Applebee's®

You're grilling some steaks or baking some chicken and don't know what to serve on the side? Try out this simple clone for a dish that's served along with several of Applebee's entrees. Since the recipe requires converted rice because instant rice is gross, you have to plan ahead about 25 minutes to give the rice time to cook. It's worth the wait. The secret to an authentic, great-tasting rice pilaf is sauteing the uncooked rice kernels in butter first, before adding the liquid—in this case chicken broth. Then, as the rice is cooking, you have plenty of time to saute the almonds, celery, and onions that are tossed into the rice at the end.

Want some more of my Applebee's recipes? I've got a bunch right here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "A masterwork of flavors. Grilled, marinated chicken breast crowns this fresh mix of delectable greens, crisp apples, rich crumbled blue cheese and sweet candied walnuts. Tossed in our tangy balsamic vinaigrette."

Sometimes I feel like a C.S.I. To re-create this salad, I ordered several to-go and then sat down with a magnifying glass and carefully picked out each of the bits and pieces and separated them into smaller bowls. Sure, this was tedious work, but it made it easy to measure out each ingredient for the most accurate Applebee's Apple Walnut Chicken Salad recipe. 

Next, I cooked a ton of chicken, each with different versions of the marinade, until I found the one that worked. The smoky marinade for the chicken here is basically a brine that adds just the right amount of saltiness and flavor through osmosis, so be sure not to let the chicken soak longer than specified. Of course, the lead performer in any salad is the dressing, since it is responsible for much of what you taste. The tangy balsamic vinaigrette is delicious with honey, Dijon mustard, garlic, and tarragon in there. You can make an easy emulsion out of it with a hand mixer. The best part is that you'll end up with leftover vinaigrette that you can use to make a couple more meal-size salads, and then some. Case closed.

Find more of my salad knock-off recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

This is Applebee’s variation on the popular potato skins appetizer made famous by T.G.I. Friday’s. Many seem to prefer these to regular potato skins because of their south-of-the-border flair. The only problem is a serving has around 12 grams of fat (even more if you plop on some sour cream). And that’s for only three pieces. If you usually don’t stop there, you might be interested in my Applebee's Baja Potato Boats recipe below, which cuts the fat by 66 percent. Now you can eat three times as much of these Mexican-style potato skin wedges for the same amount of fat as the real deal, thanks to reduced-fat cheese and fat-free sour cream.

Find more of your favorite Applebee's copycat recipes here.

Nutrition facts 
Serving size–3 pieces
Total servings–4
Calories per serving–246 (Original–390)
Fat per serving–4g (Original–12g)

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.

It may not be listed on the menu, but this is Applebee's most ladled soup each and every day. Just be sure you have some oven-safe soup bowls on hand before you jump into my Applebee's Baked French Onion Soup recipe, since you're going to pop the dish under the broiler to brown and melt the cheese on top. Under the gooey melted provolone of the original version you get from Applebee's is a unique round crouton that's made from bread that looks like a hamburger bun. So that's what we'll use for our clone.

Find more of your favorite dishes from Applebee's here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Ah, if only kitchen cloning was an exact science. While working on this one, I saw the same bartender make the drink two different ways on two different days. Only after a firm grilling did I get her to admit to her personal "improvement" to the chain's secret recipe. 

My Applebee's Bananaberry Freeze recipe below includes the ingredients found in the original, but if you want to add a little pineapple juice—as some independent thinking bartenders are apt to do—you might discover you have indeed created a tastier version of this refreshing smoothie. On that day, the cloning gods shall be looking the other way. But, for heaven's sake, be sure your banana is soft and ripe. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

The secret to re-creating many of Applebee’s drinks is to stay away from the bottled cocktail mixers and make your own from scratch. The recipe for the pina colada mix is a simple 2-to-1 ratio of pineapple juice to cream of coconut. You’ll be making two drinks here, so have a companion ready.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

The blue curacao is drizzled over the top of the white frozen pina colada-like drink, then it sinks down the inside of the glass with groovy lava lamp flair.

Find more yummy cocktail recipes over here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "This succulent 10 oz. steak is jazzed up with Cajun spices and served with sautéed onions, mushrooms, garlic mashed potatoes and garlic toast."

This Cajun-style dish is named after the famous street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, so you won't need any booze for this recipe unless it's for you to drink while you're making it. Plan to make this dish 12 to 24 hours in advance, so the steaks have time to soak up the goodness. This marinating time will also give the meat tenderizer a chance to do its thing, but don't go longer than 24 hours or the protein fibers may become so tender that they turn mushy. 

For my Applebee's Bourbon Street Steak recipe below, I used McCormick brand tenderizer, which uses bromelian, a pineapple extract, to tenderize the meat. Lawry's (Adolph's) meat tenderizer, uses papain from papayas, to tenderize the proteins, but this brand also brings other spices into the mix and will alter the flavor of your finished product. Both of these tenderizers contain a lot of salt, so we won't need to include salt in the marinade formula. 

Try my copycat recipe for Applebee's almond rice pilaf as great side-dish.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

The chain’s popular appetizer brings three secret recipes together in one dish: the pretzels, the beer cheese, and the honey Dijon mustard dip. And I’ve got original hacks for all three formulas that will make enough for lots of bellies.

Bavarian pretzels are traditionally bathed in a lye solution before they’re baked to give them a dark shiny brown skin. Food-grade lye, when cooked, is safe to eat, but it’s not an ingredient usually found at the corner food store. So, to make my Applebee’s Beer Pub Pretzels recipe more convenient, I’m opting for a baking soda bath to darken these pretzels. They don’t have the same shine as lye-bathed pretzels, but if you use enough baking soda, your pretzels will come out beautifully caramel brown, just like the real thing.

For my Applebee’s Beer Cheese Dip recipe, I had to come up with a good way to melt white cheddar, which can be tricky since it’s hard to find mild (softer) white cheddar. Most white cheddar I found was either sharp or extra sharp, and when I made a sauce using a roux, the finished product came out much too grainy. On my next attempt, I tried a different approach by melting a chunk of Velveeta Queso Blanco in some milk before adding the shredded white cheddar. Thanks to sodium citrate, a cheese melting aid that’s in Velveeta, the sauce came out smooth as silk, and I was thrilled.

After your pretzels and beer cheese are done, mix up the easy honey Dijon mustard dipping sauce in a small bowl, and you’re ready to serve a gang of pretzel lovers with 12 Bavarian pretzel sticks and plenty of beer cheese and mustard sauce for dipping.

 Check out more of my cool copycat appetizers here. 

Menu Description: "A large flour tortilla topped with melted Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses, grilled chipotle chicken, shredded lettuce and pico de gallo. Rolled, sliced and served with a Mexi-ranch dipping sauce."

Take Applebee's delicious chicken chipotle chicken, roll it up in a large flour tortilla with lettuce, cheeses and fresh pico de gallo, and you've got a meal to wrap your hands around. Use my Applebee's Chicken Fajita Roll-up recipe below to make it at home. 

The Mexi-ranch dipping sauce is the perfect creamy compliment for this wrap, and you can use what's left over for a dressing on your next salad. The sauce recipe is actually just a kicked-up ranch dressing that includes a small amount of buttermilk in the ingredients list. But if you don't want to buy a whole carton of buttermilk to use just a tablespoon for this recipe, that's okay. Substitute the regular moo juice you've got sitting in the fridge. 

For the spicy marinade recipe, it's best to use ground chipotle pepper (dried smoked red jalapeño) made by McCormick. If you can't find that stuff, cut the amount in half and use cayenne pepper. For the cheeses, many major brands make a cheddar/Jack blend that will work great here if you'd rather not buy the cheeses separately. That's helpful if you're about to tip the limit for the express lane checkout line.

Find more recipes for your favorite Applebee's dishes here.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: “A deliciously different way to taco. Tangy grilled chicken, sweet Asian chile sauce and dumpling sauce stuffed into crispy wonton shells and topped with a crunchy slaw and cilantro mix.”

Re-creating Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos requires cloning four parts; none of which are difficult: grilled chicken, coleslaw, secret dumpling sauce, and the crispy wonton shell to hold it all together. For the chicken, we’ll grill a couple of thighs and chop them up. Then we’ll use bottled sweet chili sauce—usually found in your grocery store where Asian foods are parked—to punch up the flavor.

The coleslaw is easy with a dressing that has only five ingredients, and it’s best when it has some time to sit and marinate. You can slice the cabbage yourself, but a coleslaw kit that’s a combo of sliced cabbage and shredded carrots is a big time-saver. Just measure out 4 cups of the cabbage blend and mix it with the minced cilantro and dressing.  

Wonton taco shells are not a thing you can usually find in stores, so we’ll make our own using wonton wrappers and a skillet of hot oil. When the oil is hot, add a wonton wrapper and use tongs to fold it over diagonally as it fries until it’s crispy on both sides. It takes less than a minute to fry each wonton taco shell, and you’ll get better as you go. Just be sure to leave plenty of room in the shell for the delicious fillings to come.

Try my Applebee's Chicken Wonton Tacos recipe below, and find more copycat recipes from Applebee's here. 

Menu Description: "Decadent Oreo chunks, chocolate mousse and whipped cream make this a rich and creamy treat."

After searching for an awesome chocolate mousse to clone, I've finally found inspiration in this new dessert shooter from Applebee's. This is a single serving of thick and rich chocolate mousse that is easy to replicate using half a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips melted slowly in a double-boiler or in a bowl set over a pan of hot water. To make an authentic Applebee's chocolate mousse shooter copycat recipe, we don't want a mousse that's too fluffy, so we'll stir the egg whites into the melted chocolate rather than folding them in. We'll save the folding for the whipped cream. With a little Godiva chocolate liqueur and some chopped up bits of chocolate that go in there, you'll have a great mousse that is made even better when served in a 6-ounce rocks glass along with Oreo cookie crumbs, chocolate fudge topping, and whipped cream. Make this dessert shooter recipe today!

Check out more of my Applebee's copycat recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Applebee's signature hot club sandwich with warm sliced ham and turkey, cheddar, tomatoes, mayonnaise and Bar-B-Que sauce on thick-sliced grilled French bread. Served with a side of coleslaw."

Here's a sandwich that Applebee's claims is a signature item for the chain. It's a cross between a club sandwich and a grilled cheese. So, if you like both of those, you'll love this.

My Applebee's Club House Grill recipe below calls for sliced turkey and ham. Go to your deli service counter in the supermarket and get the stuff they machine-slice real thin for sandwiches. This usually tastes the best. If you don't have a service counter, thin-sliced prepackaged meats will also work great.

Find more of your favorite Applebee's copycat recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur. 

Menu Description: "Breaded boneless chicken breast is delicately spiced and covered in a spicy-sweet orange glaze. Served in a big bowl over almond rice pilaf and a flavorful mixture of mushrooms, broccoli, red pepper, sugar snap peas, and shredded carrots. Topped with toasted almonds and crispy noodles."

In a dish like this, it's important to get the sauce tasting just right or the whole hack will be off. Simmering a secret blend of orange juice, brown sugar, marmalade, and few other ingredients will give you a sauce that's sweet, tangy, spicy and really, really freakin' good. Rather than going to the trouble of breading and frying the chicken from scratch, I've cut time off your prep by including frozen breaded chicken fingers that you simply bake in the oven when you're ready to assemble the dish. I used Claim Jumper brand chicken tenderloins for this recipe since one 20-ounce box was perfect for the two servings this recipe yields. However, these are mongo-huge restaurant-size portions, so you'll be able to divide this recipe up into four more modest servings if you like.

Make more of your favorite dishes from Applebee's. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Fresh spinach tossed with tomatoes, red peppers, onions, almonds and topped with grilled shrimp. Served with bacon vinaigrette."

Here's a great salad from Applebee's with an amazing bacon vinaigrette dressing—a perfectly sweet and sour concoction packed with bits of real bacon. Medium shrimp are sprinkled with a secret seasoning blend, then grilled and arranged on top of the two large dinner-size salads this recipe yields. You can also split these up to serve four smaller side salads. There will be extra vinaigrette, so by adding a bit more spinach, you can even stretch my Applebee's shrimp and spinach salad recipe to serve six when that couple who never calls ahead shows up unexpectedly on your stoop at chow time.

Find more killer copycat salad recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.
 

Menu Description: "Flame-grilled Atlantic Salmon with Applebee's Honey Pepper Sauce served with a side of almond rice pilaf, seasoned vegetables and toasted garlic bread."

To make a spot on Applebee's Honey Grilled Salmon copycat recipe, it's all about getting the sauce right. This sweet, tangy and slightly spicy sauce goes perfectly with salmon, but can also be used on chicken or ribs. Just be sure to watch the sauce closely as it cooks in case it starts to bubble over. If it sounds like I'm speaking from experience, you're right—oh, what a beautiful mess I made on one attempt. So, cook the sauce slowly, and watch it closely as it thickens. If it gets too thick, you can always add a bit of water to thin it out. I suggest serving this salmon with almond rice pilaf as they do in the restaurant. You can find my recipe here on the site.

I've cloned a ton of dishes from Applebee's. See if I hacked your favorites here,

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "This tart and tangy layer of graham cracker crumbs, key lime filling and whipped cream is a little taste of heaven."

While working on this recipe, I couldn't help thinking of Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in The Jerk enjoying "the best pizza in a cup ever." Applebee's has taken a slice of key lime pie out of the pie pan and put it into a 6-ounce rocks glass. The key lime filling for this clone is thickened on your stove top, and the topping is made by combining key lime juice and sweetened sour cream.

Try to find key limes for my Applebee's Key Lime Dessert Shooter copycat recipe, although any lime juice will work in a pinch if key limes or bottled key lime juice is hard to track down. Chill the filling for a few hours in your fridge before building these 4 servings with graham cracker crumbs on the bottom, and whipped cream on top. It's really good stuff. Probably the best key lime pie in a cup ever.

You might also like my Applebee's Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Shooter recipes.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 3 by Todd Wilbur.
 

The Applebee's chain is now the world's largest casual dining restaurant, with over one thousand units in seven countries and forty-eight states. In less than four years, the chain has doubled in size. That's great if you're a restaurant chain, but put enough fat-filled desserts in your belly, and you'll double in size, too. That's why we're happy to see items like this one on the menu. It tastes like a decadent, guilty pleasure, but it actually contains only four grams of fat per serving. That's possible because the brownie "pie" is made in a special way using a combination of low-fat and fat-free chocolates, some egg whites, and just a bit of shortening. Grab yourself some fat-free frozen yogurt and use my Applebee's Low-Fat and Fabulous Brownie Sundae recipe below to share this guilt-free dessert with eight hungry friends.

Nutrition Facts
Serving size–1 dessert
Total servings–9
Calories per serving–424
Fat per serving–4g

Find more of my Applebee's copycat recipes here.

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

As the seasons change so does the menu, at this popular 1064-unit casual restaurant chain. You'll find this item in the "Low-Fat and Fabulous" column of the Applebee's menu during the summer months, where it's been a favorite since 1997.  

As with any salad, the waistline violator is the traditionally fat-filled dressing that's drizzled in gobs over the top of very healthy greens. A tablespoon of dressing is usually around 10-12 grams of fat each. So if we can just figure out a cool way to make the dressing fat-free, we're well on our way to making huge salad—four of them to be exact—with only 12 grams of fat on the entire plate. In my Applebee's Asian Chicken Salad recipe below, most of those grams come from the chicken breast, while the crunchy chow mein noodles pick up the rest. Just be sure to plan ahead when you make this one. The chicken should marinate for a few hours if you want it to taste like the original. Get ready for some big, meal-size salads.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size–1 salad
Total Servings–4
Calories per serving–575
Fat per serving–12g

Make more of your favorite Applebee's dishes at home with my recipes here.

Source: Low-Fat Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Our non-fat Honey Mustard dressing and non-fat Cheddar/Mozzarella blend give this Blackened Chicken Salad the same great taste as our original with less than 5 grams of fat."

Applebee's original Blackened Chicken Salad quickly became a favorite, encouraging this popular full-service chain to create a low-fat version of the delish dish. Since most of the fat in the original comes from the tasty honey mustard dressing, my Applebee's Low-Fat Blackened Chicken Salad recipe below creates a dressing that tastes just as good, yet has not a single gram of fat. Combine that with fresh lettuce, shredded carrot, a little egg white, non-fat shredded cheese, and a delicious Cajun spice blend which generously coats grilled chicken, and you have a majorly munchable salad which is incredibly easy on the waistline. Who says you need gobs of fat to create a tasty meal?

Click here for more of my Applebee's copycat recipes.

Nutrition facts
Serving size–1 salad
Total serving–2
Calories per serving–420
Fat per serving–5 g

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Fresh mushrooms, red pepper, onion, broccoli, & carrots smothered in nonfat shredded Cheddar/mozzarella blend & sandwiched between two wheat tortillas. Served with fat-free sour cream & shredded lettuce. Less than 10 grams of fat."

My Applebee's Low-Fat Veggie Quesadilla recipe comes in with a fat gram count that's even lower than the original, at only 6 grams. The fat-free cheese is where you're spared the major fat gram dosage. And the fat-free sour cream on the side, which nicely completes this guilt-free veggie-filled finger food, certainly helps to keep the waistline in check.

Find more of my Applebee's copycat recipes here.

Nutrition facts
Serving size–1/2 quesadilla
Total servings–2
Calories per serving–274
Fat per serving–6g

Source: Top Secret Recipes Lite by Todd Wilbur.

I originally created this recipe for an appearance on The Dr. Oz Show in a segment about healthier clone versions of popular restaurant appetizers (watch it here). But with two other recipes to demo the segment was too fat, and this one got cut. So, I've parked my recipe here on the site for you to use. This formula duplicates the taste of Applebee’s Mozzarella Sticks, but the fat and calories are cut significantly by baking the sticks rather than using the traditional frying method. Prepare these ahead of time, since the sticks have to sit for at least 2 hours in your freezer before you bake them.

Try more of my Applebee's copycat recipes here.

Todd’s Dr. Oz Clone
Calories (per serving)–83
Fat (per serving)–3.5g

Original
Calories (per serving)–116
Fat (per serving)–6g

Menu Description: "Bury your sweet tooth with smooth Kahlua, creamy vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and rich Hershey's chocolate syrup."

Sure, there's a little Kahlua in there, but this famous Applebee's drink is more dessert than cocktail, really. And the presentation will make you look like a pro because you spiral the chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass before adding the drink. My Applebee's mudslide copycat recipe is easy to make...even after you've had a couple. Grab a straw and prepare to crave another when this one's gone. No wonder this drink also comes in a larger size.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.

Menu Description: "Crisp-fried tender onion strips served with a creamy horseradish dipping sauce."

This signature appetizer from Applebee's is the chain's reaction to overwhelming success of Outback's Bloomin' Onion and Chili's Awesome Blossom. A Bloomin' Onion is sliced with a special device, but cloning Onion Peels requires only the most basic kitchen prep and tools: slice the onion with a knife, separate the slices, dip the slices in batter and fry. Just remember to make the essential horseradish dipping sauce in advance so that the ingredients can mingle in the fridge.

Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.