Alice Springs Chicken Recipe (Outback Copycat)

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This juicy Outback Copycat Alice Springs Chicken is a restaurant meal at home that's a true showstopper. Smothered and covered with cheese, bacon, veggies and served with a sweet sauce, it's weeknight dinner heaven. Better yet, it's made with just one skillet!

This is a picture of a plate of chicken. On top of the cooked chicken is crumbled bacon, green onions, melted yellow cheese and cooked mushrooms and onions

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What is Alice Springs Chicken?

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 my Copycat Alice Springs Chicken, 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 mushrooms and onions.

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Additionally, I 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 its slider version Chicken Sliders Recipe! They are both out of this world delicious!

Why You’ll like this Recipe

Insanely Delicious: Anything described as "smothered and covered" you know is delicious!
Affordable Meal: It's a great option when you're trying to save money by eating at home!
Sweet and Smoky: The sweet heat sauce paired with the savory bacon and cheese is incredible!
One-Pan Recipe: You need only 1 skillet for this dish!

Ingredients for Alice Springs Chicken Recipe

Scroll Down for Ingredient Amounts Listed in the Recipe Card Below

Regular or Light Mayonnaise: Makes this chicken recipe extra creamy. Use light mayonnaise for a reduced fat recipe.
Regular or Spicy Honey: Spicy honey is my special touch for a little bit of kick in your Alice Springs Chicken. It pairs great with the smoky and sweet flavors of this dish.
Dijon Mustard: Gives that nice tangy flavor that compliments the honey.
Bacon: Who doesn't love bacon, feel free to use turkey bacon if you would like as well.
Mushrooms: Delicious when cooked down with the cheese and sauce. Buy presliced mushrooms to save time.
Onion: I added this to the recipe, because who doesn't love a bit of caramelized onion with bacon and mushrooms!
Butter: Just makes everything in this recipe better, use unsalted here.
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts: Make sure you chicken breasts aren't too large at the store, about ¾-inch thick. You can also use boneless, skinless chicken thighs for this recipe.
Tony Chachere's Seasoning: One of my favorite seasonings that just takes every recipe up a notch in flavor.
Colby Jack Cheese: The ultimate cheese for both flavor and meltiness for this cheesy chicken recipe.
Green Onions, optional: A great fresh garnish at the end.

Tools You’ll Need

How to Make Outback Alice Springs Chicken

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.

sautéing mushrooms and onions in a pan with a wooden spoon

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.

sautéed mushrooms and onions on par-cooked chicken being drizzled with honey-Dijon mayo

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.

fully cooked Alice Springs Chicken copycat served on a plate

Tips and Substitutions

Make sure the chicken breasts are ¾-inch thick prior to cooking. You can do this by halving them with a knife or pounding them inside a zip-top 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 cooking 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.

What to Serve with Copycat Alice Springs Chicken

This Easy Alice Springs Chicken Copycat pairs well with lots of side dishes but some of my favorites are:
- Baked Sweet Potato or Baked Potato with Cheese and Bacon
- Stewed Potatoes
- White Mac and Cheese
- Honey Glazed Brussels Sprouts
- Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower
- Crispy Green Beans
- House Salad

Storage and Freezing

Alice Springs Chicken can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.

If you want to freeze this chicken dinner, freeze the cooled chicken in an airtight 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 cooking 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. As always, be sure to check your individual ingredients for potential allergens.

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.

Try these other Easy Delicious Meals:

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4.95 from 17 votes

Alice Springs Chicken Copycat Recipe

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken

Servings: servings

Calories: 385kcal

Ingredients

¾ cup regular or light mayonnaise
¼ cup regular or spicy honey
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
6 thick bacon slices
8 ounces mushrooms sliced
1 cup thinly sliced yellow onion
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or reserved bacon grease
1 ½-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts ¾-inch thick
1 teaspoon Tony Charachere Creole Seasoning or any creole/cajun seasoning blend
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

Notes

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 zip-topbag with a mallet.

If you don't like the heat Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning 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 cooking 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.

Nutrition

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Comments

4.95 from 17 votes (9 ratings without comment)