This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our privacy policy.
Ritz Cracker Chicken couldn’t be easier, or more delicious. With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll have dinner on the table in no time!
It’s hard to believe that we are well over halfway through February, considering January lasted no less than 300 days.
Our basement flooded just a couple of days before New Years. This opened a whole Pandora’s box of issues that we’ve spent the last month and a half dealing with.
Plumbers, drywall repair guys, flooring dudes, they’ve all been in and out of my house for weeks.
I’m over it.
When I am spending big chunks of my day with strangers in my house, I don’t really want to put a lot of effort into dinner at the end of the day. We’ve been eating Ritz Cracker Chicken more often than I actually want to admit these days.
Luckily, it’s a favorite of everyone in my family, so no one around here is complaining.
RITZ CRACKER CHICKEN RECIPE
I’ve mentioned in the past that I have a very picky eater for a husband. The guy would gladly eat spaghetti with red sauce six days out of seven.
However, he’d happily rotate this Ritz Cracker Chicken with said spaghetti, or noodles and gravy, and be completely content for all of eternity.
Okay, maybe he’d throw pizza into the mix every once in a while, but you get my point. This chicken is his jam.
Not only is Ritz Cracker Chicken delicious and easy to make, it pairs really well with all sorts of side dishes. From buttered noodles and a fresh salad, to marinara with spaghetti, corn on the cob or mashed potatoes, this chicken recipe will most definitely become one of your go-to main dishes – especially on busy weeknights.
I mean, you can’t even order a pizza to be delivered in the time it takes this recipe to come together from start to finish.
Even though it’s not the fanciest of meals, I’ve served Ritz Cracker Chicken numerous times when we’ve had family over and everyone always falls in love with it immediately. Both my Dad and my mom’s boyfriend actually proclaimed it to be “the best chicken they’d ever tasted.”
That, my friends, is a pretty serious claim, because they can both be tough critics.
What I really enjoy is that I can take this base recipe and make it fit any sort of sides we want to have by switching up the spice profile. Think Italian seasoning, BBQ seasoning, Ranch dressing, or even Frank’s Red Hot.
The simple combination of Ritz Crackers and butter creates a wonderfully crispy outside, but an incredibly juicy and tender inside. It’s exactly what you want baked chicken to be. There’s nothing dried out or lacking in flavor here!
HOW TO MAKE RITZ CRACKER BAKED CHICKEN
Ritz Cracker Chicken only takes about 5 minutes to prep and 30 minutes to cook. You can have dinner on the table in well under an hour with this recipe!
To make Ritz Cracker Chicken, start with two shallow bowls.
In one bowl, beat 2 eggs. In the other, mix together crushed Ritz Crackers and your desired seasonings.
Dip the chicken into the beaten eggs, then into the cracker mixture. Place the cracker-coated chicken into a large baking dish and arrange cubes of butter around each piece of chicken.
All that’s left to do now is bake! We like to use thin chicken breasts for Ritz Cracker Chicken. If you use larger pieces of chicken, they may take longer to cook through.
If you need an easy dinner in your back pocket for the picky eaters in your life, THIS is the recipe. Be sure to also check out my Instant Pot Pulled Pork, Cheeseburger Tater Tot Casserole, Homemade Sloppy Joes and this Creamy Garlic Chicken.
Ritz Cracker Chicken
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 sleeve of Ritz Crackers crushed into crumbs
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning optional
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
- ⅓ cup butter cut into cubes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Place beaten eggs and cracker crumbs into two separate shallow bowls.
- Add garlic salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning to the cracker crumbs and stir to combine.
- Dip each chicken breast into the eggs and then into the crumb mixture to completely coat the chicken.
- Arrange chicken in a 9x13-inch baking dish and arrange cubes of butter around each breast.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165°F.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My family and I thoroughly enjoyed this! Yum!
Easy to make. We did not have eggs, so we used mayo instead while worked out well as an alternative. Wonderful recipe! Thanks for sharing!
KD
Thanks so much, Karen! I love the idea of the mayo instead of the eggs!
Have a great day and happy baking!
-Jamie
If you get the thicker Chicken Breast just cut them in the middle & make 2 thin 1’s ?
That’s what I typically do, Rosemarie. You can also leave them as large chicken breasts, we’re just not fans of super thick chicken. I hope this helps.
-Jamie
I’ve made this twice and it’s delicious…but both times it has been a bit soggy. Any suggestions how to make it crispier?
Hi, Meghan! I would make sure you don’t cover the baking pan with anything so the chicken coating doesn’t steam while baking. I’ve also read you can bake them on a wire cooking rack placed over a baking sheet to ensure crispiness. I hope this helps!
Could I prep everything and bread the chicken a couple hours ahead of time and put it in the fridge until it is ready for the oven?
Hi, Rachel! I think you probably could. Let me know how you like it!
I really liked how these tasted. I found that if I gave them a moment to cool on a rack that they were much crispier on both sides~ unsure if that’s my oven or something, but if anyone finds the same issue- try the short term cool on a cooling rack. Delicious regardless!
Wonderful, Juliane! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I’ve made this a few times but my recipe also adds shredded cheese is a great bonus!
The shredded cheese sounds great! I’ll have to try it!
I changed this recipe up and used a combination of pretzel crumbs and French’s dried onion crumbs. I have to use the food processor to crush the pretzels small enough, but its worth the effort. It is awesome. We don’t fry chicken at all anymore…we always make the pretzel chicken.
That combination sounds great, Andrew! I’m going to give that a try!
I don’t have breast do you believe thighs and legs will have the same outcome ? I’m trying it tonight for my family.
Hi, Ecclesia! The only thing that concerns me about the legs and thighs is that they have a higher fat content and will give off more juices than the breasts. If you give it a try, please let me know…I’m curious to the outcome!
Thank you for this! It’s so delicious and my fiance loved it! I didn’t have any bread crumbs and came across this recipe. The crackers were perfect. I am making this as we speak for the second time but I added a little more to it. Hopefully it will turn out as awesome as your original. :)
That’s wonderful, Katie!
This recipe was very tasty! Easy to make and the family loved it, thanks
I’m so glad your family enjoyed it, Mark!