$15 Chicken

The name for this meal is due to the amount you'd have to pay to enjoy it eating out. Hubby and I decided last minute (at the grocery store) that we wanted something special for dinner on Labor Day (we'd forgotten about it until that day due to stress in our lives previously). I knew we had at least 1 chicken breast in the freezer (turns out we only had one so we split the chicken between the two of us...) so while shopping I cooked up this recipe in my mind. It worked out great. The only thing I bought was mozzarella cheese at the store (remember I was trying to clean out my pantry?)

We got home and I got cooking for a delicious $15 meal. Of course if we'd eaten this somewhere else, I wouldn't have spent the time in the kitchen, but this wasn't actually that labor intensive (I was also making chocolate chip cookies at the same time).

$15 Chicken

First, marinate 2 chicken breasts in 1 Tbsp liquid smoke for at least 1/2 hour (You can skip this step if you are using a grill). While the chicken is marinating, cook 4 strips of bacon, cut in half, in a frying pan until done.

Brush marinated chicken with barbecue sauce (I used Hickory Smoke Barbecue Sauce.) Fry chicken in bacon grease on medium high heat.

Flip after 8-10 minutes.

Cook for 8-10 more minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. After the chicken is finished cooking, add 1/2 cup diced green pepper and 1/3 cup diced red onion to the frying pan, cook until tender. Cooking in the same pan absorbs some of the barbecue sauce and flavor.

Place the chicken on a cookie sheet. Top with cooked pepper and onion.

Add 4 of the half slices of bacon per chicken breast.

Place 3-4 slices of mozzarella cheese on top of the bacon. Place under broiler in oven. Broil until cheese is melted. Top with some more onion-pepper mixture.

I served these with oven-cooked french fries and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

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