Easy Cheesy Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken Recipe
My son is home from college and he always has his hometown buddies over, so I’m planning out Budget Friendly Meals that I can easily make right after work, OR make ahead. I came up with this super Easy Cheesy Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken Recipe and my family devoured it! YUM!
If your family loves mashed potatoes like mine does…you’ll love this super easy recipe made with Instant Mashed Potatoes so it’s quick to put together. There are lots of healthy organic brands of instant potatoes and they taste as good as real mashed potatoes made from scratch!
Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken Recipe
What perks this super easy recipe up is…well not just the bacon, because everyone LOVES bacon. It’s what is UNDER all those cheesy potatoes! Check out the secret ingredients below…It’s the baked chicken with dry ranch dressing mix! Dry ranch dressing mix kicks boring chicken recipes up to a whole new level. YUM!
Time Saving Tip!
If you are in a crazy hurry then this time-saving tip is for you! Instead of using raw uncooked chicken, you can use precooked chicken! Either rotisserie chicken or frozen pre-cooked chicken. This will cut your cooking time waaay down.
If you use rotisserie chicken simply preheat the chicken in the oven (covered with foil so it doesn’t dry out) While that is heating up, make your instant mashed potatoes. Continue on with the rest of the recipe! Don’t forget to sprinkle the Dry Ranch Dressing Mix on the chicken before heating.
Ingredients:
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- 4 Cups Instant Potatoes
- 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Crispy Bacon or 6 pieces crumbled
- 1/2 ~ 1 tsp. Dry Ranch Dressing Mix ~ My all time favorite is Uncle Dan’s Ranch Mix
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- Pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray your cooking dish and add chicken breasts. I always give my chicken a quick spray with the cooking spray so they don’t dry out. This also helps the Ranch Dressing Mix to stick to them.
Sprinkle with Ranch Dressing Mix to taste. My favorite is Uncle Dan’s Original Ranch Mix…it’s simply the BEST! Now Sprinkle with a bit of Pepper if you like.
Bake in the oven for half an hour to 45 min. Check at half hour to see if your chicken is done.
Cook Chicken Until What Temperature Inside?
Chicken Breast should always be cooked until an inside temperature of 165 degrees. The best way to determine this is to have a simple meat thermometer. These are super inexpensive. If you don’t own one, you should be sure that your chicken breast is not pink inside. Don’t over cook though or the chicken will be dry. Chicken should be white and moist on the inside. IF you do over cook…it’s ok. Live and learn.
While chicken is in the oven cook your bacon OR use Bacon Pieces that you’ve prepared or Bacon Pieces that are pre-made.
You can cook your bacon on the stove, in the oven or the microwave!
Make your instant mashed potatoes 5 minutes before your chicken is completely done. Now you can of course make real mashed potatoes but I like to use instant because I use real instant potatoes and they are still delish.
Optional Toppings for Bacon Ranch Chicken:
Feel free to make this your own! Every family is different and has their own foodie love! Some ideas for optional toppings might be:
- Sour Cream
- Green Onion
- Pepper Jack Cheese
- BBQ Sauce ~ yes! My family likes this!
Can You Cook Chicken Slightly Frozen?
Why YES you can! I do this ALL the time. If you cook your chicken from slightly frozen then you simply need to add a little cooking time. Cook for double the time a recipe calls for. For example: if a recipe calls for 1/2 hour then double to 1 hour.
Quick tip: Make a whole package of bacon on the weekend and then save a 1/2 cup for this recipe during the week!
Easy Cheesy Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- Easy Cheesy Baked Bacon Ranch Chicken Recipe
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- 4 Cups Instant Potatoes
- 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 Cup Crispy Cooked Bacon or 6 pieces
- 1/2 ~ 1 tsp. Dry Ranch Dressing Mix ~ My all time favorite is Uncle Dan’s Ranch Mix
- 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
- Pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray your cooking dish and add chicken breasts. I always give my chicken a quick spray with the cooking spray so they don’t dry out. Sprinkle with Ranch Dressing Mix to taste. My favorite is Uncle Dan’s Original Ranch Mix…it’s simply the BEST! Now Sprinkle with a bit of Pepper if you like.
- Bake in oven for half hour to 45 min. Check at half hour to see if your chicken is done
- While chicken is in the oven cook your bacon OR use Bacon Pieces that you’ve prepared or Bacon Pieces that are pre made.
- You can cook your bacon on the stove, in the oven or in the microwave!
- Make your instant mashed potatoes just before you are going to take the chicken out. Now you can of course make real mashed potatoes but I like to use instant because I use real instant potatoes and they are still delish.
- Remove Chicken from the oven.
- Top with potatoes and cheese. Put back in oven just until cheese melts.
- Now add the Bacon
