Free: Healthy 5-Ingredient Meals Ebook
Get It Now
Table Of Contents hide
- Why You’ll Love This Ranch Chicken Recipe
- How To Make Ranch Chicken
- Tips For The Best Ranch Chicken
- Storage Instructions
- What To Serve With Baked Ranch Chicken
- More Cheesy Chicken Recipes
- Tools For This Recipe
- Ranch Chicken Recipe (4 Ingredients!)
This easy baked ranch chicken recipe is sure to become a family favorite. Chicken breasts are topped with homeamde ranch, mozzarella cheese, and crispy bacon. What’s not to love about that? And the best part is that this creamy ranch chicken needs just 4 common ingredients (that you probably have in your fridge) and takes minutes to prep. Win-win.
Ranch chicken recipes are definitely reader favorites here at Wholesome Yum (who doesn’t like a chicken bacon ranch or crack chicken?!), so this one fits right in. With such a popular flavor combo, the whole family is going to love this dish.
Why You’ll Love This Ranch Chicken Recipe
- Cheesy bacon ranch flavors
- Tender and juicy chicken
- Just 4 simple ingredients (plus salt and pepper)
- Fast 10 minute prep time
- Healthy, naturally low carb, and gluten-free
- Family-friendly and loved by all ages
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for baked ranch chicken, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Chicken – I use boneless skinless chicken breasts, but you can use chicken thighs if you like. You may need to adjust the cooking time depending on their thickness, and whether you use bone-in chicken thighs or boneless.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
- Ranch Dressing – This is the main component for flavor and makes the creamy ranch chicken sauce. I like to make my own homemade ranch dressing for the best flavor, but you can use store-bought as well. For an extra ranch flavor, sprinkle the chicken with homemade ranch seasoning mix or a store-bought packet.
- Fresh Mozzarella Cheese – The fresh variety gets perfectly melty, but you can also use low-moisture shredded mozzarella instead. Feel free to esperiment with other cheeses. Cheddar, parmesan, or Monterey Jack would also be delicious here.
- Cooked Bacon– My favorite way to cook bacon is in the oven, but you can cook bacon in the air fryer, on the stovetop, or make microwave bacon. It does need to be precooked to be crispy in the final dish. For a shortcut, use 6 tablespoons of store-bought bacon bits instead.
How To Make Ranch Chicken
This section shows how to make baked ranch chicken, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Season the chicken. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken into alarge baking dish or on a baking sheet.
- Add the ranch and cheese. Spread the ranch dressing over each chicken breast, then top each one with slices of fresh mozzarella.
- Bake covered. Cover the baking dish with foil, making sure that the foil is not touching the cheese. Bake the creamy ranch chicken recipe until it’s just slightly undercooked.
- Add bacon. Remove the foil. Sprinkle chopped bacon on top of the chicken. Bake until the chicken is cooked through.
- Rest and garnish. Let the chicken rest, then drizzle with more ranch and a sprinkle of parsley, if you like.
Tips For The Best Ranch Chicken
- Don’t crowd the baking dish. It’s okay if the pieces touch a little, but they shouldn’t be too crowded, or they’ll take too long to cook and can have dry spots.
- Delay adding the bacon, so that it doesn’t slide off. I tested this ranch chicken recipe with the bacon on there from the start, and much of it ended up off the chicken. You can definitely put it back on after if you want, but by adding it closer to the end of baking, it stays on better.
- Use a meat thermometer. For the juiciest results, use aninstant read meat thermometer, or aprobe thermometer (this will beep when it reaches the right temperature!). The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, or you can remove it from the oven at 162-165 degrees F, because the temperature will rise a few degrees when it rests.
- Don’t skip the resting step. This lets the juices settle inside the meat, so that they don’t leak out when you slice it.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-5 days.
- Meal prep: You can prep ahead for lunch by making the entire dish ahead of time and portioning into meal prep containers with your favorite healthy side dish. If you want to meal prep baked ranch chicken for dinner, make the ranch dressing and cook bacon in the oven, and keep them in the fridge. Assemble and bake right before serving.
- Reheat: This chicken stays pretty juicy even when reheated in the microwave, but it tastes even better if you reheat in a 350 degree F oven.
- Freeze: I don’t recommend freezing this dish, since the texture of the ranch will change.
What To Serve With Baked Ranch Chicken
This creamy ranch chicken feels like comfort food, so it goes well with starches, but it’s also very rich, so veggies and low carb side dishes are good ways to balance that out. Try it with:
- Noodles – Make your favorite pasta to soak up all that creamy sauce! For a healthier alternative, try zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash.
- Rice – Choose from white rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice. Like noodles, these are great options to soak up the sauce.
- Roasted Veggies – You can make roasted brussels sprouts or roasted cauliflower in the oven at the same time as the ranch chicken, since the cook times are similar. (Just swap the positions of the pans halfway through, and take the veggies out a little earlier if needed.) If you’d rather roast your veggies separately, quicker options like roasted green beans with garlic or asparagus in the oven work well.
- Sauteed Veggies – Prepare sauteed broccoli or sauteed zucchini on the stovetop while cooking ranch chicken breast in the oven.
- Salads – If you have extra bacon, use it to top a classic wedge salad or crunchy broccoli salad with bacon.
More Cheesy Chicken Recipes
From gooey melted cheese toppings to creamy sauce, these chicken recipes will add a little something special to your dinner:
Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken
Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breast
Hasselback Chicken
French Onion Chicken
- Baking Dish – It heats evenly and is pretty, so you can take creamy ranch chicken straight from oven to table.
- Meat Thermometer– You can use an instant-read thermometer, or a probe thermometer (my fave) for less hassle.
RECIPE SAVED! The recipe was sent to your email. I also sent you your free login info. You can use that to access your saved recipes at My Favorites.
Recipe Card
Ranch Chicken Recipe (4 Ingredients!)
This easy, creamy baked ranch chicken recipe needs just 4 ingredients + 10 minutes prep! The whole family will love this flavor combination.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Author: Maya Krampf from WholesomeYum.com
Servings: 4 (adjust to scale recipe)
Un-save RecipeSave Recipe Remove Ads
Recipe Video
Like this video? Subscribe to my YouTube cooking channel for healthy recipes!
ReviewPrint
US Customary – Metric
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (204 degrees C).
Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken into a baking dish, so that the pieces are just barely touching, but not crowded. Spread 1 tablespoon ranch dressing over each chicken breast. Top each with 2 slices of fresh mozzarella.
Cover the baking dish with foil, so that the foil is not touching the cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil. Sprinkle chopped bacon on top of the chicken. Bake, uncovered, for 10-15 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of ranch over the chicken.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers (this also helps me continue to provide free recipes on my site), or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Save Recipe
Related Easy Recipes
Baked Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders Recipe – 3 Ingredients
Balsamic Chicken
Baked Chicken Legs
Baked Bacon Wrapped Chicken Tenders Recipe – 3 Ingredients
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 ranch chicken breast
Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.
Calories554
Fat41.4g
Protein41.1g
Total Carbs2.5g
Net Carbs2.4g
Fiber0.1g
Sugar0.7g
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Course:Main Course
Cuisine:American
Keywords:bacon ranch chicken, baked ranch chicken, ranch chicken recipe
Calories: 554 kcal
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
Ranch Chicken Recipe
