This easy, make at home version of Sizzler’s Malibu Chicken is a nostaglic blast from past! Panko breaded chicken topped with deli ham and Swiss cheese served with a creamy honey mustard dipping sauce.
After discovering how much my family loved these flavors, I came up with my Chicken Cordon Bleu Sandwiches. Another old family favorite!
The first time I tried Malibu Chicken was at my mother-in-law’s house waaaayyy back in time when I was dating my husband. That sounded weird. I wasn’t dating my husband, I was dating the young guy who would one day become my husband. There, that’s better.
It was the early 80’s and this tasty chicken dish from Sizzler was quite the rage. It’s a bit ironic that I’ve never had the Sizzler version. In fact, I’ve never dined there – ever. My great big family of eight was not having fancy dinners out at Sizzler. Ha! So, needless to say, I was pretty pleased when Paul’s mom whipped this up for dinner one night. I promptly pulled out my trusty recipe cards and wrote the recipe down.
It is that very recipe that I’m giving a refresh today and bringing front and center to share with you. This nostalgic chicken dish was cooked and consumed in our home countless times when my boys were young.
Ironically, for years I assumed that Paul’s family was livin’ it up at Sizzler, ordering appetizers and Malibu Chicken while I was at home eating pot roast. When I was putting this post together I asked him to tell me about his glory days at Sizzler only to find out that they weren’t eating there either!
Like most of the popular recipes that made the rounds back then (I’m looking at you Tamale Pie and Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops), I have to assume she got the recipe from a magazine or a morning television show.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Chicken: Thin sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If you’re starting with thick breasts, you’ll need to slice them through the middle, lengthwise, to create thin cutlets.
- Breading: All-purpose flour, a large egg, vegetable or olive oil, and seasoned panko bread crumbs.
- Oil: Vegetable oil or olive oil for cooking the chicken.
- Seasoning: salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Ham and cheese: Sliced deli ham and sliced Swiss cheese.
- For the Malibu Sauce: This sweet and creamy honey-mustard dipping sauce takes this dish over the top! It consists of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard (regular or coarse ground), yellow mustard, honey, and onion powder.
How to Make Malibu Chicken
Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season it with a little salt and pepper.
Grab three shallow bowls and set up your breading station.
- Bowl 1: Flour
- Bowl 2: Egg whisked with vegetable oil.
- Bowl 3: Seasoned panko bread crumbs
- Season each piece of chicken with a little salt and pepper. Then, dredge one piece in the flour, coating both sides, and shake off any excess.
- Place the flour coated chicken in the egg mixture and flip it over to coat both sides. The flour helps the egg adhere to the chicken.
- Finally, dip the chicken in the bread crumbs, coating both sides.
- Transfer the breaded chicken to a baking sheet or sheet of foil and repeat the process to bread the remaining chicken.
This recipe yields four servings. If you’re skillet is not large enough, you may need to cook the chicken in batches.
- Brown: Cook the breaded chicken in olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet. You’re just browning it here – not cooking it through. It should only need 3 to 4 minutes per side to get nicely browned.
- Bake: Layer each piece of chicken with a slice of deli ham, folded to fit the chicken, and a slice of Swiss cheese. Pop the oven-proof skillet in a pre-heated 350 degree F oven and let it cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F in the center of the thickest portion. Thicker pieces of chicken will require more time to cook through.
While it bakes, the edges of the ham get all nice and crispy and the cheese gets all melty and gooey. It’s a beautiful thing.
The Famous Malibu Sauce
Mix up the easy Malibu Sauce in a small bowl and refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve. You can do this while the chicken bakes or even a day in advance, if you’d like.
The combination of these ingredients creates a sweet and creamy honey mustard sauce that is very close to the restaurant version. It’s an irresistible flavor that makes the dish very kid-friendly and it also works well as a sandwich or burger spread. My boys loved the stuff!
Big Batch Malibu Chicken
Serving more than four? No problem!
- Double the recipe and brown the chicken in batches.
- Line a large baking sheet with foil and generously coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer the browned chicken to the prepared baking sheet.
- Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and proceed with recipe as directed.
Serving Suggestions
Here are some ideas for rounding out your menu. These recipes will make this a super family-friendly, delicious meal!
- Potatoes – Crispy Oven Baked Fries are my first choice. You could also do Crock Pot Baked Potatoes or Twice Baked Potatoes.
- Salad – Toss a Simple Italian Salad or Italian Chopped Salad.
- Vegetables – Sautéed Green Beans, Zucchini and Sweet Corn with Feta, or Sautéed Broccolini.
- Pasta or Rice – Easy Parmesan Noodles or Almond Rice Pilaf would both be delicious with this chicken.
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Malibu Chicken
Ingredients
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup seasoned Panko bread crumbs
- 4 thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, or as needed
- 4 slices deli ham
- 4 slices Swiss cheese
Malibu Sauce
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, regular or coarse ground
- 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season each piece of chicken with a little salt and pepper, to taste.
Set Up the Breading Station
- Place the breading ingredients in 3 separate shallow bowls.Bowl 1: All-purpose flourBowl 2: Whisk the egg with the vegetable oil.Bowl 3: Bread crumbs
Bread the Chicken
- Dredge a piece of chicken in the flour to coat both sides and shake off any excess. Place the flour coated chicken in the egg mixture and flip it over to coat both sides. Finally, dip the chicken in the bread crumbs, coating both sides.Transfer the breaded chicken to a baking sheet or sheet of foil and repeat the process to bread the remaining chicken.
Brown the Chicken
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over MEDIUM heat. Cook for about 3 minutes per side, until nicely browned. You don't want to cook the chicken through at this point. Once browned, layer the chicken with a piece of ham and then top with the Swiss cheese.
Bake
- Transfer pan to the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F in the thickest potion.
For the Malibu Sauce
- While the chicken is baking, combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Easy Chicken Dinners
This post was originally published on January 11, 2015. It has been updated with new text and images.
The sauce makes this dish. Imagine my chagrin to order it through Uber Eats and they didn’t include the sauce. 😪
How could they! 🙂
The was excellent! The chicken was tender and juicy, and the process was quick and easy. I will definitely make this again. Thank you for sharing.
I’m definitely going to try this recipe. I have a friend who still waxes nostalgic about the Sizzler. Nice post!
Love this. Went to Sizzler and mine came with a grilled pineapple ring on top…Yum.
Also, have several recipes from my husband who was a chef for many years and I still remember a few if you would like to try a few.
When I was young, sizzler didn’t bread their Malibu chicken. It was grilled & topped with ham & melted Swiss.
I would love to try this recipe. We still have a few Sizzler Restaurants in Salt Lake City and whenever I go I always order the malibu chicken, in face that’s what prompted me to search for a recipe because I’ve been trying to duplicate their dipping sauce but I think it has more than just mayo and mustard in it, I’ve tried that and it ISN’T the same as Sizzlers. I think I might try the dijon instead, that might just be it. Thank you for sharing!
I have fond memories of Sizzler (we used coupons) AND of Malibu Chicken. Yum! I’m thrilled to be able to make this at home. I always wondered what was in the sauce!
You gotta love a family that dined at Sizzler with coupons 🙂 Be sure to let me know how it turns out for you if you try it.
I went to Sizzler about once a week for years back in the day and Malibu Chicken with salad bar was what I always ordered. When the chain closed I went into mourning. This recipe for chicken and honey mustard sauce is good. However, the original Malibu Chicken was a high quality all white meat breaded chicken fritter deep fried and topped with ham and swiss cheese and the sauce was just mayo and yellow mustard. It was so good. It is similar to Cordon Bleu, like deconstructed. I tried buying chicken fritters from the grocery but they were nasty so using real chicken breast is the only way to go when trying to make these. Store bought fritters are not the same as what the restaurant served. Specially made for them? I found this recipe pleasing but I did change the sauce to mayo and mustard only.
I’m so happy to hear from someone who not only ate at Sizzler but remembers this specific dish! Sadly, I never experienced the original. My recipe is based on my husband’s mom’s version of the dish. From the sound of it, this recipe may be a bit more wholesome than the breaded, deep-fried version, although, I’m sure it was tasty. I’m glad you enjoyed the dish and thanks so much for your comment! I totally appreciate the feedback 🙂
I love the story and love the recipe! Thanks for sharing!
I love this recipe! I can see why you wrote it down back in the 80’s! And I can see why it was a favorite at your house. Yum.