Monterey Chicken is an easy grilled BBQ chicken topped with bacon and melted cheese. This recipe is a fun Chili’s copycat and perfect for any weeknight meal.
Who is ready for a ultra delicious grilling recipe! I love grilling season, it is one of my favorite times of the year, because we grill out a lot and we literally never get sick of it.
I also love copycat recipes and this Monterey Chicken Recipe is one for the books. It is so delicious and so easy that you will want to make this over and over again.
Every time we go out to Chili’s (which is about every 3-4 months, we have one a couple miles from our house so it’s pretty convenient.) My husband gets the Monterey Chicken and it’s always great.
We love the combination of bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce. I’ve made Monterey Chicken at home a couple times in the oven but taking it out on the grill is where it’s at!
Some of my other favorite grilling recipes that we have include Mustard Grilled Chicken Sandwiches, Easy Grilled Asparagus and Herb Marinated Grilled Pork Chops.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With minimal ingredients it whips up in no time.
- It can easily be doubled to serve a larger family.
- This only takes 15 minutes to cook up!
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE BELOW):
Thick-cut bacon
Chicken breasts
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Salt
Pepper
Mozzarella cheese
Monterey/Cheddar blend cheese
BBQ sauce
HOW TO MAKE MONTEREY CHICKEN:
- Place the bacon into a medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat and cook until crispy, drain on a paper towel-lined plate, set aside. Season chicken breasts with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Place on a plate until ready to grill.
- Place chicken on the grill over medium heat. Let cook until almost done. When the chicken has an internal temperature of 150°F, baste with BBQ sauce on both sides and continue cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. (Don’t baste the chicken as soon as it hits the grill or else the sugars in the BBQ sauce will burn.)
- When chicken is cooked through, place half of the bacon on top of each piece. Mix the cheeses together and spread evenly over each piece.
- Place the top of the grill down and let the cheese melt, this will only take a couple of minutes. Serve immediately.
CAN I PUT THE BBQ SAUCE ON AS SOON AS I START GRILLING?
Don’t baste the chicken as soon as it hits the grill or else the sugars in the BBQ sauce will burn. And we don’t want that!
HOW TO STORE MONTEREY CHICKEN:
This Monterey Chicken Recipe can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- You can easily double this recipe to serve a larger family.
- We completely recommend a using a good meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is properly cooked.
- You can use any cheese you want, but Monterey Cheddar blend and Mozzarella are the usuals.
- You can use any BBQ sauce you like, test out different flavors to see what you like best or make your own Homemade BBQ Sauce.
- We like to chop our bacon and cook it in a skillet before hand but you could also leave it whole and place it on the chicken itself.
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If you’ve tried this MONTEREY CHICKEN let me know in the comments how it turned out! You can follow me over on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM OR FACEBOOK to find some more of our mouthwatering recipes!
Monterey Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon medium-diced
- 2 chicken breasts boneless skinless
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded Monterey/Cheddar blend cheese or just cheddar is good!
- 1/2 cup BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Place the bacon into a medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat and cook until crispy, drain on a paper towel-lined plate, set aside. Season chicken breasts with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Place on a plate until ready to grill.
- Place chicken on the grill over medium heat. Let cook until almost done. When the chicken has an internal temperature of 150°F, baste with BBQ sauce on both sides and continue cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. (Don't baste the chicken as soon as it hits the grill or else the sugars in the BBQ sauce will burn.)
- When chicken is cooked through, place half of the bacon on top of each piece. Mix the cheeses together and spread evenly over each piece.
- Place the top of the grill down and let the cheese melt, this will only take a couple of minutes. Serve immediately.
Notes
- You can easily double this recipe to serve a larger family.
- We completely recommend a using a good meat thermometer to make sure your chicken is properly cooked.
- You can use any cheese you want, but Monterey Cheddar blend and Mozzarella are the usuals.
- You can use any BBQ sauce you like, test out different flavors to see what you like best or make your own Homemade BBQ Sauce.
- We like to chop our bacon and cook it in a skillet before hand but you could also leave it whole and place it on the chicken itself.
Nutrition
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This looks fantastic! I’ll keep this in mind for the next time we grill chicken! 🙂
Super yum! A definite must try!! Thanks for making me drool 🙂
Thank you! I have a similar recipe only I call it Western Chicken. It always makes my mouth water! Love it. Thanks for posting and that tomato and corn salad looks yum!!
I want to make this tonight! It looks so yummy. What if I don’t have a grill though? Any alternatives to cooking it?
You can definitely bake it easily! Just put on the bbq sauce about 5 minutes before the chicken is cooked through, still yummy!
Made this tonight. Awesome. I brined the chicken first and sprinkled fresh avocado and tomato with the bacon over the top. It was a surefire hit. Thank you. Will become part of our summer grilling rotation.
Ugh, that sounds amazing! So glad it came out good, I love the additions. 🙂
This looks so good! Yum!! I have a copycat recipes cook book that I purchased on QVC years ago, this has inspired me to get it out and see what all I can make. Pinning!
This is what I order EVERY time I go to Chili’s!
Pinned!
Thanks for sharing on Your Whim’s Wednesday
This needs to go on the dinner menu this week! Thanks for linking up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
Dana, this is wonderful! I am featuring it tonight at Treasure Box Tuesday- thank you for linking up with us! 🙂
This looks so delicious! I am pinning this and will be making this sometime this summer for sure! I am always looking for new chicken recipes! I would love it if you would stop by and share this or one of your other fantastic recipes at my new link party at: Celebrate it Sunday!
So excited to try this recipe – I’m making it tonight! We don’t have a grill so we’re using the oven. What temp should I set the oven to, and how long should I leave it in? Do I need to flip the chicken? Such a newbie in the kitchen!
Sorry I didn’t read this until now. I hope it came out good! I would set the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the chicken until it hits a temperature of 155 degrees, then add the bbq sauce. The chicken is done when internal temp is 165 degrees on the chicken. I’m not exactly sure how long it would need to bake for. It depends on the size of the chicken pieces. You do not need to turn them, but you can if you want. Then, finish then with the bacon and cheese in the oven just for a minute or so until the cheese melts. Hope this helps!
Hi just love the things you have on here just thought I would tell you my. Sick/tired Naunie days recipe spin off this recipe. Tonight was the omg I’m sick and I’m tired taking care of 6 grandkids ranging 6 weeks to 5 yrs. Lol so I am really tired!! So tonight I have everything out to make this sweet dish and got to thinking how to cheat. So I made my own BBQ sauce. Grabbed some fresh onion garlic and green onions then some new potatos did a 1 inch cube spayed my pan cut my chicken in 1 inch cubes layered chicken potatoes bacon chopped .cheese bbq sauce. green onions garlic diced continues till ingredients were go last layer was bacon on top of cheese. Tented with foil baked in 425 for 1hr 20 mins
I’ve been looking for a monterey chicken copycat recipe, and decided to go with this. I made it tonight, and it was AWESOME! Thanks for this recipe. I cooked the chicken in a skillet and used precooked bacon for ease, and it was absolutely delicious. So EASY to whip up, and so tasty. We had seasoned oven fries and garlic Parmesan corn on the cob for sides. Very satisfying meal and it will be in regular rotation!
What brand of bbq sauce so you use ?
My favorite store bought bbq sauce is Sweet Baby Ray’s.
So easy but sooooo good. Thanks for recipe.
Your Monterey chicken was a big hit with my family. Definitely a winner for me. I used heddar cheese as I’m not able to get Monterey cheese in Australia
I USED TO ORDER THIS EVERY TIME WE WENT TO cHILI’S. When they discontinued it, (big mistake) I made my own version and it was just like theirs. Easy, quick and delicious