Creamy Ranch Chicken

Photo from The Cooking Jar

You know, I'm very confused by the RANCH thing. I like ranch dressing just fine, but I don't understand why "ranch" has to be in everything these days. And yet, I find myself wanting to try it and every time I'm just - meh about it. 

Aside from my weird ranch problem, this wasn't a bad recipe at all. The sauce that you make is quite flavorful and compliments the chicken nicely. Watch the salt though. Ranch packets can be high in sodium. I've learned to not salt anything until the end of the cooking process.

The sauce comes together quickly. I used half and half instead of milk because, well, I was out of milk. It just made the sauce more luxurious and creamier. 

Pro tip: take it off the heat and THEN add the sour cream. Adding it with everything else to a hot sauce made the sour cream sorta curdle. It was fine, but looked a little funky. 

Creamy Ranch Chicken

Recipe from The Cooking Jar

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (5–8 oz. each)

Salt and pepper

3 T butter, divided

1 T olive oil

1 T flour

Fresh parsley, to garnish (optional)

SAUCE

1 c low sodium chicken broth

1/2 c milk

1/4 c sour cream

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1 (1 oz.) packet Ranch seasoning mix

Pound the chicken breasts to an even 1” thickness using a meat mallet and season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and add olive oil. Sear the chicken on each side until golden brown, about 4-5 minutes. Remove to a plate and set aside.

Reduce heat to low and add the remaining butter. Stir in flour and cook for about one minute.

Pour in chicken broth and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the pan.

Add milk, sour cream, onion powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and ranch seasoning mix. Stir to combine until the sour cream and ranch seasoning has fully dissolved into the sauce.

Add chicken and plate juices back to the pan and spoon the sauce over the chicken. Simmer in the sauce until the chicken is heated through and the sauce has reduced slightly.

Dish and serve hot topped with fresh parsley (optional).

Enjoy!