If you’re looking for a different way to prepare chicken, this is it. Ranch baked chicken breasts made with homemade ranch dressing mix.
This is a recipe everyone in your family is going to love. MaryJo and I sure thought it was delicious.
This is definitely not your momma’s baked chicken. Not my mom’s anyway.
The dry rubbed ranch dressing imparts a totally different flavor profile than what you are used to. In a very good way.
Seriously, it seems like everyone likes the flavor of ranch dressing and this is definitely a level up because the skin gets all crunchy and crispy and tangy and mouth-wateringly delicious.
Making the Ranch Dressing Mix
Ingredients in the ranch dressing rub are pretty simple and are probably items you have on hand.
The only oddball is powdered buttermilk. It’s something I’ve never used in a recipe.
You can find it in your grocers baking aisle or next to regular powdered milk. It comes in a cardboard container like oatmeal, but smaller.
MaryJo always has it on hand and uses it for making biscuits, pancakes and waffles, cornbread, cakes, and Irish soda bread.
When a recipe calls for fresh buttermilk, just add 1/4 cup of the dry buttermilk powder to the dry ingredients and 1 cup of water to the wet ingredients for every cup of fresh buttermilk in the recipe.
The dry buttermilk powder gets stored in the freezer for freshness.
Ingredients used in the ranch dressing dry rub mix.
Baking the Chicken Breasts
The recipe makes a half cup of mix which is about right for 4 skin on breasts. Lightly coat your chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle the rub on them.
I also pulled up the chicken skin to get some next to the flesh. The chicken was baked in a glass casserole that had been sprayed with cooking oil.
The oven was preheated to 375° and timer set for 45 minutes.
After 35 minutes the chicken was checked for temperature, which was 133° but it wasn’t browning as I wished.
Some additional olive oil was brushed on and the convection fan was turned on. If you don’t have a convection oven, raise the temperature of your oven to 400° to brown.
After another 10 minutes, the skin had browned nicely and the internal temperature was 143°. I pulled them out of the oven and kept them in the baking dish covered with foil for 10 minutes.
The chicken turned out perfect with a flavorful, crunchy skin and moist, tender meat.
This is super easy to make and gives you another way to cook chicken. Give ranch baked chicken breasts a try. Here’s the printable recipe.
Ranch Baked Chicken Breasts
Ingredients
Ranch dressing mix
- 1/4 cup powdered buttermilk
- 1 1/2 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tbsp dried chives
- 1/2 tbsp dried dill
- 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp kosher salt
Chicken breasts
- skin-on, bone in chicken breasts
- olive oil
Instructions
Ranch dressing mix
- Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl.
Chicken breasts
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Lightly coat the breasts with olive oil and sprinkle with the rub. Raise the skin and put some of the rub next to the flesh.
- Spray a baking dish or pan with cooking oil and add the chicken breasts bone side down. Set a timer for 45 minutes.
- After about 35 minutes, check the temperature of the breasts and brush on additional olive oil to encourage browning. Turn on the convection fan if equipt or raise the temperature of the oven to 400°.
- After 45 minutes, check the temperature. It should register near 145°. Remove from the oven and cover with foil for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Ranch mix adapted from TastingTable.com
- Store excess ranch mix in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.
Sounds wonderful!