I have a simple dinner recipe for you today. Simple and easy and tasty and smile provoking…an all around treasure.
I love it when smiles are provoked. Heck. I’ll take a smile from my kids even without provoking it! It’s just so much nicer when people smile instead of whine.
Do you like whining?
Not a fan, myself.
Speaking of my children…the other day we were watching a cooking show on The Food Network and one of my kids said…
“Hey Mom, you like to cook.
Why don’t you be the cooker on that show?”
My response?
“I’m pretty sure The Food Network frowns upon cookers who use cream of chicken soup. I think I’m out.”
Especially since just last week three of the trial recipes I made for this little ol blog
crashed and burned in failure. I used real cream in all of them!
Cross your fingers that real cream and I can become friends soon.
I hear from the good folks on The Food Network that it’s a mighty fine ingredient.
Now. Do I feel embarrassed about cooking with cream of chicken soup? Heavens no! I just bought three cases of it last month.
Should you feel embarrassed about cooking with
cream of chicken soup?
Of course not!
Are you the cooking she-rah for your family or what?
Do make food that provokes a smile?
Do your family members occasionally say things like…
“You are The Bomb, Mom. What ever you made with that trusty old cream of chicken soup is rocking my world.”
I thought so.
I knew you were great!
We cream of chicken soup lovin’ ladies have to stick together.
The following sides go well with this recipe. Pick one or two and you’ll have yourself one fine meal. 
Rice Pilaf with Almonds
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Baked French Fries
Roasted Broccoli with Balsamic Glaze
Glazed Rosemary Carrots
Roasted Asparagus
Crispy Cheddar Chicken
Time: 15 minute prep + 35 minutes baking
Yield: 7 servings
Recipe from adapted from What’s Cookin’ Chicago via Pinterest
Chicken:
4 large chicken breasts
2 sleeves Ritz crackers
1/4 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1/2 C milk
3 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 t dried parsley
Sauce:
1 10 ounce can cream of chicken soup
2 T sour cream
2 T butter
1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks.
2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers.
3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk…
then the cheese. Press the cheese into the chicken with your fingers. Some of it will fall off when you add it to the cracker crumbs, don’t worry about it.
Press the cheesy chicken into the cracker crumbs and press it in. By the time you are coating the last piece of chicken, the dish you are using for the crumbs will be full of cheese. Don’t let it get you down. Once the cheese melts in the oven it will adhere nicely to the crumbs and the crackers.
5. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan.
6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken.
7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy.
8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken.
Enjoy!
I think I know the answer to the cheese problem. The recipe calls for the cheese to be “grated”, but when I look at the pics in the recipe, the cheese looks to be “shredded”. So if anyone is try this out or doing it again, try using shredded cheese.
I Understand The Recipe Called For “Grated” Cheddar Cheese. It Is Impossible To gratE That Soft Cheese. It Would Get Stuck In Those Isty Tiny Holes. I Noticed That The”Shredded” Cheese Stuck Better To The Chicken Towards The End. About The Last 4 Or 5 Pieces. More Milk Left Behind Made The Cheese More Squishy. Also I Used A Plate For The Ritz And Used Yhe Palm Of My Hand To Push The Crumbs & Cheese Onto The Chicken Like A Hambuger. I Also Broiled The last 10 Min.
The Sauce Was Cream Of Cheddar & Used A Spatula B/c I Had A Milk Product To Heat. Added Chives To Sauce & Thyme To The Top Of The Chicken.
I just made this recipe after seeing it on facebook and it did not go as well. First off, I used shredded cheese, as I didnt have grated, and did everything else the same. The cheese WOULD NOT stick to the chicken no matter how hard I pressed it in. The crackers did not stick either!!?? So I did what another person said……just put the chicken in the pan and sprinkled the mixture on top. I really hope it turns out good!?!? Really bummed as I was looking forward to this recipe! Any suggestions on how to make this work next time??
I used buttermilk that another site said to use and I found that it stuck a lot better! I think it’s because the buttermilk is thicker!
This was EXCELLENT! The only things I did differently was to substitute tarragon for parsley, and I used cream of mushroom soup in the sauce. A great, easy recipe though, and the chicken was nice and moist.
@Suzanne: how did u solve the cheese problem?
to get everything to adhere better, use deaten egg instead on milk as the first step. Also, you kind of have to hold the cheese on then at the end, press more cracker & cheese on the chicken before baking. Instead of cream of chicken soip, i used cheddar soup and it was outstanding. Good luck.
This was delicious. I got carried away with the cheese – not good as it went everywhere, but the chicken was crunchy, tasty and very moist. I used thighs and they were fantastic and greek yoghurt instead of milk . Love this recipe as it was so easy and delish. Will definitely make again. Great for a large platter with the sauce on the side. Thank you.
You know, some of us COOKER guys like cooking with cream of chicken soup….I use it in around four recipes (all of them insanely simple..)
Just saw this recipe & the issues people had with the cheese & the crumbs not sticking to the chicken. A good way to make the dry coating stick to the chicken is to first dip the chicken piece into all-purpose flour (a light dusting) & then dip rhe chicken piece into a dish with one beaten egg (coat with the egg), then immediately plunge chicken into the cheese & press firmly…then the ritz crumbs–again, press firmly. Also, I agree with using a rack to have the chicken get crispy all over. Can’t wait to try!
A beaten egg is indeed the way to go… the flour can help as well if the egg isn’t enough. Also, rinse your chicken with cold water before you do this. Chicken has a slightly oily/sticky layer on it that can prevent things from properly sticking. You really have to press that cheese in too and the crumbs.
I hand grated my cheese and did two sizes, a really fine grate and a thicker one and then mixed them together in the bowl…it helped in making sure the chicken was well coated with cheese.
I added smoked paprika to the crumbs and I used Italian seasoning instead of just parsley. It was really flavorful…:) Next time, I will use a rack though…the bottom didn’t get crispy. I’ll also use a slightly bigger pan so that the chicken isn’t all squished together.
Alas, I completely forgot to get the can of chicken soup so all I used was a bit of sour cream to lightly dip my chicken in. It was ridiculously delicious!
Also saw this on “The Southern Lady Cooks.”
Made this; very disappointed in it. The chicken had a great flavor; however, 1 half of a sleeve of crackers would have been enough. the cheese and milk melted, and was on the bottom of the pan and as stated, it looked NOTHING like the picture.
I made this the other night and it turned out really well. The chicken was moist and I had no problem with either the cheese or the cracker crumbs adhering. I used heavy cream instead of milk, because I just happened to have some. We will definitely have this again. Thank you for sharing!
Scrumptious! I had no trouble with the recipe and things not sticking. Mine looked just like the picture. Everyone loved it! I used shredded cheddar in the bag, econo-buy crackers and added a little more sour cream to the sauce…b/c I love sour cream. I served it with cornbread stuffing and mixed veggies. Great feel good, comfort food. My only complaint is that it’s 90 degrees here and I had to turn on my oven…well worth it for the finished product though! Yummo!
I tweaked this recipe and it came out DELICIOUS! What I did differently was put flour in a container and I added a package and a half of Hidden Valley Ranch and mixed….In another, I lightly whisked three eggs and added the milk and set aside and in another container, i mixed the Ritz Crackers and Cheddar Cheese…I got the chicken, dipped it into the egg mixture, then the seasoned flour, then the combined Ritz/Cheese, not forgetting to press and it stayed together BEAUTIFULLY…I baked it as directed, took the aluminum foil off and baked for 7 minutes, then broiled for another four minutes (have to watch carefully) and it was not only moist, but crispy and delicious! FOR THE SAUCE: I used a can of Cream of Mushroom and half a can of Cream of Chicken, Two Tablespoons of Sour Cream and butter and it was simply delicious!
2 T sour cream = tablespoons???
I think maybe using the bag of shredded cheese from the grocery store might be more successful. It has that anti-caking agent and might help it stick more to the chicken and not to itself in clumps. I grated a block of cheese and found it very difficult to work with. Still in the oven now *fingers crossed* that it turns out!
I used an egg instead of milk and shredded cheese and it turned out absolutely perfect. It looked and i’m sure tasted just like she described!! My husband was so PROUD of me for cooking such a delicious meal, little did he know it was easy to make!! I am so glad I found this recipe. It is printed out and in my recipe book of easy to do meals for beginner wives.
This recipe sounds really good -looking forward to cooking it for the family! But could you tell me what I could use instead of ritz crackers??
This is one of the best chicken recipes I’ve ever made I made it two times the first time I used regular Ritz crackers the second time I used the roasted vegatable kind and to me it added a lot more flavor to the dish. it’s great