact. Otherwise, highly recommend!!

   Reply

2. Marybeth

   April 22, 2024

   
   This was so easy and delicious! My husband raved and he is not a raver. My 16 yo son also enjoyed it. I put aspargaus (olive oil/S&P) in the oven at the same time and temp and it all came out together, minus the extra time for cheese melting. Used chicken tenderloins, bc it was what I had. Definitely going in our rotation for easy weeknight meal and I’ve told a few friends to try it too! Thank you

   Reply

3. Sheri Bergstrom

   April 21, 2024

   
   great flavors and a delicious meal. I precook the bacon so that it is crunchy and not limp bacon.

   Reply

4. Stephanie C

   February 27, 2023

   Just made this tonight. I had thick bacon so I used the alternative method. Cooked the bacon on the stove and we used shredded Mexican blend cheese. It was a huge hit. We love sweet baby rays! This was delicious!

   Reply

5. Jen

   August 25, 2022

   
   This recipe is both quick&easy!
   Ooey cheese, tangy bbq sauce and chicken what’s not to love! This recipe is easily made keto by swapping out the bbq sauce for a sugar free version. Served with sauteed zucchini. So tasty, so good

   Reply

6. Heather

   January 30, 2021

   
   We had this tonight. So easy and so good! I used sugar free sweet baby Ray’s and it was perfect.

   Reply

   1. Vickie

      July 11, 2021

      This looks good! We have a vegetarian in the family. Think it would work with vegetarian chicken and bacon?

      Reply

7. Terra

   April 27, 2020

   
   This was absolutely delicious. Thank you.

   Reply

8. Rich Bayer

   February 3, 2020

   Good recipe but the chicken needed 5-8 more minutes in the oven. (Brand new oven) I weighed 2.1lb of chicken diced into 4 pieces.

   Reply

9. Kathy

   January 24, 2020

   
   I have to tell you thank you so very much for the recipes…I absolutely love them and this Monterey chicken is so delious…I am so glad I found your sight love all your recipes…thank you so very much can’t wait for more😊😊

   Reply