This one dish baked chicken dinner is tender and juicy on the inside and topped with a perfectly crisp ranch flavored cracker crust. This is the perfect dinner to please even the pickiest of eaters.
Ranch and chicken tenders. Two of my favorite things right there! So the question is why not combine them in the best and easiest dinner ever?! This easy baked chicken dinner comes together in minutes in just one simple casserole dish and has all the crispy crust and tender chicken all flavored with delicious ranch seasoning.
We eat chicken a lot around here. It is pretty much a staple on our weekly menu and to keep it new and exciting can be a real challenge sometimes. Because chicken can be really boring. Or it can be this dinner. The total opposite of boring. The dinner that my kids cleaned their plates and asked for MORE of!
So basically we really love this dinner and I am pretty excited to finally share it with you. The best part about all of my chicken bake recipes, besides the fact that they are really delicious, is that they are made for busy lifestyles. I am a mom of three little kids, with a full time job and a crazy schedule. So basically it has to be easy or it isn’t happening.
That doesn’t mean I have to feed my family microwave burritos though. Oh goodness no. I really like food and just had to create recipes that gave be good food without a lot of fuss. My chicken bake recipes are just that! Easy, wholesome and delicious. This Ranch Cracker Chicken Bake is all of that and comfort food at it’s best!
When you take this out of the oven you have super tender and juicy chicken and my favorite part… the crispy cracker crust, with an extra burst of flavor from the ranch seasoning. We love to serve it over rice or mashed potatoes with a healthy dallop of this quick and easy cheddar cheese sauce over it and a nice big side of steamed broccoli. I might have made my stomach growl a little just thinking of it. Yum! If you don’t want to do the cheese sauce, it is still great with BBQ sauce, honey mustard, or whatever your favorite dipping sauce is.
Easy Ranch Ritz Cracker Chicken Bake Recipe
This recipe starts out with just a few ingredients like any really good simple recipe should.
Ingredients:
- Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- Melted Butter
- Ritz Cracker Crumbs – (see this trick to make cracker crumbs super quick, easy and mess free!)
- Dry Ranch Mix – You can use Hidden Valley Ranch mix, or this Homemade Ranch which is gluten and dairy free
I use two shallow bowls and a casserole dish to make this. In one bowl mix the cracker crumbs and the ranch mix. In the other bowl put the melted butter. Make sure to spray the casserole dish with cooking spray before you start also.
Start by dipping the chicken to fully coat it in the butter then rolling the buttered chicken into the cracker crumbs to get a nice thick layer. Lay the chicken breast in the casserole dish once you are done and repeat with the remaining chicken breasts.
Mix the remaining butter into the remaining crumbs and stir well. Then spread the crumb mixture over the top of the chicken breasts.
Bake in a preheated oven at 375˚F for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through. If crumbs start getting too dark, then loosely cover with foil for the remainder of cooking time.
Once it is cooked through remove it from the oven and serve it up piping hot. Now you don’t have to serve it with the garlic cheddar sauce, but you really should because it is deeeeeelicious.
If you want to scale this recipe up it is pretty simple. Just use an extra sleeve of crackers and an extra 4 tbsp of butter and tablespoon of ranch for each 3-4 chicken breasts you want to make. The only thing to be careful of is making sure that the chicken has enough room to lay flat. Don’t squeeze it in too close together or pile it on since that will keep the crumbs from getting nice and crisp which is the best part!
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Ranch Ritz Cracker Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 3 Chicken breasts
- 4 Tbsp Butter melted
- 1 Sleeve Ritz Crackers
- 1 Tbsp Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Mix or Homemade Ranch Mix
Instructions
- Crush the ritz crackers into crumbs and put them into a shallow bowl and mix in the Ranch seasoning into the crumbs.
- Dip the first chicken breast into melted butter to coat all sides, then roll the chicken breast in the crumb mixture to coat well. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
- Spray the dish with Pam and then lay the chicken breasts flat in the baking dish.
- Mix remaining butter with remaining crumb mixture and then sprinkle over top of the chicken breasts.
- Bake at 375F for 30-40 minutes or until cooked through. If crumbs start getting too dark, then loosely cover with foil for the remainder of cooking time.
- Serve plain or with Garlic Cheddar Cream Sauce. Enjoy!
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Vanessa says
Is there a recipe for the sauce?
Kimber says
Yes, Vanessa! Sorry it wasn’t linked in the post. You can find the recipe I use for easy garlic cheddar cheese sauce here: http://www.thepinningmama.com/easy-garlic-cheddar-cheese-sauce-recipe/
Vanessa says
Thank you!
Jayla Steckler says
recipe was very good but how many calories are there?
Shannon Widener says
Wheres the garlic cheese sauce recipe please