Chicken Bryan (Carrabba’s Copycat Recipe)

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You might have had Chicken Bryan at Carrabba’s restaurant before. It is a favorite that many people love. 

You might be wondering why is it called Chicken Bryan? This chicken recipe takes it’s name from the town of Bryan in Texas, where the Carrabba family settled when they arrived in the US from Sicily.

You will love my copycat Chicken Bryan Recipe that you can easily make at home. My favorite part is that the creamy and tangy goat cheese is mixed with the rich savory sun-dried tomatoes.

This mixture is then spooned on top of grilled, juicy chicken breasts and garnished with fresh basil. When it comes to the Chicken Bryan Sauce, I finish my chicken off with a lemon butter sauce to take the dish to the next level.

You could serve this as a weeknight meal, a beautiful dish to serve at a dinner party, or meal-prep it on Sundays for the week.

The chicken is grilled in this dish but you can also easily bake the chicken in the oven, or cook it in a skillet. This is one of those easy chicken recipes that I love to cook through the week.

We often rotate this Chicken Bryan with this Sun-dried Tomato Farro Chicken Bake, Coq au Vin, Margarita Grilled Chicken, Sun-dried Tomato Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts or this Greek Lemon Chicken. 

Recipe Ingredients You’ll Need

• Chicken: I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. I love how juicy, and tender the chicken gets when grilled. You could also bake it or cook it in a skillet.
• Seasoning: I season the chicken with salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning.
• Lemon: I use the juice of 1 fresh lemon in the marinade. The acid helps to tenderize the chicken. 
• Garlic: Fresh garlic cloves work best in the marinade, but you could use garlic puree or garlic powder. 
• Tomatoes: I use juliened sun-dried tomatoes in oil. If you can only find whole sun-dried tomatoes you can slice them yourself. 
• Cheese: I top the chicken with goat cheese. You can use crumbled goat cheese or buy a log of goat cheese and slice it. 

For the Lemon Butter Sauce:

• Butter: I use unsalted butter.
• Garlic: For flavor, fresh garlic cloves work best in the sauce, but you could use garlic powder. 
• Seasoning: I season the sauce with Italian seasoning.
• Oil: I use oil from the sun-dried tomato jar to make the sauce.
• Herbs: Fresh basil adds great flavor to this dish.
• Lemon: I use the juice of 1 fresh lemon in the sauce.
• Cream: Heavy cream gives the sauce is lovely creamy texture.

Please see the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts and instructions. 

Recipe Modifications

• Swap the Cheese: I’ve used goats cheese, but you could sub in feta cheese or mozzarella cheese if you prefer.
• Tomatoes: If you don’t have sun-dried tomatoes you can use fresh tomatoes or canned diced tomatoes.
• Chicken: This dish is traditionally made with chicken breast, but it would work equally well with chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins. Adjust the cooking times accordingly.
• Cheese: If you aren’t a goat cheese fan I find that feta cheese works nicely.
• Vegetables: You can add additional vegetables alongside this recipe. I suggest adding in onion or shallots, green beans, zucchini or mushrooms.

How to Make this Chicken Bryan

Step 1: Marinade Chicken: In a large Ziploc bag combine the olive oil, Italian seasoning, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and then add the chicken breasts. Seal the bag and use your hands to massage the marinade into the chicken. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Step 2: Grill Chicken: Once the chicken has marinated, preheat the grill to a medium heat. Brush a little oil over the grate to prevent the chicken from sticking, and place chicken on the grill. Grill the chicken breasts. Brush chicken breasts with the leftover marinade.

The chicken needs to reach an internal temperature on 165 degrees F. (74 degrees C.) to ensure it is cooked. This will take approximately 6 or 7 minutes per side but this varies depending on the sizes of the chicken. Check all the pieces of chicken to be certain that they are cooked.

Step 3: Make the Lemon Butter Sauce: While the chicken is grilling heat a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the butter and melt. whisking continuously.

Add in the garlic, Italian seasoning, sun-dried tomato oil and basil, and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Step 4: Finish the Lemon Sauce: Now slowly add in the lemon juice and whisk to combine. Then add in the cream and continue to slowly whisk for 3-4 minutes or until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Step 5: Rest Chicken: Once the chicken is done remove it from the grill and cover and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.

Step 6: Serve Chicken: When you are ready to serve the chicken add the chicken to a dish and top each chicken breast with a 1/4 of the goat cheese, 1/4 of the sun-dried tomatoes and basil and continue for each of the chicken breast.

Drizzle the lemon butter sauce over the chicken breasts and serve warm with a caesar salad or my Lemon Arugula Salad.

Why is Carrabba’s Chicken Bryan so Good?

My Carrabba’s copycat Chicken Bryan is packed full of flavor. Firstly, I grill the chicken breasts which adds great flavor to the dish.

The chicken is then layered up with other delicious flavors, like goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Finally I serve the chicken with a creamy lemon butter sauce, which really takes the flavor to another level.