Monterey Chicken with Pico de Gallo {Chili’s Copycat}
The flavors in this Monterey chicken {a Chili’s copycat recipe} are out of this world delicious! Tender grilled chicken, topped with bacon, cheese and a simple homemade pico de gallo. Yum!
Everyone in my family can agree on one thing: this Monterey chicken is one of the best meals in the history of ever.
Elements to Prep Ahead
Marinate the chicken for at least an hour (but up to 12 hours) in a delectable mixture of:
- Dijon mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
- Brown sugar
- Salt and pepper
Prep the pico de gallo by stirring together:
- red onion
- tomatoes
- cilantro
- jalapenos
- lime juice
- salt + pepper + drizzle of olive oil
Next Steps
Once those two elements come together, this Monterey chicken comes together FAST.
- Cook the bacon until crisp
- Grill the chicken until internal temp reaches 165 degrees F
- Before removing from the grill, top the chicken with shredded cheese and bacon.
- Cover the grill and heat until the cheese melts.
- Serve the pico de gallo on the side or spooned on top of the chicken.
Prepare to be wowed. The flavor explosion is so delicious!
A Family Favorite Meal
This is an oft-requested dinner for my family. It even makes the cut for the uber-difficult decision of what to choose for a birthday meal!
It also makes an incredible offering when serving company (they will rave, I guarantee it).
So many of you have fallen in love with this Monterey chicken over the years, as well. I love reading your reviews!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I think this is my very favorite meal to make in the summer, but I make it in the winter, too! The tomato “salsa” pulls it all together. It’s quick, delicious and if you like grilling it is really easy to pull together. -Michelle
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ We made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING. The marinade made for an incredibly delicious chicken and adding the cheese, bacon, and pico just took it to the next level. Thanks for a total winner! -Allison H.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ WOW! You were not joking, this came out great and I cannot believe how good such a simple marinade is! I was nervous because I got home from work a little later than expected so only had about 20 minutes to let the chicken marinade and it still came back so full of flavor. -Alexandra
What to Serve With This
One Year Ago: Delicious No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites
Two Years Ago: Foil Packet Sweet Potato Tacos
Three Years Ago: Easy Brazilian Cheese Bread {Pao de Queijo}
Monterey Chicken with Pico de Gallo {Chili’s Copycat}
Ingredients
Chicken:
- 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons coarse, kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 6 thin-cut boneless skinless chicken breasts (see note)
Toppings:
- 6 strips bacon (thick cut or regular), chopped
- 1 ½ cups shredded pepper jack or Monterey jack cheese
- 1 ½ cups diced tomatoes
- ¼ cup finely diced red onion
- 2-3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
- 1 tablespoon finely minced jalapeno
- 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- For the chicken, in a small bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, Worcestershire, brown sugar, salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in a gallon-size ziploc bag or shallow dish. Coat the chicken with the marinade mixture; there isn't a ton of marinade, a thin coating is fine. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).
- In skillet set over medium heat, cook the bacon until crisp. With a slotted spoon, remove the bacon to a paper-towel lined plate to drain the grease. Set aside.
- For the pico de gallo, in a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, and lime juice. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper (important!). Refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Preheat a grill pan or outdoor grill to medium-high. I use a pellet grill set to 375 degrees F.
- Cook the chicken for 4 to 5 minutes per side until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees F at the thickest part.
- Without removing the chicken from the grill pan/grill, top each chicken breast with shredded cheese and bacon – the amounts don't have to be exact, just divide evenly on the chicken.
- Cover the grill or grill pan and heat until the cheese melts, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Serve the chicken warm with the pico de gallo spooned on top or on the side. Prepare to be wowed – so delicious!
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Cuisine at Home April 2017 (altered basically all ingredient amounts to increase the recipe beyond two servings and changed up a few other things, like not using bacon grease in the pico de gallo)
Recipe originally posted May 2017; updated September 2024 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Fantastic! Will definitely make again!
This is absolutely delicious. My kids even scarfed it down, and one of them hates chicken! Thank you Mel, I’d give it 10 stars if I could.
Made this recipe for years! Still a favorite, the side salad you mention is also a fav!
I think this is my very favorite meal to make in the summer, but I make it in the winter, too! The tomato “salsa” pulls it all together. It’s quick, delicious and if you like grilling it is really easy to pull together. I don’t make the salsa too far in advance or it gets a little watery. Absolutely delicious any time of the year! I have an extremely picky son and he eats this with no problems at all. Total hit with our family.
I’m just curious. Our Chili’s closed years ago and I’m not sure if I ever had it. I have seen several “copycat” recipes but the others are way different than yours. They are mainly BBQ sauce, cheese and bacon. I am in the process of making your version now. Is there more than one Monterey dish on their menu? Have you ever added BBQ sauce to yours?
You can definitely add BBQ sauce!
YUM! Should have made MORE!
This recipe is so very good! I have made it many times, and every time I am wowed all over again. Thank you for sharing all your wonderful recipes with us!
I changed this recipe simply to use what I had on hand (i.e. hot southwest mustard instead of dijon, pickled jalapeños instead of fresh and less than half of the garlic called for). It was delicious. I can only imagine it will be better when I follow the recipe exactly. And I totally will.
This is a very delicious, flavorful weeknight meal that received a thumbs up from all family members! It’s now part of our regular dinnertime rotation. I’m always looking for new and yummy ways to cook chicken breasts, thanks for delivering Mel!
Mel:
I don’t have a grill.
Do you think I could bake the chicken in the oven? What temp , how long and should I cover it with foil?
Thanks for your help.
(we love your cheesecake recipes!)
Meg
Hi Meg, I’d try baking at 350 for about 3-4 minutes per side.
We made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING. The marinade made for an incredibly delicious chicken and adding the cheese, bacon, and pico just took it to the next level. Thanks for a total winner!
Easy marinade to throw together but this meal felt special. All of my kids loved it & we will definitely be making it again .
Love, love, love this recipe! Can I freeze the uncooked chicken in the marinade for future use? Thanks!
I haven’t tried that, but it should work pretty well!
I really want to try this recipe, but can’t find the recipe for the marinade. Would someone please point me in the right direction for it? Or, if it’s a simple list of ingredients, would you please share the recipe? Thanks in advance!
The marinade ingredients are the first 5 ingredients under the “Chicken” heading (and explained in step #1). Hope that helps!
It was delicious! I had a different copycat recipe – but this was a winner for us!!
I cut back on the hot pepper. Fabulous flavour, will be making this one again.
Always seems like your recipes are pretty basic with mist ingredients you have in the fridge or cupboard already and you have a way to make it taste great! Love the site, I’ve looked at other sites but keep coming back to Mel’s.
Thank you so much, Linda!
To die for!!!
Hi Mel! We just
purchased a campchef pellet grill! LOVE
IT! but how do you still get those beautiful grill marks to appear? Thank you
Hi Paula. Mel is out of town, but I will make sure she responds when she gets back in town :). I know on my pellet grill making sure it is really hot when I put the meat on helps with the grill marks.
Hi Paula, I always preheat the grill to 375 or 400 and cook at that temperature – it helps with the grill marks! Camp Chef also sells a sear box you can put on the side of your pellet grill to sear meat after it is cooked (I have one but don’t use it very often).
Made this for dinner tonight and it was a big hit! Even my picky seven-year-old loved it! Definitely going into the rotation.
(That should be five stars)
This was sooo delicious ! It even made my very picky 13yr old hum a tune very different from the usual moans & groans & “what is that’s. Hubby loved it & they want me to make it again. Easy recipe. I only had to marinate for 30 minutes & the flavor was perfect. I used turkey bacon & a mild Pico de galo that my local grocery store makes fresh daily. Made it with fresh spinach sautéed in a little bit of olive oil,minced garlic, salt & pepper. I used already sliced thin chicken breast but I think next time I”ll buy some thicker pieces and slice myself… Sad part is I didn’t make enough to take for lunch tomorrow.
This is my husband’s favorite dish at Chili’s, and this recipe totally lives up to it. I don’t even like mustard, but the marinade was delicious even so!
Hi Mel! This looks great. My husband and I really love the chili’s margarita grilled chicken. I tried a copycat recipe and did not think it tasted like the chili’s version. I was not impressed. Any chance you can create a copycat version like this one?
I’ve never had that dish, so I may not be a lot of help, darn it!
It was awesome!!! Easy to make to!!
It is 8 degrees and snowing right now, and my husband is outside grilling this chicken! It is hands down our favorite chicken sandwich. The flavors are spot on!
Haha, that’s serious dedication!
This was amazing!! The combo of the marinated chicken, the melted cheese and bacon, and the bright Pico was so delicious!! It came together fairly quick and easily, esp with the chicken marinating and Pico prepared earlier in the day. I can’t wait to make it again with fresh garden tomatoes this summer! Thanks for a winning recipe!!
Yours is my go-to site every time I want to try something new. After reading all the great comments on this chicken I wasted no time in trying it out on family and friends. I didn’t talk it up … just made and served it. Guests raved and Hubby declared it monumental and says now he’s going to want that pico on EVERYTHING!
WOW! You were not joking, this came out great and I cannot believe how good such a simple marinade is! I was nervous because I got home from work a little later than expected so only had about 20 minutes to let the chicken marinade and it still came back so full of flavor. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Making this for the third time. Looking at the comments, I don’t see that I ever commented on this before. Thought I had. Would like to chime in that the pico de gallo is fantastic and I use it for my go-to, even when I’m not making this particular dish. I realize all pico de gallos are basically the same recipe, but something about the measurements in this recipe make it better than the rest. Also, the secret olive oil. Would have never thought of that.
New favorite meal!! Seriously I told everyone at work about this and all of my sisters. It was delicious! I want to make it again next week.
Oh my! Why did it take me so long to try this recipe?? I just finished my last bite and couldn’t wait to get on here and give you a double-thumbs up! When you said “prepared to be wowed,” you weren’t kidding. Love it!! Will add to regular rotation for sure 🙂
I just had to stop by and thank you for sharing this recipe. It was sooooo good! I only ended up marinating the meat for 1.5 hrs but slicing the chicken breasts in 1/2 really helped the chicken to absorb the flavor. If you are short on marinating time I really recommend that extra step. Also I used precooked bacon from Costco since that’s all I had on hand and it worked perfectly. Even my 14 month old who normally won’t eat any meat ate the chicken. It seriously had such great flavor and the bacon+ cheese topping and then pico took it over the top!
I’ve made this several times since you posted it. The flavors mix so well together. We all love it! (and all your recipes!).
I was having a busy night, so I elected to cook the chicken in 2T. of bacon grease (leftover from previous mornings breakfast). Still delicious, and the pico de gallo was the perfect pairing. Came together quickly and I’m glad I have this recipe for those nights when I don’t know how I’m going to get dinner on the table.
Hi! Can you tell me if the brown sugar makes it taste sweet? My husband usually doesn’t like a sweet taste, so I’m trying to decide if I should omit. Thanks! Love your recipes!!
It definitely doesn’t give it an overly sweet taste, but you could try leaving it out.
Loved it! This is definitely going in our recipe rotation. So yummy and flavorful and EASY!
Loved it! Figured if Mel is making it for Father’s Day then I should too. 🙂 It was a big hit! My kids don’t do tomatoes so they missed out on the pico (sad for them), but my husband and I enjoyed all the flavors. Waaaaay better than chili’s.
Delicious! My husband had two and a half servings and wanted more, but he was too full. Kids liked it too.