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Monday, August 9, 2010

Crispy Baked Parmesan Ranch Chicken with Parmesan Roasted Asparagus

Is there a limit to the number of words that are allowed in a recipe title? At first, I was going to call this new recipe Ranch Chicken. Simple, right? But then I decided to add Parmesan – both to the recipe and to the title. Parmesan Ranch Chicken.

Then when the chicken was done, and it came out so delicate and crispy, I thought, “Well, I have to add ‘Crispy’ to the title. They need to know that right up front!”

Parmesan Ranch Chicken sounds good, but Crispy Parmesan Ranch Chicken sounds delicious! Then I realized that you might wonder what made the chicken so crispy. Did I deep fry it? No! I baked it. And it still turned out delicate and crispy. It’s much healthier than deep fried chicken, and it tastes incredible.

But I thought that Incredibly Delicious Crispy Baked Parmesan Ranch Chicken was going a little too far.

Crispy Baked Parmesan Ranch Chicken

Serious bottle of ranch mix from Sam's Club
2 lbs Chicken breasts with bones (skin optional)
1 C Ranch dressing
1 C Flour
1 t Dry ranch mix
1 t Black pepper
2 T plus 1 t Parmesan cheese, shredded, divided
1 T Olive oil for drizzling

Place the chicken in a Ziploc bag and add ranch dressing. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours. (8 hours or overnight would be even better.) Drain.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a clean, dry Ziploc bag, add the flour, ranch mix, pepper, and 2 T of Parmesan cheese. Mix well. Add the chicken pieces one at a time, close the bag, and shake to coat. Place the chicken pieces on a cookie sheet with raised edges. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon of Parmesan cheese, then drizzle with oil. Bake until the pieces are golden brown and reach the desired temperature, about 40-50 minutes.

The chicken recipe used only a small portion of the Parmesan cheese. Plus, in my refrigerator, I had a bunch of asparagus. So I Googled asparagus+parmesan and found this recipe for Parmesan Roasted Asparagus from PickyCook.com.
It was so easy, and it cooked at the same temperature as the chicken. While the chicken started cooking, I prepped the asparagus and then put it in about 20 minutes before the chicken was done. My house smelled amazing.


I love it when a plate comes together! This is seriously some of the best chicken I’ve ever had, and I made up the recipe. I’m so proud of myself. Or should I say full of myself?

13 comments:

  1. OMG Susan, this looks so good! I am definitely going to try this. I will wait until DH is home from training so he can try it too hehe. :-) This you create this recipe?

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  2. Yes! I have cooking on my brain these days, and somehow, this one just came to me. You have no idea how weird that is. LOL

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  3. I can't wait to make this!!!! It looks so yummy. Here's my Sunday dinner. Thanks Susan!

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  4. You're welcome, Sharon! Let me know how it turns out.

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  5. Dumb question...just use the ranch mix or mix up the ranch with sour cream and THEN marinade? See, I'm not too swift on the cooking front. ;)

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  6. Not a dumb question at all, Allyson! The marinade is ranch dressing. So if you have a bottle of ranch salad dressing, just pour that over the chicken. If you don't, you can make some according to the instructions on the packet. You mix it with mayonnaise and milk to make dressing. Ranch dip (with sour cream) would probably work, too, but might be too thick. If you try it, let me know how it turns out!

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  7. Glad you enjoyed the asparagus!

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  8. Guess what we're having for dinner tomorrow night! This sounds great!

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  9. I did it! I made this for dinner today. YUM! It was soooo good. The chicken was nice and moist and prefectly crunchy. I did substitute the asparagas for summer squash and zucchini since my hubby does not like asparagas, but I followed the cooking directions for it none the less. Delish! My house smelled so yummy as this was cooking.

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  10. Sharon, how fun! I'm glad you and your wonderful husband enjoyed it. Next time, I'll try the summer squash and zucchini, too. That sounds delicious!

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  11. Hi Susan: Finally got the chance to make this recipe today. We had it for lunch and it was incredible! Every time my husband went by the kitchen, he kept saying how good the house smelled. :D Thanks for sharing! XOXO

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  12. I finally made this--was a hit!

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