Something Savory #5
It's time for another installment of my Something Savory series. This month is another delicious dinner perfect for summer! Besides burgers (which I shared during Something Savory #3), one of my favorite meals for summer is barbecue chicken. My family would make it on the grill a lot during summer, and I always looked forward to it! I love burgers and steaks, but I'm definitely more of a chicken eater. I love chicken on the grill, but we can't have one where we are currently renting. But, I found a way to get flavor packed, and tender, barbecue chicken in the crockpot! I tuned it into a sizzling summer meal by adding cheesy, bacon filled twice baked potatoes and some Red Lobster copycat biscuits!
The dinner inspiration started when a friend of mine posted the Sweet Baby Ray's crockpot chicken recipe on Facebook. I had seen the recipe all over Pinterest, and various blogs, and had been wanting to try it. I'm not really sure where it originated as I've seen so many people post it. The recipe is simple, but chocked full of flavor! It was exactly what I was hoping for. The combination of the bottled barbecue sauce, along with the additional ingredients mixed in, creates this delicious tangy and slightly sweet sauce. I ended up using thin chicken tenderloins instead of chicken breasts, which is what the recipe called for. With the thinner pieces of chicken, you get a much better sauce to chicken ratio!
Here's the recipe with only a slight change. The original recipe called for vinegar, but I had some apple cider vinegar on hand, so I just used that.
Sweet Baby Rays Crock Pot Chicken ingredients:
- 1 package chicken tenderloins (~1.5 lbs)
- 1 bottle Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Sweet Baby Rays Crockpot Chicken directions:
- Place chicken in crockpot
- Mix together BBQ sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder
- Pour barbecue sauce over the chicken
- Cook on low 4-6 hours
It's really pretty quick and easy to make. I'm getting ready to start back to work soon, so I love finding these crockpot dinner solutions!
I was trying to decide what I wanted to have as a side for the dinner. I have never made twice baked potatoes, so I decided to try that out. I added chopped up bacon to the mixture, it was definitely a delicious addition. It wasn't hard to make at all, it just takes some time. I combined a couple different recipes I found online to make my own.
Twice Baked Potatoes ingredients:
- 4 large unpeeled russet potatoes
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- 1/4-1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Dash pepper
- 8 small pieces of cooked bacon (crumbled up)
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Scrub potatoes and pierce with a fork (to allow air to escape)
- Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes
- When potatoes are cool enough to touch, cut in half lengthwise
- Scoop out inside leaving just a thin shell
- Increase temperature of oven to 400F
- Mash potatoes with electric mixer (on low) or potato masher until there are no lumps
- Add milk in small amounts, beat after adding each bit of milk (mix until a creamy, mashed potato consistency)
- Beat in butter, salt, and pepper
- Mix in cheese and bacon
- Scoop mixture back into potato shells
- Bake for around 20 mins
To complete the meal, I made some Red Lobster biscuits. Have you seen the Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuit mix at Sam's? It is so close to the real biscuits, you'll think you are at the restaurant! They are easy to make, and delicious!
Hope you enjoyed this meal idea, it's perfect for summer. I'd love to hear if you try out either the chicken or the potatoes!
Don't forget to check out my other posts this week, including my mocha brownies and marshmallow fondant.
