Chicken, bacon, ranch and cheese are combined to make one of the most flavorful and easy dinner recipes that your whole family is sure to love! This is the perfect recipe for an quick weeknight dinner.
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You know when you find something that works for you. It is like a weight off of your shoulders and a huge sigh of relief! That is what happened when I accidentally made our first chicken bake one night for dinner!
I needed something easy and quick and really had to just work with what I had in the fridge. The fajita chicken bake was born, and we were hooked! My family loved it because it is SO delicious! I loved it because it took mere minutes to prep and get in the oven for a hot and fresh meal on a busy weeknight. It entered our regular meal rotation and I started cooking up even more ideas! {You can see all of my Easy Chicken Bake Recipes here!}
I have always loved creating in the kitchen. It is really one of my favorite ways to spend my time. So I started brainstorming and came up with an almost endless list of yummy chicken bake ideas to feed my family. The one I am sharing today has definitely been a favorite with its rich savory flavors.
The Bacon Ranch Chicken Bake is probably one of the quickest dishes to put together since it requires only 4 ingredients and about 5 minutes of prep. And I mean really? Who doesn’t LOVE the flavors of bacon, ranch and cheese?! It is a match made in HEAVEN! I am telling you… this is a major husband pleaser right here.
In my opinion these chicken bakes are even better than freezer cooking since it is all of the ease with fresh from the oven textures! To make this baby, just grab your four ingredients and get started.
Grab a baking dish. Any ol’ dish will do, but my FAVORITE for chicken bakes is this 2 QT Pyrex dish. It is about 11×7, so a little smaller than their normal baking dish and absolutely perfect for 3 chicken breasts which is what I usually make.
Trim the chicken and lay it flat in the dish. My family eats about 1/2 breast each so making 3 gives us about 6 servings which will feed us for dinner plus give a couple of left overs for lunches that week. Depending on the size of your chicken breasts and your appetites you can easily adjust the recipe for more or less.
Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of ranch dressing on each chicken breast and then top with bacon strips. I used one whole strip cut in half for each piece of chicken, but again, use more or less for your taste.
Next place the chicken in an oven preheated to 400ËšF for 25-35 minutes or until it is just cooked through and no longer pink. Remove it from the oven and sprinkle cheese over the top and return to the oven for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. The cook time can vary based on how thick your chicken breasts are, so make sure you cut into them and check them to make sure they are cooked though. Also, if you want to speed up the cook time, you can cut the chicken into strips and use a larger baking dish.
When you take the chicken out of the oven, you are going to have a steaming hot, incredibly delicious dinner that your family will devour in no time flat!
I like to serve my bacon ranch chicken bake over wild rice which conveniently cooks in just the time it takes to bake the chicken. It is also absolutely amazing served over greens for a healthier option. Or if you have a picky family, it is easy to let each person decide what they want their chicken served over without really causing you any extra time or effort.
***Scroll to bottom for FULL PRINTABLE recipe!***
If this sounds awesome but a bit to calorie rich, check out my new lightened up version of the Bacon Ranch Chicken Bake. 5 ingredients, one dish, and much lighter!
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Bacon Ranch Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 3-4 Chicken Breasts
- 6-8 Tablespoons Ranch Dressing
- 6-8 Slices Bacon
- 4 Ounces Cheddar Cheese or Colby Jack Cheese
Instructions
- Place your chicken breast in a baking dish
- Spread 1-2 tablespoons of ranch dressing on each chicken breast
- Slice bacon to fit chicken breast and layer on top of ranch
- Bake in oven preheated to 400?F on top rack for 25-35 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
- Top with cheese and return to oven for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Serve with rice or over greens.
- Enjoy!
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Horace says
I made this for me and the wife this evening and it had every bit of the flavor it promised from the picture and description. Easy to do. I was worried about the bacon, but it got crispy enough. There was some charged dressing gravy in the dish, but not an issue. Cleaned up well. Thanks for the recipe. I only used two breasts, lots of dresssing and an extra piece of bacon. Came out great. I could have put bacon under broiler if needed, yet it was done. Delicious flavor.
H
Lizandra says
Chicken came out amazing
Sam Click says
This was delicious! I ended up using chicken tenders and shredding it and made it into a quesadilla. Delightful! Thank you
Megan Symington says
Did you need to use less cooking time?
Jeanette says
Made this for dinner tonight and it disappeared quickly! Everyone loved it and can’t wait for me to make it again. Thanks!
Pam says
Oh my goodness! Fabulous
Barb says
This recipe was delicious and so easy! I also like my bacon crispy and it defintiely needs additional cooking to achieve that. Since it was my first time making this dish, I didn’t realize that. So after the 30 minutes, I just took the bacon slices off and fried them for a couple of minutes. I added a layer of sauteed spinach and garlic, put cooked bacon on top of spinach,, added the cheese and completed bakng for 10 minutes. Maybe a little more work, but I loved the bacon flavor going into the chicken. Not sure you would get that if you put cooked bacon on at the end. Also, realized after the fact that I didn’t have any cheddar cheese. No problem!! Just added a combo of swiss and mozzarella.
Two other time saving tips…….i usually fry a whole pound of bacn at a time. I freeze it and then when I need it for a salad, bacon and egg sanwich, BLT or whatever…it is ready to go with a quick warm up in the microwave. Undercook it slightly if you are going to freeze and reheat.
Second, I cook a whole bag of spinach at once. Clean it, then I take off the stems ( not so stringy that way), chop fine and sauté with garlic and olive oil. I freeze it in ice cup trays or small containers. Then when i need it i just defrost and add to soup, pasta, chicken dish….whatever. My VERY picky nephew now eats spinach!
Jacque Brooks says
I have this in the oven tight now. I did make one change though, I sliced a fresh jalapeño and slid it in to my husband’s piece of chicken
Lee says
This looked so good and tasty. Was excited about making it for dinner tonight. Total flop. My ranch dressing was not as thick as the one shown. Checked it after 25 minutes, chicken was done but bacon was practically raw. Continued another 8 minutes then did cheese for 3. It was very ‘soupy’, chicken was overdone, bacon was not cooked enough. A flop at our house.
Laura says
So, while there is nothing wrong with doing it that way, I’ve made a few modifications that work better for my family, and wanted to share them, in case it helps other people.
1. I cut my chicken breasts in half before cooking. it makes portioning them out much easier.
2. i slather them with ranch on all sides instead of just putting it on top, i use the same ammount of ranch, though.
3. i wrap the chicken in the bacon instead of just putting it on top. my family loves the bacon so i wanted to use extra, plus my bacon kept sliding off and this prevents that.
otherwise, this is one of my family’s FAVORITE things that i cook now! THank you so much.
Shanna says
I made this tonight and there seems to be a lot of fluid in the pan, is that normal? I used boneless skinless chicken breasts