Who loves fast food and sit-down restaurants? Who anticipates the inevitable meltdown from at least one child at a restaurant? Who dreads seeing the bill? If any of these apply to you, keep reading!
I have dubbed myself the “Copycat Queen” because I am obsessed with finding and coming up with copycat recipes from my favorite fast food and sit-down restaurants. I started my obsession when we were stationed at Fort Drum and the local fast food places fell short of quality fast food (and that’s saying something!) and we did not want to weather the storm (literally) to go to a sit-down restaurant.
The more I think about it, the more I love copycat recipes. There is not nearly as much stress about your kids’ behavior when you are at home. I will say my older two were great a majority of the time that we went to restaurants when they were toddler and preschool age. No telling how Mason will be. Not to mention, the price of making a restaurant recipe at home is less expensive than going out to eat.
Don’t get me wrong…it’s nice to have someone else fix food for you. However, the following 11 recipes are fantastic when you just want to stay at home!
Frappuccinos are life! They are also surprisingly easy to make at home. Here I have you covered with recipes for a fruity drink, a caramel drink, and a chocolate drink. Although, word of warning: the strawberry frappuccino contains no coffee, whereas the other two do. Momma has gotta have her caffeine!
Copycat Starbucks Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino // McDonald’s Caramel Frappe (Copycat) // Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino (Copycat)
I have been blessed with children that love spicy food, so these two copycat recipes get made a lot in our house. One is for Popeye’s Spicy Chicken and the other is for a Nashville-native Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. The Hattie B’s is very spicy, so I make sure to do the kids’ without the glaze.
Copycat Popeye’s Spicy Chicken // Copycat Hattie B’s Hot Chicken
I think it goes without saying that most kids will eat at both McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A without complaint. My kids would probably eat at Chick-fil-A every single day if they could. But Matthew (9) and Cami (8) recently graduated from kids’ meals to adult ones and so that is getting a bit pricey with a small kids’ meal for Mason too. These are probably two of my all-time favorite copycats. They taste just like the real thing, but you know exactly what’s going into it. I personally like the homemade cheeseburger better than the real thing because it doesn’t tear up my stomach afterwards. The Chick-fil-A is so good, but I think the restaurant one has it beat for sure. Still, it’s nice to make them at home sometimes.
Copycat McDonald’s Cheeseburgers // Kinda Like Chick-fil-A Sandwich
Real talk, guys, Taco Bell copycats are my favorite copycats. The amount of Taco Bell copycat recipes on my blog is insane and I keep on making them. This was one of the things I did when I lived in New York because the Taco Bell up there was the worst Taco Bell I’ve ever been to. I spent time writing down what was in the menu items and then copycatted them. My kids are pretty indecisive when it comes to eating actual Taco Bell, but they will devour whatever copycat recipe I do at home without hesitation. The following two recipes are my most favorite on the Taco Bell menu and I make them at home often.
Taco Bell Chicken Quesadillas Copycat // Taco Bell Chicken Quesadillas Copycat
I promise all of these are not fast food recipes. I saved the best for last! The last two recipes are from Applebee’s and Olive Garden and have wowed everyone who has eaten them. They are definitely phenomenal recipes. The Oriental chicken salad has two different cabbages, lettuce, carrots, almonds, and a bomb homemade honey salad dressing. It is the perfect mix of sweet and savory. The soup is a family favorite…and it tastes JUST LIKE the soup at Olive Garden!
Easy Zuppa Toscana Soup Copycat // Easy Zuppa Toscana Soup Copycat
I hope y’all try some of these recipes and if you have a great copycat recipe to share, please leave it in the comments below!
