One year for Christmas someone gave my grandma a cookbook from the Lion House. The Lion House is one of Brigham Young’s homes in Salt Lake City, UT. The first floor of the Lion House is now a restaurant. My kids love eating there because they have things like bottled sarsaparilla and other old timey things.
In this cookbook was this recipe for Chicken Alabam. We don’t know why it is called that. However, this became one of grandma’s go to meals, especially for Sunday Dinner. I was in college at the time and living close to her when she got the cookbook. My husband and I spent many Sunday afternoons over at Grandma and Grandpa’s. She would OFTEN make this chicken for dinner. We never got sick of it. Now I LOVE making it for my kids, and I think of grandma every time.

I value so much those young adult years when we lived close to them and spent so much time with them. We were new parents and just starting out. Their example was the greatest.
Chicken Alabam is a great Sunday dinner, but it’s also a popularly requested birthday dinner for several of my kids.
Start by coating all sides of the chicken in the mixed dredge, the flour mixture, then browning the chicken in butter. Place the chicken in a baking dish in a single layer as they finish.
Once the chicken is all browned, add the 5 Tbsp of butter to the fry pan. I do not clean out the fry pan first. Add the minced onion to the butter and sauté for a few minutes.
Next, pour the leftover dredge mix in the butter and onions. Stir till all the butter is absorbed. Over medium heat, continue stirring as you add in the chicken broth. It will be like a thick paste.
Continue stirring as you add in the milk, and the rest of the ingredients.
Make sure when you buy the pimiento you get CHOPPED. Little jars of pimientos can be found close to the olives in your grocery store. They come whole, slivered or CHOPPED. I have accidentally bought the other two and had to chop them myself.

Pour the sauce over the chicken. Bake in a 325-degree oven for 1 hour.
I often place scrubbed, lightly greased and poked potatoes on the rack under the chicken as it bakes, the potatoes also bake.

We love this chicken on rice, but really LOVE this sauce and chicken with a baked potato.

Chicken Alabam
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken tenders
- butter, as needed to brown chicken
Dredge
- ⅓ cup flour
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ¼ tsp thyme
Sauce
- 5 Tbsp butter
- ¼ cup onion, minced
- 1 cup chicken stock or broth
- ½ cup milk or half & half
- ¼ tsp lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp pimiento, chopped
- rice or baked potatoes for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Clean and pat dry thawed chicken breast pieces. I use chicken tenders.
- In a deep plate, I use a pie tin, use a fork to blend together the dry ingredients for the dredge.
- In a large fry pan melt a few Tablespoons of butter. Dredge the chicken by rolling the chicken pieces in the flour mix till all sides are coated. Then place immediately into the hot pan in butter. DO NOT cook the chicken all the way through.
- Over medium high heat, keep a close eye on the chicken, turning the pieces as needed, till they are browned on all sides. Add more butter to the fry pan as needed till all the chicken has been browned. Turn the heat down if the pan gets too hot, and the butter is getting too dark.
- Remove from the frying pan, as they finish browning, to a clean, ungreased, baking dish.
Sauce
- Once the chicken is finished, do not clean out the fry pan. Add the 5 Tablespoons of butter. Once melted add in the minced onion. Sauté for a few minutes, till tender.
- Pour all of the leftover dredge mixture into the butter and onions. Stir till the butter is absorbed and it looks like a crumbly paste.
- Over medium heat, add the chicken broth. Stir till it looks like a thick paste.
- Add in the milk, lemon juice and pimientos. Stir till thick and smooth. If it is too thick add a little more chicken broth while stirring and it has reached your desired thickness.
- Pour the sauce over the chicken in the baking dish. Bake at 325° for 1 hour.
- I often place scrubbed, lightly greased and poked potatoes on the rack under the chicken, so they bake at the same time as the chicken does.
- Serve on rice or with baked potatoes.