This Malibu Chicken Recipe is the perfect easy weeknight dinner! Chicken breast is dipped in butter, coated in Italian breadcrumbs, and topped with ham and Swiss cheese for a delicious and simple dinner idea!
Want other delicious chicken dinner recipes to try? Check out my Oven Roasted Chicken Breast, Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie, KFC Chicken Bowls and my Asian Zing Sauce Recipe– Buffalo Wild Wings Copycat!
Recipe Features:
- Quick and Easy: This is the PERFECT weeknight dinner recipe. It all comes together in under an hour.
- Better than Sizzler Malibu Chicken Copycat Recipe: Bold statement, but true! We have made this dozens of times for friends and family and they all agree!
- Super Simple to Customize: We love the way the recipe is written, but you can substitute your favorite cheeses and seasonings.
Ya’ll. My husband LOVES this chicken. My parents hop down to our neck of the woods occasionally and insist we visit Sizzler. It is one of my mom’s favorites and she always orders the same thing. Malibu chicken.
My husband jumped on the bandwagon and has started doing the same. He says there is something delicious about the breaded baked chicken breast paired with the ham and Swiss cheese. And let’s not even get started about the mustard dipping sauce… It is overall just an easy go-to weeknight dinner.
Malibu Chicken Ingredients
The list below is a quick overview of the ingredients you need to make Malibu Chicken at home. Luckily, most of these items are fairly basic and may even be in your kitchen already! Let’s dive in and break things down.
- Chicken: I prefer chicken breast for this specific recipe, but you can use chicken thighs in a pinch. Just make sure either way that you slice or pound the chicken to even thickness before starting. This helps to give you an even bake.
- Dijon Mustard: Seems weird, but I promise this makes the dish! It’s added to melted butter to provide a delightful tang to the chicken.
- Butter: Since we aren’t baking, I suggest sticking with salted butter. Salted helps to enhance the overall flavor of this dish. If you are using unsalted, be sure to lightly season the chicken with salt before beginning.
- Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs: For the outer crispy coating.
- Grated Parmesan: I have made this with both shredded and grated Parm. The grated (found in a little shaker bottle) sticks to the chicken much better and gives you an incredible flavor.
How To Make Sizzlers Malibu Chicken Recipe
There’s not too much to this recipe. It comes together quickly and is loaded with flavor! Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.
- PREP: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking tray with parchment paper of foil, to help with easy cleanup, and place an oven safe baking rack inside the tray- directly on top of the foil.
- TOPPINGS: Prep two shallow bowls. In the first, whisk together the melted butter and 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard. Inside the second dish, mix the breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese.
- DIP: Dip each chicken piece into the melted butter mixture followed by the breadcrumbs. Press to coat evenly. If you want a thicker crispier finish, you can dip a second time into both. Place each breaded chicken breast onto the prepared baking tray.
- BAKE: Mist the chicken with cooking spray, I really love avocado oil, and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F, flipping once halfway through baking for even cooking.
- HAM: Remove the chicken from the oven and place a slice of ham followed by a slice of cheese onto each breast. Continue to bake 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cheese has melted.
- ENJOY: Serve with the mustard sauce or your favorite sides!
Helpful Tools
- Oven Safe Baking Racks: When it comes to getting a crispy baked chicken I’ve found that an oven safe rack (affiliate) is key! They fit into most baking trays and help the air flow evenly around the chicken.
- Shallow Bowls: These shallow bowls (affiliate) have come in so handy while cooking and baking. They’re wide enough to dip with a lip high enough to really mix. I also use them as regular plates because they’re so dang cute.
- Baking Tray: Not all baking trays are made equal. Using a quality tray (affiliate) is going to help give you a more even bake. Thinner trays will cook the outside too quickly leaving you with dry chicken.
Recipe Notes:
Malibu chicken is a dish made incredibly popular by the restaurant chain Sizzler. It consists of a breaded and baked chicken breast, topped with a slice of ham and Swiss cheese, and served with a mustard dipping sauce. Almost reminds me of a simplified version of Chicken Cordon Bleu.
Surprisingly little! The main difference between the two are that Malibu chicken has the ham and cheese placed on top of the chicken while cordon bleu has it rolled inside the chicken.
as always that it lacked a crisp exterior. Following the tips below you should be able to get a crisp exterior to your oven baked chicken!
We have an oven safe cooling rack (affiliate) we sit in a foil lined baking tray.
Give it a good mist of non-stick spray and set your chicken directly on top.
Bake as directed, turning the chicken once halfway through.
So, what does the cooling rack accomplish exactly? When you have the height of a cooling rack, air circulates and the bottom of your chicken does not get soggy from absorbing steam. This keeps your chicken bottom from becoming overly saturated and wet.
The best part? Cooling racks (affiliate) are fairly inexpensive. That means you can have crispier chicken for minimal cost!
We found that the base of this recipe tastes similar with the use of yellow mustard, Dijon, mayonnaise, and honey. It’s a mixture of a honey mustard with a delicious tang added by Dijon. Unbelievably delicious!
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Malibu Chicken Recipe (Sizzler Copycat)
Ingredients
For the Chicken
- 3 large chicken breasts sliced lengthwise or pounded to an even thickness
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3/4 cups Italian bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 6 pieces of sliced ham
- 6 pieces of Swiss cheese
For the dipping sauce
- 2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
Instructions
For the chicken
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Place an oven safe rack inside your tray on top of the cookie sheet. Set aside for later.
- Whisk together the melted butter and 2 tablespoons of Dijon in a shallow bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine the Italian breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
- Dip the chicken into the butter mixture followed by the breadcrumbs. Make sure to coat evenly. For a crispier finish, you can double dip.
- Transfer the coated chicken pieces to the prepared cookie sheet, placing directly on the rack. Mist with cooking spray, I like avocado oil, and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Flip halfway through for even cooking.
- The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Top the chicken with a slice of ham followed by a slice of cheese. Bake an additional 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
For the dipping sauce
- Combine all of the ingredients for the dipping sauce in a small bowl. Mix until combined. Serve with the chicken.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Todd Anderson says
While some of the ingredients are similar, this has very little resemblance to Sizzler’s version.
Jesseca says
Thanks for the feedback, Todd.
Melissa says
I think this is better than Sizzler’s! This is definitely a family favorite! My young kiddos and hubby all love it! Thanks for sharing!
Richard says
a great find for our family! thank you for having this recipe available!
jj says
can’t you get a recipe app that allows for printing in a more compact form? this recipe should not take 6-8 pages to print
Jesseca says
I’m always open to suggestions, however please consider requesting in a more positive way. It was printing in 4 pages due to the images in the recipe instructions, not 6. I removed the images to make it 2 pages. However, I get many many requests for the step by step photos in instructions. I cannot please everyone and appreciate any patience and kindness you have to offer.
Allison says
Delicious! Made exactly as indicated in the recipe. The breading on the chicken still came out a bit soggy for me, but still better than other chicken I’ve baked…so the tip to use the baking rack will definitely be my new go-to method. All came together very easy and quick. Had to limit myself on the dipping sauce because I could drown everything in that…so good! Thank you!
Jesseca says
Thanks for taking the tie to comment, Allison! I’m glad you liked it.
Chris H says
Try using an oven safe cooling rack on your baking sheet with some foil under it so it doesn’t come out soggy. Spray the rack with cooking spray or lightly oil it first. Applies to Shake n Bake or any baked breaded meats as well.
Natasha says
What kind of mustard do I use along with Dijon?
Jesseca says
classic yellow mustard.
Jacey says
Easy and tasty dinner. We doulbed the dipping sauce and cooked the chicken stovetop because it was easier.
Jesseca says
Cooking stove top is a good substitution. I’m guessing you got a nice crisp chicken breast!