This Carrabba’s Chicken Bryan copycat recipe tops grilled chicken breasts with a basil lemon butter sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, and creamy goat cheese. It’s just like the original at home!
My favorite restaurant is Carrabba’s, and I choose to go there for every birthday and anniversary and special occasion that I can manage. My favorite dish at my favorite restaurant is Chicken Bryan which is a grilled chicken breast topped with creamy goat cheese and tangy sun-dried tomatoes and smothered in a rich and tart basil lemon butter sauce. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it.
Let’s get real for a second. Carrabba’s is a pretty expensive restaurant, and we can’t justify eating there outside of special occasions. So if I’m going to get Chicken Bryan more than a couple of times a year, I’m going to have to make it at home.
So I do.
We have made Chicken Bryan in two ways, both really excellent. Grilling the chicken on the grill outside gives it a really nice, rich flavor that adds something to the dish. Realistically though, Joe would have to wade through my dining room garden, fight two cats who constantly try to escape, and then manage our old and in need of replacement sliding glass door in order to get out to the grill. Suffice it to say that the chicken breasts get cooked in a skillet more often than not, especially during the colder months of the year (when the plants can’t be outside), and the dish turns out just fine that way too.
As I mentioned in the recipe, you will want to use chicken breasts that are on the thinner side. They will cook more evenly if they don’t have thinner parts and thicker parts, and the dish will just turn out better. If yours are too thick, simply cut them in half longways or pound the thicker parts with a mallet to thin them out a bit.
How to Make Chicken Bryan at Home
- Start by cooking the chicken. As I said above, you can either cook it in a skillet on the stove or on a grill. You could also use a George Foreman grill or something like that if you have it. Make sure you rub the chicken on both sides with some olive oil, both to prevent sticking and to infuse it with a nice flavor. Then season with salt and pepper and place into the skillet.
Most thinner chicken breasts will cook in about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Be sure to cook the chicken until it reaches 165º inside the thickest part. - Next, prepare the sauce. To do this, you will sauté the onion and garlic over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Be careful not to overcook them because the garlic will get bitter.
When they are just beginning to get fragrant, add the white wine and lemon juice and simmer for 10 minutes. (Simmer means to cook over medium-low or low heat so that small bubbles form but the liquid is not boiling.)
After the 10 minutes has elapsed, you will add the heavy cream and the butter to the sauce, but only add the butter a tablespoon at a time. Wait until one tablespoon melts before adding the next one. You can whisk gently during this process, and be sure to keep it over low heat until the sauce is emulsified. (Emulsified means that two liquids which don’t usually combine are combined.)
Finally, add the sun-dried tomatoes and basil and cook until they are just warm.
If you overcook the sauce, it will break. (That means that the two liquids that you emulsified will separate, and they cannot be re-combined.) Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside. - Assemble Chicken Bryan. The last step is to assemble the dish. Top each chicken breast with 2 coins of goat cheese. Allow the chicken to rest this way until the goat cheese is the consistency of sour cream.
Spoon the sauce with sun-dried tomatoes over the top, then serve.
This recipe is truly my favorite dish to have at home or in a restaurant. I can’t explain just how good it is. You’ll have to try it for yourself!
Here are a few other yummy chicken recipes you could try while you’re here:
- The Best Ever Chicken Marinade
- Chicken Crust Pizza
- Coconut Chicken Curry in the Instant Pot
- Chicken Piccata with Zucchini Noodles
Chicken Bryan - Copycat Carrabba's Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 medium boneless skinless chicken breast thin breasts are better, so if yours are very thick, slice them in half or pound with a mallet
- extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 4 oz goat cheese sliced into 8 coins
- 3.5 oz sun-dried tomatoes coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil cut in ribbons
- 4 teaspoons onion minced
- 4 cloves garlic pressed with a garlic press
- 8 tablespoons butter separated
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice approximately the juice of 1 1/2 lemons
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Cook the chicken
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of each chicken breast with olive oil and season with a bit of salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Cook the chicken, 4-5 minutes per side, turning once, until the internal temperature is 165º.
Prepare the sauce
- In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons butter until soft and fragrant. Be careful not to overcook or the garlic will turn bitter. Add white wine and lemon juice. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes.
- Reduce heat to low. Add heavy cream and remaining 6 tablespoons butter a little at a time until the butter melts and the mixture is emulsified. Whisk as needed.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes and basil and heat until just hot. If you overcook the sauce, it will break. Remove sauce from the heat and set aside until chicken is finished.
Assemble the dish
- Just before serving, slice thick coins of goat cheese and lay on top of each chicken breast. Warm until the cheese is the consistency of sour cream.
- Spoon basil lemon butter sauce with sun-dried tomatoes over the goat cheese.
Notes
A free cookbook? Yes, please!
Get 10 of my favorite Instant Pot recipes in my free cookbook, Instant Pot Made Easy! Click the button below to download. If for some reason, the button doesn’t work for you, leave a comment below, and I’ll email it to you.
© 2020, Tara Ziegmont. All rights reserved.
Amar Kumar says
Hello Tara,
This is literally one of our family’s favorite dishes.
And the fact that we can now make this at home, this dish even better than if we were eating it in the restaurant.
You have very simply step by step taught this recipe and you know these images will very helpful for beginner to learn easily this recipe.
Thanks for sharing.
With best wishes,
Amar Kumar