How to Make Bourbon Street Bird: A New Orleans Favorite

Here’s how to make Bourbon Street Bird, a New Orleans favorite recipe that turns boneless skinless chicken breasts into panko & parmesan encrusted cutlets baked in a buttery Cajun sauce and served atop pasta.

 

What is Bourbon Street?

Bourbon Street is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. This recipe was shared with me by my friend Lyn who grew up in New Orleans. According to Lyn, Bourbon Street Bird is a common and popular dish in New Orleans. I found this interesting, as I have never seen a recipe similar to this one prior to getting this one from Lyn.

What is Bourbon Street Bird?

Bourbon Street Bird is panko encrusted chicken cutlets baked in a rich sauce of butter, white wine, Worcestershire, fresh lemon juice, fresh parmesan and seasonings.  The chicken has a buttery, Cajun spiced exterior with a tender white meat interior. The chicken is placed atop a bed of pasta and drizzled with additional sauce. With 15 minutes prep and 45 minutes bake time, the whole dish is roughly an hour start to finish~perfect for a weeknight meal or for guests.

Which chicken to buy for Bourbon Street Bird.

Any boneless skinless chicken breast will work for Bourbon Street Bird. If you buy the typical chicken breasts from some place like The Fresh Market (a favorite place of mine for chicken breasts), the breasts will be large and need to be pounded with a meat mallet. If you want to skip this step, you can find thin chicken cutlets at most grocers. This is how I now buy chicken for this recipe. The extra few dollars to buy already thin cutlets is worth not having to pound the meat:-)

Bourbon Street Bird

 

 

My favorite panko crumbs for this dish.

Kikkoman, Progresso crispy panko, and 4C are my favorite brands of panko crumbs. These are the top brands recommended in Cook’s Illustrated taste tests also. I recommend getting plain rather than Italian flavored for this dish. Since the recipe includes all the seasonings needed, plain breadcrumbs would not compete with them.

My favorite pasta for Bourbon Street Bird.

 When my friend Lyn shared the Bourbon Street Bird recipe, she also told me about Cipriani pasta (pictured), her favorite and the one she always serves with this dish.  I found the pasta at The Fresh Market and have been using it ever since.  It is fabulous. I have read that Cipriani is a favorite pasta of Barefoot Contessa. It is made in Italy at the famous Cipriani’s Restaurant and imported to the United States. It tastes just like fresh pasta and cooks to perfection in 2 minutes.

I bought mine at TFM for $7ish a box. It is also available here on amazon for those of you who might not be able to find it locally.

Can you make Bourbon Street Bird Ahead of Time?

If you want to prep ahead, there are several things you can do early in the day. First, you can pound your chicken, rinse, and pat it dry. You can also make your sauce, refrigerate it, and reheat it when ready to finish making the dish. This is such a quick and easy dish, even without prepping ahead, it comes together quickly.

Bourbon Street Bird

Everyone loves Bourbon Street Bird

I’ve never served this to anyone who didn’t love this dish. My kids love it, and most of my friends have and make this recipe for their families. It really is a perfect, easy weeknight meal if paired with a salad and some crusty bread. I hope you will try this with your family.

If you make Bourbon Street Bird, please let me hear what you think. As always, thanks so much for stopping by. Be blessed, and stay savvy!!!

Bourbon Street Bird

Bourbon Street Bird

Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

A New Orleans favorite chicken dish that is absolutely decadent!

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup butter (one stick)
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.
  3. Stir in wine, lemon juice, Worcestershire, parsley, salt, cayenne, and thyme.
  4. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Rinse chicken breasts; pat dry.
  6. Pound breasts to similar size & thickness.
  7. Arrange chicken breasts in baking dish.
  8. Pour half of butter mixture over chicken, turning to coat.
  9. Sprinkle panko and half of parmesan on chicken; turn to coat.
  10. Pour remainder of butter mixture over chicken.
  11. Bake for 40 minutes, uncovered.
  12. Sprinkle with additional paremesan if desired; bake 5 more minutes.
  13. Serve over pasta.

Notes

You can buy thin chicken breast cutlets and eliminate the pounding.

Cipriani pasta is what is pictured in the photo.

Nutrition Information
Yield 4 Serving Size 1 breast
Amount Per Serving Calories 567Total Fat 33gSaturated Fat 19gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 179mgSodium 1059mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 45g

Similar Posts

13 Comments

  1. Your Bourbon Street Chicken recipe is amazing! Huge hit at my house. So easy and so delicious!!

  2. Betsy, I am SO glad y’all enjoyed it!! I honestly think it would be a goos idea to double the sauce. I may adjust the recipe accordingly. The sauce is so good it would be great to have some on the side.

  3. Made! Delicious. Whole family of picky eaters enjoyed. Only strange thing was the sauce completely cooked away in the oven. Will try again soon.

  4. Hi Katherine! Glad to know that regular breadcrumbs turned out well! My friend Lynn who shared the recipe with me told me that she has used crushed saltines in a pinch:-) So glad you enjoyed the recipe; thank you for sharing your thoughts:-)

  5. This is delicious and so easy to make! I didn’t have panko so used regular breadcrumbs and turned out great. I might be making this again next week:) So good!!

  6. Thanks so much for your feedback, Cindy! As a registered dietician, you know way more than I do about the science behind food! I agree that more spice wouldn’t hurt the original recipe. And yes, the buttery sauce if fab; we should never cut that in half:-) Appreciate you!!!

  7. I made the Bourbon Street Bird last night and loved it! I took your suggestion, Jamie, and spiced it up a bit more with extra cayenne and a dash of Emeril’s Cajun spice. I was tentative not knowing how spicy it would turn out, but it was delicious. For your readers who like spicy, I feel like you could add even more than I did! I made half the recipe since it was just for my husband and I. But, I regretted cutting the sauce in half, as I wish I had more sauce to drizzle over the pasta-Next time I will! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

  8. Thank YOU, Debra, for being the first to tell me about this recipe and send me to sweet Lyn for exact measurments. You two are sweet & savvy friends:-)

  9. This dish is FABULOUS! I prepared it last night and everyone LOVED it! So easy! This will be my new “last minute” meal for the family!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *