Delicious Crispy Cheddar Chicken

Source

So we've seen this recipe bouncing around on Pinterest for a while, and I thought we'd give it a try. I'm making so many of my pinned recipes, that I'm now having to actively pin more (always a plus, I mean, who doesn't love Pinning?) I love how much I've learned from the recipes I've completed so far, and love to hear when a reader has tried them along with me! You guys are the best!

This week I've tried a couple new recipes. My friend Natalie's beyond-tasty Lasagna Soup (to be featured on here sometime over the next couple weeks) and of course, this yummy Crispy Cheddar Chicken. I think it's kind of hilarious how this whole "recipe blog" thing works out. First of all, I pinned the recipe. I go to the recipe on their blog, then the recipe source is from another blog. I click on that blog, then the recipe source is linked to another website, so I head on over to that website (so turns out the original recipe source is from Real Simple Mag. Interesting). I guess that's how it goes, eh?

The sauce was beyond easy. Three ingredients. That's it. And you really don't have to babysit it while your chicken is cooking in the oven. I just left mine simmering on the stove on Ultra-Low while the chicken made it's crunchy journey in the oven. Oh, the chicken, you ask? We really enjoyed it. It wasn't as crunchy as I imagined it would be, but the sauce-chicken combo was fantastic. We actually used trimmed chicken thighs (less expensive than chicken breasts that day). Very yummy - and I would imagine 'kid friendly', too. I mean, our little guy gobbled up the chicken like nobody's business. Pretty good clue there.

One thing I found a little strange is that I've never used just plain milk while coating meat as this recipe calls for. I usually use an egg mixture. I was skeptical (especially because the recipe didn't call for coating the meat in a little flour before dunking in the wet coating) but it turned out just fine. I guess there's more than one way to dunk the meaties.

Anyway, I loved how this recipe was SIMPLE. It took minutes to throw together, and tasted delish. What more does a woman need in that department? Besides chocolate...

Crispy Cheddar Chicken
Adapted from Jamie Cooks It Up

Chicken:

4 large chicken breasts - again, we used chicken thigs (about 9 medium pieces)

2 sleeves Ritz crackers - we used one, and it was plenty.

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

1/2 C milk

3 C cheddar cheese, grated - we used about 2 cups, and it worked well.

1 t dried parsley - fresh out of parsley. random, I know. so we used Italian seasoning instead.

Sauce:

1   10 ounce can cream of chicken soup

2 T sour cream

2 T butter

"1. Cut each chicken breast into 3 large chunks. 

2. In a small food processor grind up the ritz crackers.
3. Pour the milk, cheese and cracker crumbs into 3 separate small pans. Toss the 1/4 t salt and 1/8 t pepper into the cracker crumbs and stir the mixture around to combine.
4. Dip each piece of chicken into the milk then the cheese and finally the cracker crumbs. 
5. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and lay the chicken inside the pan. 
6. Sprinkle the dried parsley over the chicken. 
7. Cover the pan with tin foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil, bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until the edges of the chicken are golden brown and crispy. 
8. Into a medium sized sauce pan combine the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and butter with a whisk. Stir it over medium high heat until the sauce is nice and hot. Serve over the chicken. 
Enjoy!"

Recipe and Picture Source: Jamie Cooks It Up