Weather: In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb

Recipe of the Week
Parmesean Crusted Chicken

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Sikora

Last weekend my family and I went to Longhorn's Steakhouse for dinner. It was fabulous (and yes--it is okay to splurge every now and then).

I ordered this wonderful entree that I had been seeing on television. The first bite was as scrumptious as I had suspected! I asked our waitress what was in the sauce that was on top of the chicken and she gave me the COMPLETE recipe so I could re-create it at home. I was shocked that they shared it with me.

I made my version of it last night and it was SO good! My husband even said it was his new favorite. I paired it with green beans and mashed potatoes and homemade artisan bread. It was a wonderful restaurant meal for a fraction of the price!

Here is the recipe and I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of creamy ranch dressing
1 cup of parmesean cheese
1 cup of shredded provolone cheese
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
Panko bread crumbs (I did not have these so I just used regular bread crumbs)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cook your chicken to your preference (grilled or baked--I baked mine). While the chicken is baking, mix together ranch, parmesean cheese, garlic, and 1/4 cup of provolone cheese, and then set this mixture aside. Also at this time toast your bread crumbs and then set them aside.

After the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the oven and turn your broiler on. Take your creamy cheese mixture and put it on each piece of chicken. Put it on as thick as you like. Sprinkle on each piece of chicken the remaining provolone cheese. Top that with the toasted bread crumbs.

Place chicken under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browned a little on top.

Here is the cost breakdown for this recipe:
1 bag of frozen chicken breasts ($6.99)
1 bottle of ranch dressing ($1.49)
1 8 ounce jar of parmesean cheese ($1.89)
1 8 ounce bar of provolone cheese ($1.79)
1 head of garlic (.29)
1 box of bread crumbs (.99)
2 cans of green beans ($1.00)
Loaf of bread (free--homemade)
Mashed Potatoes (free-homemade)

This recipe easily feeds 6 people. You could also stretch it to 8 if you needed to, but some in our family like two pieces of chicken instead of one. The total cost to prepare this meal for 6 people is $14.44! That comes out to $2.40 per serving. At the restaurant, this meal comes with 2 chicken breasts and french fries and bread for $10.99! I think I much prefer making it at home, and the taste was just about the same!

Hope you enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~