Ranch lovers will go crazy over this Ranch Chicken and Potatoes with Cheese. Hands on time is minimal, and the chicken packs a flavor punch!
Family friendly plus very little hands on time equals a win for my family! For more recipes like this, check out these Easy Lime Baked Chicken Thighs, this Chicken a la King, or these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps.
We are headed straight into back to school season. When things seem to get 10 times crazier. But I’m still trying to retain some normalcy.
And I have become more committed than ever to family dinner time. Because when life gets crazy, that 15 minutes around the table may be the only time you are together all day long.
The problem, though, is that when you are busy checking all the things off of your list, finding the time and the motivation to make dinner can be challenging. Which is why an arsenal of easy dinner ideas is so important.
The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
Today’s recipe comes to you from the wonderful cookbook The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook by Mary Younkin from Barefeet in the Kitchen. You guys – this is all you need for weeknight dinner planning.
First of all, I love how the book is organized. The main dishes are organized by how long they will take to make. There is a chapter for 15-25 minute meals, a chapter for 30-45 minute meals, and another chapter for 5-10 minute prep meals that can cook on their own. This is perfect for when I need to plan a meal on a super busy night when I don’t have a lot of time, but I don’t want to search through cookbooks looking for a quick recipe.
And even better – all of the recipes look amazing. I made this Cheesy Ranch Chicken with Potatoes (more on that below) and the Green Chile and Cheese Stuffed Chicken and both were home runs. At this point, I’m not even bothering to put the book away on my bookshelf because I know I’ll be cooking from it regularly!! (And I can’t wait to break into the dessert chapter, too!!)
The Best Ranch Marinade
The biggest secret to this recipe having such great flavor is the ranch marinade. The ingredients for the marinade are probably already ingredients that you have in your pantry and spice cabinet, which makes this recipe even better.
One reason I really love this marinade is because it doesn’t need a ton of time to actually marinate. In fact, the maximum time you’ll probably want to marinate this chicken is 24 hours. The vinegar will tenderize the chicken, but it can break down too much if it marinates too long.
If you are on top of things, you can put this together the night before, but I usually do it the morning that I want to make this for dinner, and then when dinner time rolls around, dinner is super fast and easy.
Tips and Tricks
- This recipe calls for chicken thighs, which are my favorite. You could sub in breasts, if you’d like though. Cooking time will change, so keep that in mind. I find that an instant read thermometer is the best way to know when your chicken is cooked through. If the breasts are thick, you will probably want to pound them to 1/2-inch thickness.
- Make sure to slice the potatoes to 1/4″ thickness, otherwise your baking time will be longer.
- I’ve made this many times now, and while the cheddar and monterey jack cheese mixture is our favorite, I will often use whatever easy melting cheese I have on hand.
- In the book, Mary serves the chicken with a homemade ranch dressing. I will admit that we just use bottled because it’s so easy (and we always have it on hand) but if you have time to make a homemade ranch, it’s probably worth it!
- This makes great leftovers – if you’re lucky enough to even have any left over after dinner!
More Ranch Recipes
Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Crispy Ranch Chicken Strips
BLT Ranch Chicken Wraps
Ranch Chicken Sandwiches
Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders
Roasted Vegetable Pizza with Ranch
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Ranch Chicken and Potatoes with Cheese
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Chicken and Potatoes:
- 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (can use breasts, if desired)
- 1 1/2 lb medium-sized red potatoes cut into 1/4-inch thick wedges
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend or cheddar and Monterey Jack
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- Ranch dressing for dipping
Instructions
To make the marinade:
- Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a gallon-size ziplock bag. Shake to blend. Add the chicken, turn to coat, place in the refrigerator and marinate for 6 to 12 hours, but no more than 24 hours.
To make the chicken:
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Place the chicken on a large rimmed baking sheet. Transfer the potatoes to the bag with the remaining marinade. Press the bag with your hands and coat the potatoes as thoroughly as possible. Transfer the potatoes to the tray with the chicken, squeezing out as much of the remaining marinade as possible. Use your hands to stir the pieces around a bit to make sure everything is coated thoroughly.
- Place the pan in the center of the oven and roast for approximately 20 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.
- Remove from the oven, transfer the chicken to a separate dish and loosely tent with foil to keep warm.
- Roast the potatoes an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, add the chicken back onto the tray and sprinkle the chicken and potatoes generously with the cheese. Roast an additional 3 to 4 minutes to melt completely.
- Sprinkle with the parsley.
- Serve with the ranch dressing for dipping.
B Gruman says
This was DELICIOUS! Everyone in the family loved it! It was good with and without ranch, but ranch really does work perfectly with these potatoes!
I’m lazy, Foil that pan! I didn’t marinate the chicken, just made the marinade and mixed it with the chicken and potatoes right on the sheet pan. Easy peasy. I added a little extra olive oil after it was on the pan because the marinade was too thick. I cubed my potatoes to make sure they’d cook through. My chicken needed the whole time to cook, but I knew and planned for that. I expect others will have similar thoughts. Before cheese, 40 minutes. I recommend two colors of cheese, because it looked as yummy as the picture.
Victor B says
Looks great how are you cutting the chicken if at all?
Roseanne says
Deborah, I had to pop back and say that I did make this recipe and everyone loved it. So easy! I was a little dubious about the marinade – there just wasn’t that much of it – but in the end there was nothing to worry about. Oh, I did use chicken breasts instead of thighs. Thanks again for the winning recipe!
Mary Younkin says
I am right there with you on the whole new crazy full life that is a combination of sports and school activities this year! I’m thrilled the cookbook has been helpful and that you’re enjoying the recipes. This cheesy chicken is already on our menu for next week. We love it!
cookbook queen says
Girl…I SO feel you. Between running to and from the school, errands, activities, my OWN work and friends…it’s nonstop. Family dinner is a MUST — it gives us all time to connect face to face. This looks SO incredible. I can’t believe I haven’t ordered Mary’s book yet – I’m popping over to Amazon to do that right now!
Roseanne says
Oh, I am SO going to make this. I need something to bring chicken to a level beyond boring! I am going to add this cookbook to my wish list too. It sounds like a keeper! Hope all is going well for E and the rest of the gang.
cakeSpy says
I never knew this was my dream until I saw it, but now I can’t get it out of my mind. Ranch + chicken + potatoes…great. Cover it with cheeeeeese? Please.