This juicy chicken is a showstopper dinner! Smothered and covered with cheese, bacon, veggies and served with a sweet sauce, it's weeknight dinner heaven!
Outback Steakhouse is known for many delicious original dishes, and their Alice Springs Chicken is one of them. It consists of marinated grilled chicken breasts topped with sautéed mushrooms, crumbled bacon, melted cheese with a honey mustard sauce. While I don't have their exact recipe, I did my best to recreate it with a few personal touches.
What's different about mine than theirs, you might ask. From my research, they start with a marinated chicken, and I don't marinate mine first. I added onions because I love the combo of sautéed mushroom and onions. I also season mine with cajun seasoning and use hot honey in the dipping and basting sauce because everything is better with a little heat (in my opinion...but this can be adjusted to your desired level of heat).
When you want a restaurant quality meal at home, this one will fit the bill! It's tender, juicy and heats up excellent as leftovers! If you like the flavors of this dish, you have to check out it's slider version Down Under Chicken Sliders! They are both out of this world delicious!
What You’ll Need
Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below
- Regular or Light Mayonnaise
- Regular or Spicy Honey
- Dijon Mustard
- Bacon
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Butter
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Tony Chachere's Seasoning
- Colby Jack Seasoning
- Green Onions, optional
Tools You’ll Need
- Large Skillet
- Small Mixing Bowl
Why You’ll like this Recipe
- Anything described as "smothered and covered" you know is delicious!
- It's a great option when you're trying to save money by eating at home!
- The sweet heat sauce paired with the savory bacon and cheese is incredible!
- You need only 1 skillet for this dish!
How to Make this Recipe
- While the oven preheats oven to 400°F, prepare the basting/dipping sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey and dijon mustard.
- Cook bacon until crispy in a large oven-safe skillet then remove from the pan.
- In the same skillet, cook mushrooms and onions in a tablespoon of the bacon grease 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Transfer to a bowl.
- Season the chicken on both sides with Tonys. Sear the chicken in the skillet in butter on medium-high heat for 3 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat.
- Place the cooked mushrooms and onion on top of the the chicken breasts. Spoon ¾ of the honey dijon mayo mixture over top.
- Sprinkle crumbled bacon and cheese evenly on each chicken breast.
- Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Serve with the remaining honey mustard sauce and garnished with sliced green onions.
Tips and Substitutions
- Make sure the chicken breasts are ¾" thick prior to cooking. You can do this by halving them with a knife or pounding them inside a Ziploc bag with a mallet.
- If you don't like the heat Tony Chachere's or hot honey gives this dish, you can easily swap for salt and pepper or an all-purpose salt blend and regular honey.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs can be substituted for chicken breasts. Simply adjust the cook time to ensure a minimum internal temperature of 165°F is met. We prefer our thighs around 175°F.
- The mushrooms in this recipe can be baby bella, button or cremini mushrooms.
- This dish pairs well with lots of side dishes but some of my favorites are:
Storage
- Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator up to 3-4 days.
- Freeze in an air tight container up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Ensure the chicken is reheated to above the safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is it called Alice Springs Chicken?
- I put that within my recipe title so that you know it's inspired by Outback Restaurant's famous dish. There is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia called Alice Springs.
- Can I use boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts?
- Absolutely! Just adjust the cook time to meet the minimum safe internal temperature time needed.
- What if I don't like mushrooms and/or onions?
- You can omit either or both from the recipe. Onions are not in the original Outback dish, I added them because I like them.
- Can I use turkey bacon?
- Yes! Crispy turkey bacon, ham, or prosciutto could be used in this recipe.
- Is this gluten free?
- Yes. There are no gluten containing ingredients in my recipe.
- Is this low carb or keto friendly?
- There are 17 grams of carbohydrates in 1 serving. This comes primarily from the honey in the basting and dipping sauce.
More Recipes Like This
- Down Under Chicken Sliders
- Cheesy Ranch and Bacon Potatoes
- Smothered and Covered Pork Chops
- Sweet and Spicy Glazed Chicken
- Marry Me Chicken
Alice Springs Chicken Copycat Recipe
This juicy chicken is a showstopper dinner! Smothered and covered with cheese, bacon, veggies and served with a sweet sauce, it's weeknight dinner heaven!
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 385kcal
Ingredients
- ¾ cup regular or light mayonnaise
- ¼ cup regular or spicy honey
- 2 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 6 thick bacon slices
- 8 oz mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoon butter or reserved bacon grease
- 1 ½-2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts ¾-inch thick
- 1 tsp Tony Charachere seasoning
- 1 cup Colby jack cheese
- Garnish: sliced green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, honey and dijon mustard.
- In a large, oven-safe skillet on medium-high, cook bacon until crispy then remove from the pan.
- Reserve 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease in the pan, and add sliced mushrooms and onion. Cook 5-7 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Transfer to a bowl.
- Pound chicken breasts to ¾” thickness and season on both sides with Tonys. Add butter to the skillet and cook chicken breasts in a single layer in the skillet, about 3 minutes on each side. Turn off the heat.
- Return the cooked mushrooms and onion on top of the the chicken breasts. Spoon on top ¾ of the honey mustard sauce. Distribute the crumbled bacon and cheese evenly.
- Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. Serve with the remaining honey mustard sauce and garnished with sliced green onion.
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 385kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 31g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 109mg | Sodium: 591mg | Potassium: 633mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 393IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 170mg | Iron: 1mg
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