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This Heavenly Chicken recipe makes flavorful baked chicken that tastes divine! Made with Ritz crackers and bakes in 30 minutes!
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You know those family recipes that don’t really have names? This is one of them.
A friend served us this and we quickly fell in love and asked what it was.
“That one chicken with the Ritz crackers,” is what they always called it.
She gave me her recipe, which we made just a couple days later (hey, it is GOOD), and then I did a little googling and came across a few various names for this heavenly chicken recipe – Sour Cream Chicken, Ritz Cracker Chicken, and a few people calling it Heavenly Chicken.
We’re calling ours Heavenly Chicken because yeah. It really is heavenly. So moist and buttery with a delicious cracker crust coating the chicken breasts.
This one is hard to beat! We like to serve it with our favorite green beans with bacon and onions and roasted sweet potatoes. Of course, the kids love when we serve it with this broccoli mac and cheese too!
Ingredient Notes:
Chicken – Our family prefers chicken breasts, but this recipew will also work with thighs.
Sour Cream – Makes the chicken so moist and heavenly! 😉
Seasoning – Garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika add a bit of flavor.
Ritz Crackers – A heavenly chicken recipe with Ritz Crackers is definitely the way to go! Bread crumbs would also work, but we love Ritz crackers here.
Melted Butter – This gets drizzled right over the chicken.
What We Love About This Recipe!
This chicken is so moist thanks to the sour cream! The Ritz cracker breading is buttery and flavorful and the chicken turns out tender. We make this one about once a week – it’s so good you won’t get tired of it!
How to Make:
Coating: Stir together the sour cream and all of the seasonings in a shallow dish. This is what makes the heavenly chicken so heavenly as it really packs in the moisture!
Add the crushed Ritz crackers to a second shallow dish.
Chicken: Dredge the chicken first in the sour cream and then in the crushed crackers. Make sure the crackers are fully coating your chicken.
Helpful Tip!
Pound your chicken out with a meat mallet between a couple of sheets of plastic wrap to get them an even thickness. This will help them to bake evenly, so you won’t end up with bits that overdone while you wait for the thicker parts to cook.
Drizzle: Melt some butter in a small bowl and drizzle it right over the tops of the chicken breasts.
Bake: We’re baking this sour cream chicken at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 165 degrees. We like to let our chicken rest a few minutes before we serve.
My Favorite Thermometer!
I love using this meat thermometer for making sure the meat is fully cooked! Easy for beginners & absolutely worth the low cost.
FAQs:
This heavenly chicken recipe will last for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator if kept in a covered container or wrapped well with plastic wrap.
To make this heavenly chicken in the air fryer, cook at 380 degrees for 10 minutes or until a thermometer reaches 165 degrees.
Because it tastes divine! The seasoned sour cream mix and the crushed Ritz Cracker breading turn regular baked chicken into something extra moist and flavorful that practically melts in your mouth.
Nope – you’ll have no idea the chicken was coated in sour cream once it’s baked. It just adds loads of moisture and helps keep the meat tender.
Serving Suggestions:
MORE favorite CHICKEN RECIPES!
- Crack Chicken Casserole
- Spinach Stuffed Chicken
- Air Fryer Chicken Thighs
- Cajun Chicken Alfredo
- Air Fryer Chicken Fajitas
- Baked Chicken Parmesan
Heavenly Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 ½ cups crushed Ritz crackers
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray.
- Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness.
- Add the sour cream, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika to a shallow dish and stir well to combine.
- Add the Ritz crackers to a second shallow dish.
- Dredge each piece of chicken first in the sour cream and then the cracker crumbs, pressing the crumbs into the chicken to coat.
- Place chicken in prepared baking dish and drizzle with the melted butter.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
- Let chicken rest for 3-4 minutes before slicing and serving.
Mary Wood says
Thanks for the recipe
Diane~ says
This chicken was so tender! I could cut it with my fork! Easy recipe with simple ingredients that are always on hand!!
Karly says
So happy you enjoyed it! Our ranch cheddar chicken has similar tender results, if you want to try mixing things up next time! 🙂 https://www.bunsinmyoven.com/ranch-cheddar-chicken/
Heather Shernoff says
Every time I’ve made this recipe everybody raves over how delicious it is, the chicken isn’t dry at all! I use The garlic butter Ritz crackers! /it adds to the flavors; really making them pop. So easy and so tasty!
Karly says
I’ll have to try with the garlic Ritz! Sounds delicious!
Donna says
My husband couldn’t stop raving about the Ritz Cracker Chicken! So much flavor & tender & juicy! It’s a keeper!
Karly says
Love to hear that! Thanks, Donna!
LISA Leverton says
Made it for my husband he’s a picky eater and he loved it I put stuffing with it and green beans with bacon he fell in love thank you very much?
Karly says
So glad he enjoyed it! Sounds like a delicious meal! 🙂
LISA Leverton says
Made it for my husband he’s a picky eater and he loved it I put stuffing with it and green beans with bacon he fell in love thank you very much?
Judy says
I made this last night. Things changed were veggie crackers, 1 1/2 cups sour cream, 1/2 cup mayo, and salt n pepper.
The chicken was very tender and moist. It needs more spices (to my surprise) and the salt n pepper.
My husband liked it, but added a lot of salt to it.
The veggie crackers added more flavor, too.
Renee Armfield says
This recipe was amazing!
Karly says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, Renee!
Bev says
Just curious if this could be frozen after cooking and reheated or would it go mushy once thawed?
Karly says
I think it’d get mushy, but I haven’t tried.
Barbara Dorfman says
Made 1st time tonight. Hubby and I liked it. He commented how tasty it was which is rare for him.
I substituted dried onion flakes ground in food proceddor along with crackers as I was out of onion powder. It worked out well.
Will definitely make again but add a bit of salt and pepper to sour cream mixture.
Lori Anne says
I solved the mushy part
Fry your chicken cutlets first on both sides to create the crust then put on a cookie sheet with rack and finish in the oven
Turned out perfectly crispy and delicious
Rebecca says
This looks amazing and I definitely want to try this.
Do you think that I could dredge and bread the chicken the day before I cook them? I’m hoping to prep them so that I can pop them in the oven when I get home from work.
Karly says
I probably would not do this. I think the crackers will end up extra mushy if they’re sitting in the sour cream.
Jeanne says
Good. Needs salt. Abit less sour cream as it makes the crust a drop soggy bottomed
Gail says
Very good. Will make again.
Karly says
So glad to hear that! 🙂
Cheryl says
I’ve made recipes like this in the past and though delicious I found one side ends up kind of mushy even with flipping instead of getting crispy. Thoughts or tips ?
Pam says
Cook on cooling rack in pan so bottom isn’t resting on pan botton
Karly says
Hi Cheryl! The breading really isn’t super crispy…it’s buttery, melt in your mouth goodness but not crunchy like fried chicken.
Cat and DOG Chat With Caren says
I am definitely going to make this. I made something similar YEARS ago when Mr.Food was still alive. He used Cheez-Its (no sour cream, just butter) and you could add whatever seasonings you wanted. It was delicious! I will definitely make this one!
Karly says
Ooh, Cheez Its sound like a fabulous idea!
Laura says
This sounds really DELICIOUS ? I’m going to use cheese at crackers because they come in different flavors and they’re also seasoned but I’ve made it with Ritz crackers before and it turned out really delicious my husband loved it ?????
Mary Anne Shepherd says
I have everything prepared so I’ll quickly finish by coating the chicken and popping it in the oven. Now I’m headed to the Saturday afternoon movies. Thanks.