As I’ve gotten older, I measure ingredients less and less. I have just become accustomed to what a teaspoon or 1/4 of a cup looks like. My family hates it because while they love the food, I can never recreate the same meal twice. It may taste similar, but a tweak here and a tweak there can make a difference on the palate.
Tonight however, I measured everything out (for the most part), to share with you. Chicken Bacon Ranch casserole is a crowd pleaser in this family of 5. It’s a comfort, stick-to-your-ribs type meal that can be made in one dish with crispy bacon, russet potatoes, chicken breast, co-jack cheese, and green onions as the stars. Feeding a family of 5 doesn’t have to be expensive either. I do a lot of shopping at Aldi, which usually saves me around 1/3 of the money I would spend in a typical grocery store (looking at you Kroger- just kidding, I still love you!)This meal actually makes about 10 servings, so lots of leftovers! I priced this out and it came out to be around $1.30 per serving.
Ingredients:
6 medium to large russet potatoes diced
2 large chicken breasts diced
2 cups shredded co-jack cheese
4 green onions sliced
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 12oz package bacon (or turkey bacon) sliced
salt and pepper to taste
Ranch dressing to taste
Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Grease a 9×13 casserole dish (I’ve used both glass and corning ware for this recipe and they both have turned out great)
3. While the oven is heating up dice the chicken and potatoes and slice your bacon and green onions
4. Fry your sliced bacon over medium high heat until nice and crispy
5. Spread half of the diced potatoes in the casserole dish, then layer the diced chicken breast on top of the potatoes evenly. Season with salt and pepper lightly.
6. Sprinkle half the bacon over your potatoes and chicken, then layer half of your cheese over the bacon
7. Spread out remaining potatoes, bacon, and half of the green onions. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
8. Drizzle the heavy cream over entire thing and dot with butter.
9. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
10. Take out of oven and remove aluminum foil. Sprinkle remaining green onions over casserole.
11. Drizzle ranch dressing over each serving to taste. I like just a little, but my kids consider ranch dressing to be its own food group.