Cooking For Engineers

[Dilbert]

this is a delicious and ultra-simple chicken dish.
I'm so weary of 1000 ways to cook chicken breast . . . but this is a good one.

original source here:
https://recipepatch.com/crunchy-chicken-breasts-coated-in-ranch-seasoning-and-cheddar-cheese-yumfest/2/

basically, the chicken is marinated in ranch dressing; hours to overnight.
the dressing is used to stick the coating to the chicken.
((air dry the coated chicken for ~ 20 minutes - my add))
baked about 20-25 minutes and it's done.

note that there are no other seasonings - no salt, no herbs, no spices,,,,,
but I did break the rules and added some fresh ground pepper.

the marinade:


details / hints:
in our empty nest of two, one medium sized chicken breast, which I sliced into two less thick ~ 1/2 inch pieces:
45g panko
20g grated cheddar
40g grated parmesan (24 month aged - harder and drier)

for the cheddar - use small surface so the cheddar gratings are as short as practical. shorter mixes better in the panko/parm blend.

as a obtw: I've been converted to slicing the mega-chicken-breasts into thinner 'slabs' - they cook more evenly.
those big thick breasts.... the exterior thickness gets over done before the interiors are done.....
in the thinner version, the chicken is done and also fork tender . . .

use the fine side of the grater - big cheese chunks won't work.
grate the cheddar first - it's soft - the harder parm will "clear" the grater.

the gratings:


the coated:


I bake it on a rack, so it finishes at the low end of the time estimate - about 20 minutes - until instant read thermometer registers 150'F / 65'C

out of the oven:


plated for dinner:
(I cut it so the 'thickness' issue is clearer)

[sensiblewall]

I think the ranch also helps soften the meat. I read from one of the threads here that she is using Mayo to make the meat tender. Also, it helps your other marinade ingredients spread evenly across the surface of the meat.

Though, thanks for sharing it here!

[SmartShabby]

Actually, I have seen in Italian cuisines that they tend to boil the meat with milk. Some are also using yogurt to help soften the meat.

[Guest]

I see you used parmesan in your recipe. All the times I used this type of cheese the meal turns tough, especially meat.

[Dilbert]

there's something else causing the tough meat - it's not the Parmesan cheese.

[mitzini]

I usually marinate the meat in plain yogurt.

[Dilbert]

ranch dressing is a bit rare in Europe. some areas have a similar and call it "American dressing" but the seasoning is not the same.

home made ranch dressing uses sour cream, yogurt, etc -
it's the acidity of the dairy that acts as a tenderizer.

in the case of this chicken dish, it also serves to 'stick' the coating/breading to the chicken - with the added seasoning of the dressing.

btw, there are huge arguments over 'the best ranch dressing'
just like 'the best yogurt" ....