Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

Today, I am sharing the recipe for a copycat Starbucks Banana Bread.  It is so good.  What I love about it, is that it's just the perfect combination, it's not overly sweet,  and it's also really easy to make.

If you have bananas that you need using up, this is the perfect recipe.  Now I know we all have a ton of banana bread recipes, I think it's probably one of the most made recipes all over the world.  I myself have quite a few, even posted here on the blog, but it never hurts to have one more right?

Give this one a try and let me know what you think, it's become my go to banana bread.

Recipe comes from My Frugal Adventures.

 

 

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

Source: My Frugal Adventures

Ingredients 

 

2 cups flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

 ¼ teaspoon salt 

1 egg 

1⅛ cup sugar 

 ½ cup vegetable or canola oil 

 2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk 

½ teaspoon vanilla 

3 bananas mashed very well 

 ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) 

 

 

Instructions 

 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add flour, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and set aside. Mix egg, sugar and oil and stir until well combined 

 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dry. Next add milk, vanilla and bananas and stir until incorporated. 

 

Mix in walnuts and pour into a loaf pan. 

 

Cook 50-75 minutes, checking regularly until a knife comes out clean. 

 

 

Copycat Ono's Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

 

When we were stationed at Luke AFB, Arizona, we were lucky to live in an area that provide many restaurant options.  We never ran out of a good place to go try out, and we never got sick of eating the same thing.

By far, one of our favorite spots to go was Ono Hawaiian Barbecue. 

Y'all, if you've never been to one, and have one nearby, go.  Go, go, go!

I can't even tell you how good it is.  Best chicken, which by the way, I already have a recipe here on the blog that is pretty close to the original.  Check it out, Ono's Hawaiian Grilled Chicken.

Their meat was amazing, but their macaroni salad was one of our favorites too.  Soooooo good.

Thankfully, it is pretty easy to recreate and it's often one of my kids most requested side dishes when we are grilling.

 

Ono's Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

 

 

Ingredients:

1 pound macaroni 

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 

2 carrots shredded 

1/4 cup onion shredded

2 1/2 cups Mayonnaise Best Foods or Hellman's mayonnaise 

1/4 cup milk 

2 teaspoon sugar 

kosher salt and pepper to taste 

 

 

Instructions:

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain, pour into a large bowl . 

 

While macaroni is still hot, sprinkle on vinegar and add carrot and onion. Toss together until well combined.   Add in the mayo, milk and sugar until evenly coated.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, best overnight.  

Copycat McDonald's Big Mac

 

Raise your hand if you love a good Big Mac from McDonald's?  

 

So funny story, before I share the recipe, my kids are not huge hamburger lovers, both prefer chicken sandwiches.  No matter which fast food place we go to, they usually order a chicken sandwich, crispy of course.  My son is a bit more adventurous, and like his mama, loves spicy food, so he will get the spicy chicken sandwich sometimes.

 

But, normally?  Yeah just chicken, no burgers.  They're nothing like me in that sense, because I love a good ol' burger.  Though I'm not a huge Mcdonald's fan, aside from the fries, because I will swim across an ocean for those, I do really enjoy a Big Mac.

 

If you've been on this food blog long enough, then you surely know that I love copycat recipes.  If I can find a recipe for a restaurant favorite, then I'm definitely going to try it.  

 

 

I wasn't quite sure if the Big Mac would be good, but let me tell you something, it was phenomenal and actually kicked up to a whole new level, simply because I grilled the burger patties.  

 

Oh my goodness!!!

 

But enough talking, let me just give you the recipe and set you loose, to make yourself these babies.  Your family is going to love you, and when you realize just how easy they are, you will have some Big Macs more often than you can get to McDonald's.  

 

 

Copycat McDonald's Big Mac

 Source: 4 Sons 'R' Us

 

Ingredients

For Big Mac sauce: 

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

2 tbsp French dressing 

1/2 tbsp sweet relish 

2 tsp dill pickle relish 

 1 tsp sugar 

1 tsp dried minced onion 

1 tsp white vinegar 

1 tsp ketchup 

1/8 tsp salt 

 

For the burgers: 

2 thin hamburger patties 

1 & 1/2 sesame seed buns 

1 slice yellow American cheese 

1 tbsp special sauce 

1 tsp finely minced white onion 

1/4 cup shredded lettuce 

2 dill pickle slices 

 salt and pepper, to taste 

 

 

 

To Make The Special Sauce 

Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for an hour, at least, before serving. 

 

To Make The Big Macs 

Lightly toast two bottom buns. Season the hamburger patties with salt and pepper, to taste. 

 

Grill the burger patties, until done.  On the first of the two bottom buns, add ½ tablespoon of the Special Sauce, ½ teaspoon of the onion, ⅛ cup of shredded lettuce, cheese, and one hamburger patty. 

 

Place the other bottom bun on top, and top it with the same items mentioned above, but no cheese. Top with the remaining bun top.

 

 

Copycat KFC Bowls

 

I believe there are two types of people in this world.

 

Those who love their food separated on their plates, and will one at a time, and then those who love to throw it all together, mix it up and enjoy a forkful of a bunch of different flavors and textures together.

 

I don't know which one of those you are, but I will tell you that I fall into the second group.

 

Give me a bowl of this or that, a plate with everything mixed together, and I'm a happy girl.

 

Matter of fact, when we go to Chili's for lunch or dinner, I usually get the Tex Mex bowl which is rice, grilled chicken, black beans and corn, avocado and pico de gallo etc.  It's like Heaven on a plate for me.

 

 

I'm sure it won't surprise you then, when I say that our trips to KFC, usually end up with me picking one of the bowl meals. 

 

KFC Bowls consist of just a few ingredients, but are some of my favorites to order.  I knew I wanted to recreate it at home, and really, there's nothing to this, especially when most of the ingredients, aside from the homemade mashed potatoes, are store bought and readily available in your pantry and freezer.

These may look like they won't be filling, but trust me, they are.  I couldn't finish mine.

Copycat KFC Bowls

 

 

Ingredients

Homemade mashed potatoes

Popcorn chicken

Sweet Corn

Brown Gravy

Shredded cheese

 

 

Instructions

For this recipe, I made my mashed potatoes as I always do, but included a little bit of cream and some cream cheese as well, to make them creamier.

 

Cook your popcorn chicken according to packed.  Warm up the corn.  Make the brown gravy according to package directions.

 

In a bowl, spoon on your mashed potatoes, top with corn, popcorn chicken and gravy. Sprinkle on some shredded cheese.

That is it.  Quick and easy to throw together, a pretty inexpensive meal and filling too.

Copycat Wingers Sticky Fingers

It has been a while since I've updated the food blog, my apologies for that.  If you follow me over on my main blog, you will understand that a lot has been going on, and well, life has just knocked us upside the head.

With that said, I've been trying to cut down on my grocery budget, make delicious filling meals, but not spending too much money, especially on meat products.

I've tried to work with what I can find at the store, since many times the meat I want is either not available, too expensive, or we are only limited to 2 which is not easy for someone who buys for 2 weeks at a time.

Anyway, this is one of the meals I made the other day, and it is definitely going on our rotation of favorites.  It is pretty inexpensive to make, and super tasty.

I chose to serve mine as a salad, so we had some salad fixings and then just topped it with the sticky fingers and drizzled on some ranch dressing.  So good!!!

Copycat Wingers Sticky Fingers

Bag of crispy frozen chicken strips
1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water


Cook your chicken strips according to package directions.

In a small saucepan, mix the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Stir well, and once the sugar is completely dissolved and it starts bubbling, remove from heat.  Let sit for a few minutes until it thickens slightly.

Place the chicken strips in a bowl, pour on the sauce and stir to coat all the chicken.  Serve immediately with some ranch dressing on the side.

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

You're probably thinking "Another banana bread recipe?".

I know, it's a very common dessert to make, and I think everyone has their own favorite recipes.  I myself have made this numerous times, with numerous recipes and some have been great, others have been flops.  But, that is the way it goes when you bake, constantly trying, experimenting, failing and trying again until you find that one recipe you know will never fail you.

I came across this recipe in a youtube video and happened to have a bunch of bananas that had become overripe, which in my house means, no one will touch it, not even with a 10 foot pole.

After trying this recipe, I must say that it is one of the most delicious banana bread I've ever had, and hey, much cheaper than going to Starbucks and paying 4 dollars for a slice, right?

Quick note, the recipe calls for walnuts but I didn't have any on hand, the only thing I had was sliced almonds and that is what I used.  Still turned out very good.

Copycat Starbucks Banana Bread

Source:  My Frugal Adventures

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1⅛ cup sugar
½ cup vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons buttermilk or milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas mashed very well
½ cup chopped walnuts



Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Add flour, baking soda and salt to a small bowl and set aside. Mix egg, sugar and oil and stir until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir well. The mixture will be thick and dry. Next add milk, vanilla and bananas and stir until incorporated. Mix in walnuts and pour into a loaf pan.

Cook 50-75 minutes, checking regularly until a knife comes out clean.

Chick-Fil-a Sandwiches and Sauce

Y'all, if you've never had Chick-Fil-a, you don't understand what you're missing out on.  I know, it's just another chicken sandwich place, only it's really not, it is one of the best chicken fast food places around.  At least in my opinion!

Salads, chicken tenders which are to die for, wraps, sandwiches, waffle fries and let's just take a deep breath before mentioning the sauce.  THE SAUCE!!!!

I ran across this recipe purely by accident, I don't even know what I was doing, I want to say maybe browsing around Pinterest?  Who knows.  What I DO know is that the minute I found it, I was like "Yep, that's going on the menu right away."

Then it sat on the meal plan for a month, not even joking, something would come up and I would have to switch meals around, but yesterday was the day.  I finally remembered to get the chicken brining with plenty of time to spare.  Why brine you might ask?  Well, let's just say that the secret ingredient that makes these sandwiches a hit, is pickle juice.

I know, it sounds crazy, and I will admit I was a little scared that the taste would be overpowering, but it's not, it just makes the chicken super tender and yummy and......yeah you need to try it.

Recipe comes from Life in the Lofthouse.

Chick-Fil-a Sandwich

Serves 4

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup dill pickle juice
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
4 Hamburger buns
pickles slices
romaine lettuce
tomato slices



Slice each chicken breast in half, lengthwise, to form 4 thin cutlets. Place chicken in a large ziplock bag and pour in pickle juice. Seal bag shut and place in the refrigerator. Marinate for 1 - 2 hours.

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet to 350° F.

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

Remove chicken from pickle juice. Dip each piece in the egg/ milk mixture, and then into the flour mixture. Coat well. Shake off excess flour.

When oil is ready, fry 2 pieces at a time for 3 - 4 minutes on each side. You want it cooked through on the inside, and the outside should be golden-brown. Place chicken on a paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.
Repeat with other 2 chicken cutlets.

Serve chicken on toasted buns with pickles, lettuce and tomato. Enjoy!

These come together pretty quickly and I am sure your family will love them, just as much as mine did.  It's surreal just how delicious and tender the chicken is, without an overpowering taste of pickles.

But, you can't have the true Chick-Fil-a experience without some waffle fries and the delicious well known sauce.  So, I've got a recipe for that as well, thanks to Dinner then Dessert.

Chick-Fil-a Sauce

Yield: 8 servings

1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup barbecue sauce I use Sweet Baby Ray's
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise


Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow flavors to come together.

If your sauce doesn’t have that hint of smoke (in case your bbq sauce is sweeter rather than smoky) use a splash of liquid smoke.

Overall, this was by far one of our favorite dinners and all done in the comfort of my kitchen.  Seriously, don't be afraid to try your very own restaurant recipes at home, they are often cheaper to make as well as easier, and what's not to like about having the food you love at your fingertips?

Panda Express Chow Mein

I just gave you the recipe for the Sweet Fire Chicken, but I didn't give you the recipe for the perfect side dish, which is of course, the Panda Express Chow Mein.

Also from Damn Delicious, and also a copycat recipe, and ALSO delicious.

But I'm not going to say anything else, other than, make yourself some chow mein, like nowwww.

I used purple cabbage because it's what I had on hand, but other than that followed the recipe exactly and it was phenomenal.

Panda Express Chow Mein

Source: Damn Delicious

1/4 cup soy sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 (5.6-ounce) packages refrigerated Yaki-Soba, seasoning sauce packets discarded*
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, sliced diagonally
2 cups shredded cabbage



In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, ginger and white pepper; set aside.
In a large pot of boiling water, add Yaki-Soba until loosened, about 1-2 minutes; drain well.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and celery, and cook, stirring often, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in cabbage until heated through, about 1 minute.
Stir in Yaki-Soba and soy sauce mixture until well combined, about 2 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Panda Express Sweet Fire Chicken

If my family and I could eat at Panda Express every day, we probably would.

In a dream world of course, because in reality, there's just no way we could afford that, or my thighs could sustain it.  But once in a while, it's good to indulge and if when the craving strikes, I can make it at home?  Even better!!!

This recipe comes from one of the food blogs I most admire, Damn Delicious.  She is fantastic and has some of the best recipes out there, so when I saw this one, I knew I had to make it for the family.

The results?  Amazing!!!

My husband and children loved it, all had seconds, and my 12 year old boy even had thirds, he just couldn't get enough.

So here you go, a great copycat recipe for next time you crave Panda Express.

Panda Express Sweet Fire Chicken

Source:  Damn Delicious

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups diced pineapple, fresh or canned
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce, or more, to taste
2 green onions, thinly sliced
For the chicken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten


Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Working one at a time, dredge chicken in flour, dip into eggs, then dredge in flour again, pressing to coat.

Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet, 3 or 4 at a time, and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bell pepper and pineapple and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in chicken and Thai sweet chili sauce until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.

Serve immediately, garnished with green onions.

Zuppa Toscana

By far, my favorite dish from Olive Garden is their Zuppa Toscana, along with those delicious breadsticks.  Yum!

But honestly, I don't always get to Olive Garden, nor do I have the money to go by anytime I crave this soup.  So, I went searching online because as you know, many of the restaurants have copycat recipes out there, and I do have quite a stash of bookmarked favorites to try.

I've been making this soup for a while now, but hadn't had it in a few months, probably a year or so.

Since I picked up some great looking Kale at the grocery store yesterday, it was the perfect time to make another batch.  This recipe comes from Tuscan Recipes.

Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana

Makes 6 to 8 servings

1 lb ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp crushed red peppers
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale

Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.

In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.

Add chicken bouillon and water to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.

Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.

Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.

Stir in the sausage and the kale, let all heat through and serve.


Note: This recipe makes enough for our family of four, and I still have 2 mason jars with leftover soup for midweek lunches :)