bourbon chicken

Have you ever looked at the ingredients of a recipe and thought “what the heck, that is such a weird combination of flavors, how in the world is that going to taste any good?”

I happened to do that when my coworker & friend, Pam, told me about this recipe she had found. She told me she made it for dinner and her husband “loved it” and how she was hesitant to even try it because she smelled the sauce and was kind of repulsed by it. Haha, that totally made me want to try to make it ;) However, she followed up with that statement with “but then I tasted it and it was AWESOME.”

She wasn’t lying, folks. This sauce, albeit smells awkward (just cause of the ingredients), is the sh!t. Excuse my French there, but I have no other words to describe this sauce. It is what makes this chicken dish and I don’t want to have chicken any other way now (kidding of course). But that being said, it’s just seriously THAT good. The smooth and rich consistency of it with the Dijon hint in the background makes this such a great sauce. Good thing I have quite a bit of sauce left because I can whip up another batch of these babies or try this on pork or something else! Oh, might I add that there’s bourbon in the sauce? Does that convince you a little more now to go make this tonight?

Sidenote: this tastes NOTHING like bourbon chicken at those Chinese food places in food courts that hand you bourbon chicken on a toothpick. It’s far from it.

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bourbon chicken

Bourbon Chicken is an unbelievably good chicken dinner!

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 2

Calories: 726kcal

Author: Julie Wampler

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Ingredients

• 5 chicken tenderloins
• 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
• 4 tbsp clarified butter*

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp bourbon whiskey
• 3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of low sodium soy sauce
• 4 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 tbsp cubes

Instructions

• In a small casserole dish, mix together breadcrumbs and 2 tbsp. of clarified butter.
• Cover each chicken tenderloin, both sides, with the breadcrumb mixture.
• In a large skillet, heat up your remaining 2 tbsp. of clarified butter on medium-high heat.
• Add in your chicken and cook both sides until brown and chicken is cooked all the way through, about 5-7 minutes. Flip often as you don't want the breadcrumbs to get black.
• To make your sauce, combine the Dijon mustard, brown sugar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and bourbon. Mix until smooth in a small saucepot over medium heat then remove from heat when it starts to simmer.
• Whisk into the hot sauce the butter in 1 tbsp. cubes at a time.
• Plate your chicken and sides (I just steamed broccoli) and drizzle sauce all over, plus extra on the side for dipping.

Notes

Clarified butter is another term for drawn butter. It's unsalted butter that has the milk solids and water removed and you're left with pure golden butterfat. It lets you cook foods at a higher temperature without burning. To make yourself some clarified butter, gently melt some unsalted butter in a small skillet over low heat until the butter breaks down. You will see the top layer of white bubbles or foam begin to form. Remove from heat and skim off the top with a spoon. The milk solids will drop to the bottom therefore you should strain it through a mesh strainer and then you'll be left with delicious, golden butter fat. Who doesn't love that?! You can refrigerate this and it should keep for several months.

Source: All Recipes

Nutrition Facts

bourbon chicken

Amount Per Serving (1 serving)

Calories 726 Calories from Fat 405

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 45g 69%

Total Carbohydrates 37g 12%

Dietary Fiber 1g 4%

Sugars 19g

Protein 37g 74%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate.