It all started about a decade ago when a Marry Me Chicken recipe went viral on social media! Since then, the Marry Me Chicken as evolved into a variety of versions. In this post, Marry Me Dishes: Recipes, Activities & Challenge, students compare and contrast different recipe versions of the dish before preparing them in the lab. And, if you’re looking for a creative twist or competition, have students develop their own version of a Marry Me dish via a cooking challenge.

Set

• Kick off the topic by showing students the Protein Bachelor Slide. Ask them to answer the prompt and see which protein wins!
• Share the story behind the concept. Between 2010 and 2020 the dish, Marry Me Chicken, was created by an editor of Delish magazine. The joke behind it was that the dish was so delicious that the producer who was sampling it said that he’d marry her for it and thus the title was created.
• Since that original recipe went viral, thanks to social media, there have been many other versions created. We’re going to explore four of them.
• Have students count off by 4. Assign each number a recipe to use in a Jigsaw Style Group Activity.
  • #1: Marry Me Chicken
  • #2: Marry Me Beef
  • #3: Marry Me Shrimp
  • #4: Marry Me White Beans
• Place students into small groups of four with each recipe being represented. Have students read through their recipes in order to complete the corresponding prompts.
• After the prompts are completed, have a class discussion to see how each group responded and their reasons behind their answers.

Materials

• Ipad or Laptop
• Projector & Screen
• Ingredients for Lab or Challenge
• Judges (optional if doing the challenge)

Lab Options

• NOTE: Decide which option you wish to have your students complete. For a basic cooking or culinary class, you may wish to have students simply prepare and taste test each of the Marry Me versions they just compared. If you have a more advanced class, you may wish to have them exercise their creativity and develop their own Marry Me version, using the guide sheet for direction.
• If you are choosing the lab where students use the existing recipes they just answered prompts around, then have each group randomly select a version of the recipe to prepare in their lab. After each group has prepared their version, all students will sample from each group and then complete a set of prompts indicating their preferences. Share ranked preferences after the lab to see which version was most preferred.
• If you are choosing the challenge lab, then students must select their ingredients. You can edit the selections based on what’s available in your area or your budget. Students then prepare the dish for everyone to sample and rank. If you wish to include judges, then students must plate and present their Marry Me version to the judges for taste and evaluation. Students can also taste test the new creations and share their most preferred version. Share which team version was most preferred by the judges and the students. Students will also answer some follow-up prompts based on their dish and lab experience.

Attachments

• Protein Bachelors Intro Activity (PDF)
• Four Marry Me Recipe Versions
• Jigsaw Group Discussion Prompts
• Marry Me Challenge