Travel. Meeting. Travel. Service. Travel. Clean. I have been so tired once we got home that I didn't want to cook anything...not to mention we were missing pieces to make any of our "regular" go-to meals. I saw THIS post today that inspired the following recipe. It was addapted because of 3 reasons:
- I thought about it too late and didn't have 4-6 hours to cook dinner in a cockpot.
- I had no idea what potatoes were au gratin potatoes were...googled it. lol
- I only had these items in stock 😉
So, after chunking all this into the oven, going for a quick "field trip" to watch the neighbor's cows, I returned to a yummy smell in my house! Score!!! Here's the oober complicated creation:
Ranchy Chicken and Potatoes
3 frozen skinless boneless chicken breast
1 small bottle of ranch {I used low fast}
3 large potatoes {cubed}
Oven- 350'
Put Chicken on the bottom of a casserole dish, add potatoes, cover in ranch. I also filled the bottle 1/2 full of water to get the remaining ranch out and poured that in as well.
Baked for about an hour. You may stir & put it back in based on how soft you want the potatoes.
It was soooo yummy!
What would the crockpot recipe for this be?
Kelly, I’m not quite sure what the crockpot recipe would be for it. I’ve always been terrible at slow-cooking. I would assume you can throw all the fixings into a crockpot set on low heat and add a lot of extra water.
This recipe I found says: Place potatoes {and carrots}omit in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Top with chicken. {Combine soups and garlic salt}substitute for ranch; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chicken-dinner
Hope that helps!!!
I clicked on a link for Ranchy Chicken and Potatoes on a slow cooker blog, and ended up here. That might be why Kelly asked for the crock pot recipe.
Sorry, I’m super excited that the slow cooker blog has linked to me but I’m still new to using my slow cooker. I do believe you could do this in a crockpot but I’m not sure how the proportions should change for that or how long you would want to leave it. Again, SORRY!
I put this in a crockpot just like this. Put in my chicken then taters and put the ranch on top. Cooked for 6 hours it was great!
Thanks for sharing! I was wondering how to do it in a crockpot but am always nervous I’m gonna try cooking something all day, mess it up bad, and then have to through it out + figure out what’s for dinner. I’m so trying it now! 😀
Great conversion! ! Thanks
Thanks I was wondering about. Gonna have this tomorrow
Hi Maggie!! I was wondering when you made this in the crockpot, did you use frozen or thawed chicken?
Chelsey, I’ve never made this in the crockpot but I would think you could put it in frozen since that’s how I did it in the oven.
http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chicken-dinner
Do you have any recipes that don’t involve bbq? Im allergic to it, but I’ve been trying to cook more.
Please clarify, there are many types of BBQ and some are totally different. What specific ingredient(s) in BBQ are you allergic to? Tomatoes? Paprika? High Fructose Corn Syrup? Garlic? This can help everyone give you a good recipe.
Olivia, I don’t think I have any bbq involved in this recipe. I’m so sorry you’re allergic!
Just put in you chicken Breast and the BBQ sauce you want let in slow cook in a crockpot for 6 hour then the chicken tears apart easily with a couple of forks
I really do appreciate all of you ladies sharing your crockpot tips!
you mention in a response that you are terrible at crockpot cooking and then suggest adding a lot of water… that is probably why crockpot cooking hasn’t been a great success for you! Generally you do NOT need to add much moisture to the recipe as a crockpot keeps all the moisture in! Try it! My families fave: throw frozen (or thawed, doesn’t really matter) chicken in the crock, cover with cream soups ( we like a combo of cream of chicken and cream of mushroom; DO NOT ADD WATER!) and cook until the chicken is tender. Pretty much all day on low, or 6 hours or so on high. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes with a veggie on the side… or you can even throw some minute rice in during the last 10 minutes or so for a casserole type dish… I add some cheddar cheese on top of each serving when I do it this way…
Wow! Thanks for the advise. The only advise I’d ever received for my burn, overcooked, or dry recipes were to add more moister. Your recipe sounds Awesome! I’ll have to try it. Thanks!
We do this all the time with cream of chicken, cream of mushroom and cheddar cheese soup… And serve with rice 🙂 love it
That sounds amazing! Especially since those are staples in my pantry and could be made quick and easily! Thanks for sharing. 😀
I would love to add potatoes to this recipe. Can I add in potatoes in the beginning or put it in later?..
I cubed the chicken and potatoes and added all three ingredients from the beginning. 🙂
Hi! I am making this now. After an hour, my chicken is cooked through but my potatoes are basically raw still. They are not large cubes either. :/ should I have covered this with foil before baking?
I am so sorry it didn’t turn out. I am so not a foody. I wish I had a great answer for why the potatoes didn’t soften. My guess would have been the size of the potatoes like you said. I didn’t cover mine with foil but it might help :/ Maybe even more ranch or water to help them sort of boil?
Are you supposed to cook the chicken prior to putting it in the oven? And how many people does this serve?
The boneless, skinless chicken I use {cheap brand from Wal-Mart} takes ~50 minutes to cook in the oven from frozen. I put 1 lb of chicken in frozen with the diced/chuncked up potatoes and ranch. This feeds my family of 6 with a good amount leftover but I have 2 adults and 4 kids 6-years-old and under. Hope that helps. :-/ 😀
Do you cut up the chicken before or after baking?
Yes Bobbi, I did. I normally cook it whole and then cut it at this temperature but since I was putting Ranch on all of it I wanted each chunk to be coated. I wouldn’t think you have to cut it, I just cube or dice all our meat before hand because I have littles and don’t want to spend the extra time at the table cutting food on their plates. 🙂
Jules how long do u cook it in the crockpot
This was alright. I ended up having to cook it for about 2 1/2 hours since after the first hour, the chicken wasn’t cooked hardly at all and the potatoes were still hard. And the ranch flavor didn’t evenly distribute. Parts were flavorless, parts were ranchy, and all in between. I even cubed the chicken before adding it in hopes that it might have cooked in the hour. I think this has potential though and plan to try it again in the crock pot. Thank you for posting!
Sara, I’m sorry it didn’t work for you! I’m not a master chief by any means and just shared something that worded for me. 🙁
I wonder if we used different chicken or oven temp? My potatoes weren’t a soft as I’d like them the first time I made it either and prolly leave them in a bit longer now.
Oh, and I did end up covering it will foil for the last half hour or so.
Just made this! Super good! Thanks! Loved that I didn’t have to defrost the chicken. I did cover with foil at the 30 min mark because my potatoes weren’t cooking, and it turned out fine. I also probably wouldn’t add the extra water next time as you suggested because it was a little too soupy for me. I also sprinkled mine with pepper before cooking. Thanks so much for another easy meal to add to the rotation!
Jan, I’m so glad you liked it! I’m not a fan of the soupiness either, I just feel wasteful for not getting every ounce of ranch out…which is totally silly because I wouldn’t feel like other people were. LOL
How long do u cook in oven at 350?
Baked for about an hour. You may stir & put it back in based on how soft you want the potatoes.
Thank you for stopping by! Enjoy 😉
Hi what is Ranch?
The Ranch being referred to in this post/recipe is Ranch Salad Dressing.
On slow cooking.. to shreds meat easier instead of forks use a cake mixer. So much easier… Also on potatoes try cooking bout 5-10 min before in oven won’t take so long..
I totally shred my chicken with my mixer these days and love the suggestion of cooking it a bit before adding to the recipe.
On this recipe, have you ever cooked it in a crockpot? If so how did you do it and for how long?
I haven’t ever done it in the crockpot but I think other readers have and do about 6-8 hours. 🙂
Jules could you possibly do it with the powdered ranch mix and a tad not of water
Sorry for the delayed response. I have been swamped.
I would think you could sub powdered stuff as long as you add the extra ingredients for the powdered ranch.
I have actually never made this in the crockpot. I know that sounds silly since a lot of people have found this recipe via a blog post about crockpot meals with 3 ingredients but I’ve never made it that way. :-/ I would assume you could just put it all in there and cook it for your normal 6-8 hours.
Hope that helps! Thanks so much for stopping by!!!
Do you thaw the chicken first or just place the frozen chicken in the pan?
I put my chicken in the overn frozen. 🙂 By itself, it usually takes about 50 minutes to bake so with the other ingredients it takes at least a full hour.
Do you know the calorie count on a serving?
I am so sorry, I have not idea.
Can you use fresh chicken breasts instead of frozen? Can I use red potatoes? Thanks!
I would assume you could use both fresh chicken breast and red potatoes. I think the cook time might be a little different since the chicken wouldn’t be frozen but I don’t think the potatoes would make a difference.
if you cook the potatoes 10 minutes first then put in slowcooker -they wont be undercooked i do this when i do my sausage casserole and find they are never undercooked
Thanks for the suggestions!
I LOVE using my crock pot!!! Toss some food in, go about your day, return home to a hot, delicious meal!! The best part? Little to no clean up! For all those shying away from your slow cookers, I strongly encourage you to give it a go! You can toss virtually ANYTHING in there and it’s nearly impossible to mess up! I believe the most standard cooking times for most things are: 6-8 hrs on low, 4-5 on high. So, pretty much cut the time in half for high temp. Is your chicken frozen? Don’t fret! No need to thaw, just put it in, pour on some sauce and you’re good to go! I’ve used frozen chicken every time and it comes out perfect! I’m going to try the Dr. Pepper pork and Teriyaki Chicken next! YUM! Happy cooking!!