Ritz Cracker Chicken with shredded cheddar cheese, crushed Ritz crackers and a delicious creamy sour cream sauce is a perfect kid friendly dish that tastes great for little work.
Complementary to just about any side, this is a chicken dinner recipe you MUST try!
Why you will love making Cheesy Ritz Chicken!
Everyone will love it – Every weekday, we have the same conversation: What’s for dinner, MOM?
My kids get super stressed and curious about dinner because no matter what I feed them, they have 3 main foods they want to eat for weeknight dinners: Macaroni, Chicken tenders, or Cereal.
This Ritz cracker chicken made with boneless, skinless chicken breasts tastes like a super fancy chicken nugget – kid friendly, easy, and baked up with the crackers, keeps the chicken super moist and juicy.
A new chicken recipe – I am fine with eating chicken most nights of the week. I don’t want to eat the same chicken recipe EVERY time.
Totally kid friendly, spouse friendly, and keeps your dinner calm and without complaints, chicken breasts smothered in cracker crumbs and a creamy sauce has become a family favorite.
If you are in the same boat and are just perusing new recipes, I know you will love this.
Ingredients
- boneless chicken breasts
- Ritz Crackers, crushed
- kosher salt and black pepper
- milk
- cheddar cheese
How to make Ritz Cracker Chicken with Cheddar Cheese
- Preheat oven to 400 and grease a cast iron pan or baking dish (casserole dish) with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add crushed buttery crackers, salt and pepper together and mix well in a shallow bowl. Add milk to a separate bowl and cheese to a separate bowl.
- If desired, cut your chicken into smaller pieces. If you have large chicken breasts and want to leave large pieces, its best to slice down the middle so the chicken is thin and quick to cook.
- Dip chicken pieces into milk and coat both sides. Dip chicken into cheese and press the cheese into the chicken on both sides. Dip cheesy chicken into crackers and press the crackers into both sides. If some of the cheese falls off into the crackers, that is okay.
- Place piece of chicken into prepared pan. Repeat until all chicken is covered. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for a cooking time of about 35 minutes.
- Remove foil and discard and return to the oven for ten more minutes until crispy and golden brown. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach 165 degrees and can be measured with a meat thermometer for safety.
- Move on to creating the sauce below for tender chicken before serving.
Ritz Cracker Cream of Chicken Sauce
- Cream of chicken soup
- sour cream
- unsalted butter
- To make the sauce, add cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter to a small saucepan.
- Heat over low heat, occasionally stirring until blended well and hot.
- Drizzle cream sauce on each juicy chicken breast and sprinkle with fresh parsley (and optionally some black pepper) before serving.
Tips for Ritz Cracker Chicken Breasts!
No eggs, no mayo is needed for a perfect baked chicken breast every time.
But you may want to change the flavors by adding onion powder, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.
This crispy cheddar chicken dish can also be made with other cuts of chicken, like chicken thighs. Time cooking may change depending on the size and thickness of the chicken.
How to easily crush Ritz Crackers.
Recently I actually found that the company that makes Ritz Crackers created a chicken coating made from their own Ritz Crackers.
I have only seen it at Publix, so this Ritz chicken is a variation without that. However, if you do have a Publix locally, you may be able to cut a step out by buying them already crushed.
If you want to use straight up Ritz Crackers, you can put your crackers in a bowl, and either smash with your hands, a rolling pin, or the bottom of a glass cup does well.
Side Dishes for Chicken
All great chicken recipes need a delicious side dish or two. If you are looking for something healthy and unique to balance out this recipe, try Spinach Casserole – it really is fantastic despite poor spinach getting a bad rap.
If you need some carb free choices, a green salad, loaded rice cauliflower or go for it with loaded twice baked potato casserole.
Simple veggies always do the trick, and if you have a pressure cooker, try this quick and easy pressure cooker corn on the cob (with husks on) or these pressure cooker Parmesan red potatoes (my favorite).
I also love diced green beans , which pair well in color and flavor with comfort food.
Incredible Chicken Breast Recipes!
Need some more fantastic chicken dinners for busy weeknights? From chicken casseroles to delicious tender chicken breasts, we have a ton of amazing main dish dinners for you.
Two of our very favorite casseroles are this frito chicken casserole recipe and this million dollar chicken recipe, both family approved.
If you want to try something viral and fun, tiktok marry me chicken and tiktok chicken parmesan are both tried and true.
Ritz Cracker Chicken with Cheddar Cheese and Cream Sauce
Equipment
- cast iron pan
Ingredients
- 2-4 chicken breasts
- 1 sleeve Ritz Crackers crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 10.5 oz, cream of chicken soup
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and grease a cast iron pan or baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- First, you can decide to cut chicken into smaller pieces and slice down the middle if your breasts are super large. The smaller you make your chicken, the less cooking time you may need so please be aware to adjust times if you cut down into strips or down the middle.
- Add crushed Ritz crackers, salt, and black pepper, and all spices into a shallow bowl and combine.
- In seperate bowls, add milk to one and shredded cheddar cheese into another. You will be dipping the chicken in these bowls, so do not combine.
- Dip boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the milk first, ensuring both sides are covered.
- Now dip chicken pieces into shredded cheese and press the cheese into the chicken on both sides.
- Lastly, dip chicken into the bowl of crushed Ritz crackers and press the crackers into both sides of the chicken breasts. Some of the cheese will fall off into the cracker bowl, and that's okay. As you finish coating the chicken, place the covered chicken into the prepared pan.
- Repeat recipe process until all chicken is covered and pan is full.
- Cover chicken with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and discard.
- Return chicken to oven for 10 more minutes until crispy, melty, and golden brown.
- Serve topped with cream sauce (recipe below)
Make Chicken Cream Sauce
- To make the creamy auce, add cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and butter to a small saucepan.
- Heat sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally until blended well and hot. This only takes a few minutes.
- Drizzle sauce on cooked Ritz chicken breasts and sprinkle with parsley before serving.
Notes
Nutritional information is an automated estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator or app.
Nutrition
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying of full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
Comments & Reviews
Lindey says
How the heck do you get the cheese to stick? I’ve made this twice and both times all the cheese falls off in the cracker mixture.
Trisha says
Hi Lindey, I havent had any issues, but maybe press the crackers down into the mixture a bit more?
Becca says
Sooooo good!!! Cheese and crackers stuck perfect. Cooked up golden brown (I didn’t cover with foil) and sauce put it over the top!!!! Both my 18mth and 3 yr old loved it! Thx
Trisha says
I always consider it a win when the kids approve!
Brooke K. says
How thin/thick should each piece of chicken be?
Trisha says
I haven’t had any issues using just regular packaged chicken breasts in this recipe. There is no need to pound them down to a specific size unless one side is much much larger than the other.
Mrs. Kay says
Fabulous! Quick, easy and sooo moist! The chicken was soooo moist you could cut it with a
butter knife! The cheddar and Ritz crackers that fell to the sides was crunchy and delish!