- ←
- Home
- New Recipes
- Denny's BBQ Chicken Sandwich
Menu Description: "A seasoned, grilled chicken breast topped with Cheddar cheese and a stack of thin crisp onion rings on a sesame seed bun with lettuce, tomato and a sweet hickory spread. Served with a side of BBQ sauce."
With 1527 restaurants across the country, Denny's is on top as America's largest full-service family restaurant chain. Sure, the chain's famous for its Grand Slam Breakfasts, but Denny's menu is filled with tasty choices for grub way past breakfast time. One such item is this chicken sandwich built with grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, Cheddar cheese, crispy onion rings, and a secret sweet hickory spread.
That hickory spread is one of the ingredients that makes this sandwich special, so the recipe is here. It requires an ingredient called hickory salt. You can find this blend of salt and hickory flavoring in the spice section from Spice Islands under the name "Old Hickory Smoked Salt." If you can't find that stuff, just substitute with 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke flavoring. For even more flavor, Denny's serves the sandwich with a small dish of barbecue sauce that tastes remarkably similar to Bull's-Eye Original, so that's what I used in my Denny's BBQ Chicken Sandwich recipe below. While homemade crunchy onion rings are the way to go for a true clone, you can certainly shortcut this step by using the canned French's French Fried Onions found in practically every supermarket.
I've cloned a ton of items from Denny's, see if I hacked your favorites here.
Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2 by Todd Wilbur.
Get This
Sweet Hickory Spread
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup minced onion
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon hickory salt - OR -
- 1/8 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke
Crunchy Onion Rings (see Tidbits)
- 1 cup thinly sliced onion, separated into rings
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups canola oil
- 2 skinless chicken breast fillets
- Vegetable oil
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 sesame seed hamburger buns
- 2 leaves green leaf lettuce
- 4 tomato slices
- 2 slices Cheddar cheese
On the Side
- Bull's-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce
1. Prepare sweet hickory spread by melting 3 tablespoons butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add 1 cup minced onion and saute for 7 to 10 minutes or until the onions start to brown. Turn the heat down to medium/low and add 2 teaspoons of flour and stir until the flour is mixed in. Let this simmer for a minute or two, then add molasses, water, vinegar, and hickory salt. If you can't find hickory salt, replace it with 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon liquid hickory smoke. Simmer sauce for 4 to 5 minutes or until thick. Remove from the heat and cover.
2. Make the crunchy onion rings by pouring milk into a large bowl. Combine the flour, salt, and black pepper in another bowl. Dip onion rings in the flour mixture first, then into the milk and back into the flour. Arrange all of the coated rings on a plate to rest while you heat up 2 cups canola oil in a large saucepan over medium/low heat (you can also use a deep fryer for this step, just use the amount of oil required by the fryer manufacturer and set the temperature to 375 degrees F). Test the oil by dropping in a pinch of flour. It should bubble. When the oil is hot, fry a handful of onion rings at a time in the oil until golden brown (3 to 5 minutes). Drain them on paper towels.
3. To cook the chicken, preheat a saute or griddle pan over medium heat. Pound your chicken with a kitchen mallet so that it has a uniform thickness of about 1/2 inch (it will plump a bit as you cook it), then trim any excess meat away that would hang off the sandwich. Rub each chicken breast with some vegetable oil, then sprinkle each breast with salt and a pinch of pepper. Grill chicken breast fillets for 4 to 6 minutes per side until done.
4. As your chicken cooks, spread a little melted butter on the faces of your two hamburger buns and toast the faces of the buns on another pan or griddle set to medium heat until light brown.
5. Build each sandwich by first spreading some of the sweet hickory spread on the face of the bottom bun.
6. Tear a leaf of green leaf lettuce to fit on the bottom bun.
7. Arrange two tomato slices on the lettuce on each sandwich.
8. Stack the grilled chicken breast on the tomato slices.
9. Place a slice of Cheddar on the chicken breast on each sandwich.
10. Stack a handful of crunchy onion rings on the sandwich, then top the sandwich off with the crown bun. Serve with a small bowl of barbecue sauce on the side.
Makes 2 sandwiches.
Tidbits: You can skip step 2 by using the canned French's French Fried Onions. A small can will be plenty.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
-
McDonald's Tangy Honey Mustard
Read moreOne of the tastiest dipping sauces that you can choose with your order of Chicken McNuggets is this sweet-and-sour creamy Dijon mustard. No longer shall you find it necessary to beg for extra packets of this sauce with your next box of cluck chunks. Now, with just four ingredients, you can from this day forward mix up the stuff at home anytime you want to use it as a spread on savory sandwiches (great with ham!) or as a dipping sauce for your own home-cooked nuggets or chicken strips.
Check out my recipes for McDonald's hot mustard, sweet and sour, sweet chili, and Szechuan sauces.
Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur. -
Panda Express Orange Flavored Chicken
Read moreThis delicious crispy chicken in a citrusy sweet-and-sour sauce is the most popular dish at the huge Chinese take-out chain. Panda Express cooks all of its food in woks. For my Panda Express Orange Chicken recipe below, you can use a wok, a heavy skillet, or a large sauté pan.
Find more copycat recipes for your favorite Panda Express dishes here.
Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.
-
Panda Express Mandarin (Bourbon) Chicken
Read moreHere's a dish from a rapidly growing Chinese food chain that should satisfy anyone who loves the famous marinated bourbon chicken found in food courts across America. The sauce is the whole thing here, and it's quick to make using my Panda Express Mandarin Chicken recipe below. You'll make the sauce right on your stove-top, then fire up the barbecue or indoor grill for the chicken. Then, whip up a little white rice to serve on the side.
Panda Express - now 370 restaurants strong - is the fastest-growing Asian food chain in the world. You'll find these tasty little quick-service food outlets in supermarkets, casinos, sports arenas, college campuses, and malls across the country passing out free samples for the asking.
You might also want try my Panda Express Honey Walnut Shrimp Recipe.
Source: "Even More Top Secret Recipes" by Todd Wilbur.
-
McDonald's French Fries
Read moreThey're the world's most famous French fries, responsible for one-third of all U.S. French fry sales, and many say they're the best. These fried spud strips are so popular that Burger King even changed its own recipe to better compete with the secret formula from Mickey D's. One-quarter of all meals served today in American restaurants come with fries; a fact that thrills restaurateurs since fries are the most profitable menu item in the food industry.
Proper preparation steps were developed by McDonald's to minimize in-store preparation time, while producing a fry that is soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. My McDonald's French Fries recipe requires a two-step frying process to replicate the same qualities: the fries are par-fried, frozen, then fried once more to crispy just before serving. Be sure to use a slicer to cut the fries for a consistent thickness (1/4-inch is perfect) and for a cooking result that will make them just like the real thing. As for the rumor that you must soak the fries in sugar water to help them turn golden brown, I also found that not to be necessary. If the potatoes have properly developed, they contain enough sugar on their own to make a good clone with great color.
Now, how about a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder to go with those fries? Click here for a list of all my McDonald's copycat recipes.
Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur. -
McDonald's Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches
Read moreHold an entire breakfast in two hands and bring it right up to your face for a bite. McDonald's Spanish Omelet Bagel features the easy-to-make secret dill mayo-mustard sauce AKA "Breakfast Sauce", copied here with just two ingredients. The only requirement is that you have a small 6-inch skillet to make the omelette for each sandwich. My McDonald's Spanish omelette bagel copycat recipe makes four sandwiches, so you'll be able to feed the whole crew.
Check out my other copycat recipes for the Ham & Egg, and Steak & Egg Bagels in Even More Top Secret Recipes.
This is fun, right? Check out more of my copycat recipes for McDonald's favorites here.
Source: Even More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur. -
McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese
Read moreWhat is the McDonald's sign referring to when it says "Over 100 billion served?" That's not the number of customers served, but the number of beef patties sold since McDonald's first opened its doors in the forties. A hamburger counts as one patty. A Big Mac counts as two.
McDonald's sold its 11 billionth hamburger in 1972, the same year that this sandwich, the Quarter Pounder, was added to the growing menu. That was also the year large fries were added and founder Ray Kroc was honored with the Horatio Alger Award (the two events are not related). In 1972, the 2,000th McDonald's opened its doors, and by the end of that year McDonald's had finally become a billion-dollar corporation.Use my McDonald's Quarter Pounder recipe below and start your own count at home.
Find more of my McDonald's copycat recipes here.
Source: More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur. -
McDonald's Filet-O-Fish
Read moreThe year 1963 was a big one in McDonald's history. The 500th McDonald's restaurant opened in Toledo, Ohio, and Hamburger University graduated its 500th student. It was in that same year that McDonald's served its one billionth hamburger in grand fashion on The Art Linkletter Show. Ronald McDonald also made his debut that year in Washington, D.C., and the Fillet-O-Fish sandwich was introduced as the first new menu addition since the restaurant chain opened in 1948.
Now, you can use my easy McDonald's Filet-o-Fish copycat recipe to make it at home. Complete the meal with my recipe for McDonald's French Fries.
Update 8/4/19: Current versions of this sandwich come with the bun untoasted. For a classic version, make yours as described below, or skip step 2. Be sure to microwave your finished sandwich for 10-15 seconds to warm up your bun, and steam the sandwich before serving.
Source: More Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur.
-
KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Buttermilk Biscuits
Read moreIn 1991 Kentucky Fried Chicken bigwigs decided to improve the image of America's third-largest fast-food chain. As a more health-conscious society began to affect sales of fried chicken, the company changed its name to KFC and introduced a lighter fare of skinless chicken.
In the last forty years KFC has experienced extraordinary growth. Five years after first franchising the business, Colonel Harland Sanders had 400 outlets in the United States and Canada. Four years later there were more than 600 franchises, including one in England, the first overseas outlet. In 1964 John Y. Brown, Jr., a young Louisville lawyer, and Jack Massey, a Nashville financier, bought the Colonel's business for $2 million. Only seven years later, in 1971 Heublein, Inc., bought the KFC Corporation for $275 million. Then in 1986, for a whopping $840 million, PepsiCo added KFC to its conglomerate, which now includes Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. That means PepsiCo owns more fast food outlets than any other company including McDonald's.
At each KFC restaurant, workers blend real buttermilk with a dry blend to create the well-known KFC buttermilk biscuits recipe that have made a popular menu item since their introduction in 1982. Pair these buttermilk biscuits with my KFC mac and cheese recipe and the famous KFC Original Recipe Chicken to complete your meal.
Source: Top Secret Recipes by Todd Wilbur. -
Applebee's Tijuana Philly Steak Sandwich
Read moreMenu Description: "Lean shaved Philly steak folded into a grilled tortilla roll with Monterey Jack and Cheddar, sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, bacon and jalapenos."
With the acquisition of 13 Rio Bravo cantinas in 1994, Applebee's made its move into the competitive "Mexican casual dining sector." Perhaps it's the company's interest in Mexican food that inspired this Philadelphia-Tijuana hybrid sandwich. The steak, cheese, mushrooms, and onions give the sandwich a Philly taste, while the tomatoes, bacon, jalapenos, and the tortilla take you across the border.
I really like this newer addition to the menu, probably because I'm a big cheesesteak fan who also loves Mexican food. As you can see from this dish, Applebee's has a knack for breathing new life into old sandwich concepts. I hope you'll find this one worth a try.
If you want to make a "lite" version, refer to the Tidbits at the bottom of the recipe.Source: Top Secret Restaurant Recipes by Todd Wilbur.
For over 30 years I've been deconstructing America's most iconic brand-name foods to make the best original copycat recipes for you to use at home. Welcome to my lab.