Chicken in a Tequila Cream Sauce

Hi everyone!  It’s almost the weekend!  Yeah!!  I need the weekend.  This has been a long week.  A loooooong week.  How has your week been?

Do you ever cook something to make yourself feel better?  Does “comfort food” really comfort you?  Sometimes, when I am having a crappy week, or Chris is…I will make something for dinner that I know we love.  Something that will for sure make us feel a little bit better.  Last night was one of those nights when I knew I needed to make something to give us something to look forward to.  Something to speed the week along.  I made a recipe that I created a few years ago, Chicken in a Tequila Cream Sauce.  It is yummy pieces of fried chicken smothered in a sauce made of butter, cream, lime juice and tequila.  It is so, so good!

I’m going to be honest here.  My kids will not eat the sauce that goes on this chicken.  I know, I know….I always try to give you “family friendly” recipes that your whole family will love.  I don’t want to cook two separate meals, and I know you sure as hell don’t want to.  But sometimes, you need to cook to please yourself and not your kids.  Give your kids the chicken without the sauce.  They will be fine.

First off, please don’t look at the price tag on this chicken.  I am so pissed at myself that I spent this much on chicken.  It was just one of those days….I was in a hurry, so I grabbed some “thin sliced” chicken breasts from the grocery store without looking at the price, thinking…chicken is chicken.  How much could it be?  Apparently, it can be $11.23.  Jeesh.  All because I wanted it “thin”.  Next time, I will pound out regular chicken breasts, which is what you should do.

I pound my chicken flat by putting it in a heavy plastic zip top bag and pounding it with my rolling pin.  I prefer the chicken to be thin for this recipe.  If it isn’t, it is too hard to fry on the stovetop evenly.

I shallow fry my chicken in butter and oil.  The butter for flavor and the oil because it has a higher smoke point.  The oil basically keeps the butter from burning.

I coat my chicken in seasoned flour before I fry it.  I put onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper into my flour.

I dredge each piece of chicken in the flour mixture.  I don’t use an egg wash or a batter or anything like that.  Really, this recipe is pretty easy.

This is a “shallow” fry as opposed to a deep fry.  The chicken will fry in about ¼ inch of fat.

I cooked the chicken, about 5 minutes per side, until it was golden brown and cooked through.  Since I cooked the chicken in batches, I kept the cooked breasts warm in the oven.

To make the sauce for this chicken, which is by far the best part, I used white tequila, heavy cream, more butter, and a few limes.

You can use any kind of tequila you want.  Or any kind that you already have.  Except you mom.  Yours is from 1962 and couldn’t possibly still be good.

Let’s make the sauce….

I use the same pan that I cooked my chicken in.  I dumped out the majority of the oil and butter.  I kept just a smidge only because I didn’t want to lose the chicken crusties that are stuck to the bottom of the pan.  You want that…..that is flavor!

I put in more butter.  Did I mention this isn’t healthy?

Next, in went the tequila and lime juice.  I let this boil for about 3 minutes.  I wanted to cook off the alcohol and let the sauce reduce a bit.

Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan….the tequila will “deglaze” the pan and lift up the brown stuff from the bottom of the pan.

Finally, I stirred in the cream and checked the sauce to see if it needed any salt or pepper.  I let this sauce boil again for a few minutes just to thicken.

Done.  Super easy and pretty fast.

I serve my chicken over rice and topped with diced tomatoes, green onions and chopped avocado.

I can’t even begin to tell you how good this is.  It’s like a margarita and chicken got married and had a yummy baby called Chicken in a Tequila Cream Sauce.  Long name.  Delicious baby.

Maybe your kids will like the sauce.  I know you will.  This recipe is a must try.  You won’t regret it.  Unless you buy $11 chicken.  Then you might regret it….a bit.

I will see you all next week.  I am getting ready to share some great Easter/Spring recipes!!  I will be testing all weekend!  So when I see you next week there is a strong chance that I will be 5 pounds heavier.....

Chicken in a Tequila Cream Sauce

1 and ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thin sliced or pounded thin

3 Tablespoons oil

¼ cup plus 3 Tablespoons butter, divided

1 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 ½  teaspoons salt, divided

1 teaspoon black pepper, divided

½ cup tequila

¼ cup lime juice

¼ cup heavy cream

Tomatoes, green onion and avocado for garnish

In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter into 3 tablespoons oil.

In a shallow pan, mix together flour with onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.  Dredge chicken in flour mixture.  Shake off excess.

Fry chicken breasts, over medium-high heat, in oil/butter for about 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through.  Keep warm in a 200 degree oven.

Discard majority of fat from pan.  Add remaining butter to pan.  Stir in tequila and lime juice, scraping the bottom of the pan.  Let sauce boil for 3 minutes over medium high heat.  Stir in heavy cream and remaining salt and pepper.  Let boil an additional 3 minutes.

Pour sauce over chicken and serve over rice.  Garnish with tomatoes, avocado and green onions.