Monday, April 5, 2010

Aldi Springs Chicken


I LOVE Outback Steakhouse. I love a good steak, and good potatoes, and a good bloomin' onion! BUT, I LOVE their Alice Springs Chicken. A few years ago, for Mother's Day, my husband made a replica of it for me. It was just as good, if not better. And lets face it, who wants to lug all the kids to a restaurant, shell out $13.99 for a plate of chicken that you know you can make at home for a fraction of the price?

Tonight, for dinner, I tried my hand at Alice Springs Chicken, and so as not to steal the name, I've renamed it "Aldi Springs Chicken". I don't believe there truly is an Aldi Spring, but we can pretend for a delicious recipe, right?


Aldi Springs Chicken

1 1/2 lbs boneless/skinless chicken breasts (about 3 large or 4 small) ($6.49/2.5 lbs)
1 16 oz bottle Fit & Active Light Honey Mustard Dressing (1.69)
1 16 oz package Fit & Active Lower Sodium Bacon (2.49)
1 8 oz package Happy Farms Monterey Jack Cheese, sliced thin (1.79)

Place 1 cup of salad dressing and the chicken in a large resealable bag. Marinate for 4 hours or overnight.

Prepare bacon. I prefer to bake mine on a cookie sheet. This makes for easier clean up and it doesn't destroy the stove, either.

Grill chicken. I have a table top grill (like a George Foreman), but you could certainly grill outside or pan fry. Grill until ALMOST done - you don't want to overcook the chicken, and you will be baking it for a few minutes.

Move chicken to a baking dish or cookie sheet. Cover each breast with bacon (I find about 3 strips per breast works well, this will leave you a few left for snacking or BLT's tomorrow). Cover bacon with cheese. Bake at 350 until the cheese melts and chicken finishes cooking (about 5 minutes). Serve immediately with the remainder of the honey mustard dressing for dipping.

Serves 6 (cut the breasts in half if using 3 large) for $1.62 per serving. To keep with the steakhouse theme, serve with a baked potato and a wedge of iceburg lettuce, this adds only about .15 per serving! MUCH CHEAPER than going to Outback.

(I made my own honey mustard for dipping because I wanted to try my hand at it. I used a recipe from www.allrecipes.com, but did not use Aldi ingredients which is why I'm not sharing).

4 comments:

  1. ...this will leave you a few left for snacking...

    Yep, that would be me. :)

    I've always ordered steak at Outback, so I've never tried their Alice Springs Chicken. I'm putting this on my "to try soon" list. Thanks for sharing it.

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  2. I made this last night. Comments ranged from "wow!" to "awesome!" I could almost hear a didgeridoo playing in the background as we sunk our teeth into this dinner! This is my favorite dish from Outback (when my kids were young they used to call it the "Alice is a spring chicken" meal).

    The kids enjoyed crushing up the extra bacon to add on top of their baked potatoes.

    How ironic that Outback is right across the street from Aldi's!
    Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  3. GREAT!!!! SO GLAD!!! Love hearing back with how it works out in your homes! So glad the kids liked it!!!

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  4. I left out the bacon and replaced it with a Ham slice, and it was just as good and used Swiss cheese as Hubby does not like Monterey jack

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