Looking for a tasty meal your whole family will enjoy that doesn’t break the bank? Try this Bourbon Chicken! I recently used this recipe for my Walmart Mom Meal Challenge-and was able to make this restaurant style meal for just $2.21 a serving (see math & recipe below the video tutorial).
Bourbon Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 lb Chicken
- 1/4 C Oil
- 1/2 C Water
- 1 TBS Cornstarch
- Garlic 1-2 cloves
- 1/4 tsp Ginger
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 C Apple Juice
- 1/4 C Brown Sugar
- 2 TBS Ketchup
- 1/3 C Soy Sauce
Instructions
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Dissolve the cornstarch in the water.
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Add garlic, ginger, red pepper, apple juice, brown sugar, ketchup and soy sauce to the cornstarch/water and stir well. Set aside.
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In a large skillet cook the chicken in the oil. Remove chicken from the pan.
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Pour the sauce ingredients into the chicken juices remaining in the skillet and heat to a simmer.
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Add chicken back in to sauce and simmer for 20 minutes.
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Serve over a bed of rice and broccoli.
Variations:
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Use pork instead of chicken, or use a different cut-like chicken thighs instead of breast meat. Or you could use canned chicken or leftover cooked chicken.
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For a thicker sauce, increase your cornstarch to 2 or 3 TBS.
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Like it hotter? Add more red pepper flakes, or a tsp or two of Tabasco sauce.
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Try cooking the veggies in the sauce with the meat for even more flavor.
$$$ Let’s talk money $$$
How did I get my cost of $2.21 a plate? Well, it involved math. Really. I took the full price, full bottle/jar/bag cost of each ingredient and then divided it out to figure out the cost for the amount used in the recipe. Then that was divided by 4 to get the cost per serving. Here it is in it’s full glory:
-Chicken $3 a lb for 2 lbs =$6
-Oil $2.88 for 48 oz. 48 oz = 6 cups or $.48 a cup. Recipe uses 1/4 C or $.12
-Garlic $.78 for 2 large cloves. $.39 a clove. Recipe used 3 bulbs or about 1/4 a clove for $.10
-Ginger $5.44 for a 1.62oz jar (ACK!). That comes to $3.36 an oz. 6tsp in an oz for $.56 a tsp or $.14 for a 1/4 tsp
-Red Pepper Flakes, $1.98 for 1.5oz is $1.32 an oz, 6 tsp in an oz for $.22 a tsp or $.11 for a 1/2 tsp
-Apple Juice $1.88 for 64 oz, or 8 cups for $.24 a cup or $.06 for a 1/4 C
-Brown sugar is $1.42 for 32oz, or 4 cups for $.36 a cup or $.09 for a 1/4 C
-Ketchup is 1.50 for 36oz or 4 1/2 cups for $.33 a cup. 16 tablespoons per cup, 2 tablespoons for $.05
-Cider Vinegar is 3.44 a gallon, 256 tablespoons in a gallon for $.01 a tablespoon
-Soy Sauce is $1.92 for 15oz or 1.875 cups for $1.02 per cup or $.34 for 1/3 C.
-Water is free
So for the final round up that is:
6+.12+.10+.14+.11+.06+.09+.05+.01+.34=$7.04 for the chicken and sauce
1 package of broccoli for $1.28
10 lbs of rice for $5.98, 24 cups of rice in a 10 lb bag. 2 cups raw rice make 6 cups cooked rice for $.50
($7.04 + $1.28 + $.50)/4 = $2.21 each for 4 servings.
Of course these were the regularly priced items at Walmart. If you buy chicken on sale for $2 a lb, the price would come down to $5.04 for the sauce, $7.60 for the whole meal and $1.90 a person for 4 complete servings.
You could further reduce the price by using less meat or a different/less expensive cut.
Disclosure: This post is part of a campaign I am participating in with the Walmart Moms. Walmart has provided me with compensation and product for this post. My participation is voluntary and opinions, as always are my own. See what my fellow Walmart Moms come up with!
****This is a sponsored post****
Jenn-
Great how to video! I have every ingredient in my pantry, so this could be an easy go to recipe and use items I have on hand when i think what am i going to do with this chicken. I tend to buy whole fryers and use different pieces for different things, great sauce to use use my breast pieces in or I could probably make it with left over chicken form your “rubber chicken” series. Our family loves asian food so this would be a good one.
HEather
Hey….thanks a lot for sharing this nice video. I will not this recipe and definitely try at home.
It was tasty & easy. Hope you like it~