Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp is one of the most popular entrees on Applebee’s menu. You can make this dish of Cajun seasoned chicken and shrimp with sauteed mushrooms and onions in a buttery sauce at home with this copycat recipe.
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What Makes Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp the Perfect Weeknight Meal?
Chicken again? How boring. No one in your family is looking forward to another pan-seared chicken breast or whole roasted chicken for dinner. But add some shrimp and veggies and season it like they do down in New Orleans, and you have something that everyone will rush home to enjoy.
The best part is that although the dish tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen, with a bit of prep, you can get the meal on the table within 45 minutes!
Note this dish does not contain any bourbon whiskey. It is simply one of Applebee’s Bourbon Street-inspired menu items.
Why This Is the Recipe You Should Try For Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp
One of the best techniques in this recipe is using the same skillet for individually cooking the vegetables, chicken, and shrimp. By not cleaning the pan between each ingredient, a remarkable fond develops.
And when you deglaze the pan using bone broth, all those incredible flavors are released to make an incredibly deeply rich and complex sauce.
Other copycat recipes suggest using multiple pans to save time, but the trade-off regarding taste is just not worth it.
Ingredients You Will Need To Make Bourbon St. Chicken and Shrimp
To prepare this Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp recipe, you’ll need:
- Skinless chicken breasts
- Shrimp
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Unsalted butter
- Garlic
- Bone broth
- Bella mushrooms
- White onion
- Cajun seasoning
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley
The heart and soul of this dish is the Cajun spice mix. While you could use your favorite prepared Cajun seasoning, for the best taste, you should try making your own using the following ingredients:
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Celery seed
- Smoked paprika
- Black pepper
- Dried oregano
- Dried parsley
Ingredient Notes
Use peeled and deveined medium shrimp (30 to 40 per pound). For the most authentic taste, buy shrimp from the Gulf and leave their tails on.
Choose your favorite bone broth for this recipe, but if you don’t have a preference, try pork bone broth because it brings in additional flavors that work wonderfully with both chicken and shrimp.
You can save time by mixing up a big batch of Cajun seasoning in advance. You will need seven teaspoons to prepare the recipe, or just a little less than two and a half tablespoons.
You can use fresh thyme in addition to or instead of fresh parsley.
You can use chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth instead of bone broth but note the flavor will not be as rich.
How to Make Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp
To cook Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp recipe:
- Slice the white onions and mushrooms. Mince the garlic.
- Rub half of the Cajun seasoning evenly over both sides of the boneless chicken breasts and place the chicken on a wire rack over a rimmed baking tray to come to room temperature.
- Whisk the rest of the Cajun seasoning with a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a mixing bowl. Gently toss the shrimp in the oil to coat and set the bowl aside to allow the shrimp for a quick marinate.
- Heat a large, heavy-bottom skillet over medium to medium-high heat.
- Melt the butter in the skillet. When the foaming stops, add the sliced onion and mushrooms.
- Season the vegetables with a pinch of black pepper and salt and saute until the onions soften but are not colored.
- While the vegetables are cooking, heat a cast iron skillet over low heat. Coat the skillet with a small amount of oil.
- Transfer the cooked onions and mushrooms into the cast iron skillet to keep warm.
- Return the pan to the stove without cleaning and increase the heat to high.
- Add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the pan and sear the chicken for four to five minutes on the first side.
- When the chicken is golden brown, flip the chicken and cook on the other side for about four minutes.
- Use an instant-read or meat thermometer to check that the internal temperature is 165 degrees F.
- Remove the chicken breasts and place them on top of the onions and mushrooms in the cast iron skillet to stay warm.
- Return the pan to the heat without cleaning.
- Melt a tablespoon of butter in the pan. Cook the shrimp quickly on each side for about a minute.
- Remove the shrimp to the cast iron skillet.
- Once again, return the pan to the stove, lower the heat to medium, and add the minced garlic.
- Allow the garlic to cook until fragrant, and deglaze the pan with the bone broth. Use a wooden spatula to stir the liquid mixture and scrape all the browned bits of food from the bottom. Allow the broth to reduce to form a rich pan sauce and have the consistency of gravy.
- Add the remaining butter to give the pan sauce a nice sheen. Sprinkle in the parsley.
- Pour the pan sauce over the food in the cast iron skillet and serve.
What To Serve With This Dish
Mashed potatoes, Noodles, or Roasted Brussels Sprouts would be a great side dish. Lemon wedges to drizzle lemon juice over the dish adds extra freshness.
How To Store Leftovers
Keep leftovers inside an airtight container for up to three days in the fridge. Or you can transfer the leftovers to a dish and cover it with plastic wrap. It is not a good idea to store food in a cast iron skillet because it can cause it to rust.
Alternatively, the food will keep fresh in a freezer bag for up to three months in the freezer.
Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
How to Reheat Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp
To reheat chicken and shrimp without drying out:
- Bring the chicken and shrimp to room temperature.
- While waiting, heat a skillet over medium heat.
- Melt a little butter in the skillet and add a splash of bone broth or water.
- Add the chicken and shrimp to the pan and stir.
- Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until hot, about four to five minutes.
Love Applebee’s? Try These Copycat Recipes!
- Applebee’s Bourbon Street Steak
- Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad
- Cheeseburger Quesadilla
- Perfect Margarita
Popular Chicken and Shrimp Recipes
- Baked Chicken Parmesan
- Bubba Gump Shrimp
- Chicken Corquettes
- Grilled Chicken Tenders
- Lemon Pepper Chicken
- Killer Shrimp
- Poppy Seed Chicken
- Shrimp Pasta Salad
- Shrimp Tempura
Check out more of my easy chicken recipes and the best recipes for dinner on CopyKat!
Applebee’s Bourbon Street Chicken and Shrimp
Ingredients
Cajun Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
Chicken and Shrimp
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 pound medium shrimp peeled and deveined
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided use
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ cup unsalted butter divided use
- ¼ cup chicken bone broth
- 1 cup baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 1 white onion sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ¼ cup fresh parsley
Instructions
- Combine cajun seasoning ingredients in a bowl and divide it in half.
- Season both sides of the chicken with half of the cajun seasoning. Rub seasoning into the meat to help it adhere.
- Place shrimp in a medium mixing bowl.
- Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the remaining half of cajun seasoning to the shrimp. Toss to coat.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan.
- Once the butter has melted, add the mushrooms and onions.
- Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir often while cooking.
- Heat a cast iron skillet over low heat.
- Add a splash of olive oil, just enough to coat the bottom of the skillet. As the ingredients are prepared they will be added to this skillet to keep warm and this will be how the dish is served.
- Remove the onions and mushrooms from the frying pan and transfer them to the skillet. Do not drain or wipe the frying pan.
- Increase the frying pan’s heat to high. Add a splash of olive oil.
- Add the chicken to the frying pan. Sear the chicken for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until internal temperature is 165°F.
- Remove the chicken from the pan and place it on top of the caramelized onions. Do not drain or wipe the frying pan.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to the frying pan.
- Once the butter has melted, add the shrimp. Sear for 1 minute per side. Transfer the shrimp to the skillet next to the chicken.
- Lower the frying pan’s heat to medium.
- Add the garlic to the frying pan and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the broth to deglaze the pan, using a spoon or spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan.
- Add the remaining butter.
- Once the butter has melted, stir in the parsley and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour the parsley butter over the chicken and shrimp.
- Serve and enjoy!
BigDaddy
Wow! Surprisingly close to Applebee’s version. I used your Cajun seasoning recipe as well. Will be making again. Don’t forget to add salt since the Cajun seasoning doesn’t call for any. I wouldn’t go above med-high when cooking chicken. We had some oven roasted potatoes as a side! So good!
Justin Bono
I’ve made this twice and it was amazing both times. The first time I didn’t have any mushrooms so I made it without them. It was so delicious that I couldn’t wait to make it again. This time I put the mushrooms in and it was just as god as the first time. Also I’m not a fan of celery so I left the seeds out of the spice mixture (I don’t keep the seeds it my spice draw).I’m looking forward to making it again.