PW Wednesdays ~ Ranch Style Chicken

Welcome to the finale, or almost. This is the final PW recipe week though. I had the challenge of choosing what would be our last recipe to make as a group. I wanted it to be tasty and easy. I was definitely feeling the pressure after all of the crazy recipes we’ve already made. I chose one recipe but it didn’t feel right. The name didn’t suit any of us. A few days later I emailed everyone, changing my mind. We’d make chicken instead.

I’m not the griller in the house. I almost baked these…or pan fried. I have zero fear of the oven. The grill is another story. It’s giant, with gas attached to it and occasionally can be seen with fire shooting out of it. Scary. BUT I bit the bullet and grilled these. The Mr was watching over as I made these. I think in part to avoid the drama and screaming from within the house and partly to make sure I didn’t burn the house down.

I’m happy to report, not only did the house make it through my grilling adventure but these were seriously super easy to make. This may have been our easiest recipe. Dare I say it was also the least messy and least guilt ridden recipe too? Zero cream or butter. You could easily turn this into an over the top recipe by wrapping your chicken in bacon instead of laying a few crispy strips on top. I’m positive it’d taste heavenly if you did that. Just a thought…

While I wasn’t blown away by this recipe, it was tasty and relatively quick. The flavor of the mustard marinade was present even after being topped off with bacon and cheese. If you don’t like mustard, this probably isn’t for you. But if you like mustard then I promise you’ll want to give this a try the next time you’re staring at a package or boring plain chicken and contemplating what to do with it. The biggest mess factor was bacon splatter, unless you want to count melting cheese on the grill which created small fires… no biggie.

Eat these as is or added to a sub roll. Serve with a side salad or a warm potato dish.

Ranch Style Chicken

Prep Time2 hours
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time2 hours 10 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Chicken
Servings: 12

Ingredients

  • 6 boneless chicken breasts
  • 1/2 C honey
  • 1/2 C Dijon mustard
  • 1 lemon juiced
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • red pepper flakes optional
  • 1 lb bacon
  • 3 Tbsp reserved bacon grease
  • 2 C sharp cheddar cheese freshly shredded

Instructions

  • Cut chicken breasts in half to form two fairly equally sized pieces. Use a meat mallet to adjust the thickness of each piece as necessary.
  • In a large bowl, combine honey, mustard, paprika (or cayenne), salt and red pepper flakes. Whisk until combined. Add chicken to bowl, coat well. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
  • Cook bacon until just crispy. Drain and set aside.
  • Prepare grill or large pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken on each side for 3-5 minutes. When chicken is nearly done, top off with 2 slices of bacon and a mound of shredded cheese. Cook until chicken is cooked through and cheese is completely melted.

Notes

Recipe source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Food From My Frontier

My notes:

  • Feel free to cut back on the chicken. That is the only excessive part of this recipe. Instead of 6 chicken breasts, I used 2 which gave me 4 pieces. It really just depends on how many people you’re looking to feed.
  • Instead of paprika, I used a reduced portion of cayenne pepper.
  • I added somewhere between 1/8 and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for a reduced portion of the marinade and it still wasn’t spicy. The biggest change I’d make to this in the future is to have a nice kick. We finished ours off with a sauce that The Mr recently spotted at Marshalls. It had just the right kick this dish needed.
  • Figure that you need 2 strips or 2 half strips per chicken breast.
  • I didn’t use any reserved bacon fat.
  • I used 1 tbsp bottled lemon juice in place of half of a lemon (I halved my marinade recipe) since I didn’t have lemon on hand.
  • Be sure to see what the other girls thought of our final dish!
    Running To The Kitchen
    Wanna Be A Country Cleaver
    Table For Two Blog

    In case you missed any of the previous PW Wednesday posts:
    Week 1: Fried Tacos
    Week 2: Mushroom Sliders with Spicy Fry Sauce
    Week 3: Carnitas Pizza
    Week 4: Breakfast Pizza
    Week 5: White Chicken Enchiladas
    Week 6: Italian Cream Cupcakes
    Week 7: Orange Sweet Rolls
    Week 8: Honey Orange Soy Chicken

    We’ll be back with one more PW Wednesday… stay tuned for our final thoughts and ratings! :)

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    20 Responses to “PW Wednesdays ~ Ranch Style Chicken”

    1. #
      1
      Kathryn — July 25, 2012 at 6:09 am

      This sounds like a really great summer meal, a very good pick!

    2. #
      2
      amy @ fearless homemaker — July 25, 2012 at 7:17 am

      good for you manning the grill to make these! i still am petrified of ours but i need to get over that fear soon. =)

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      3
      Julie @ Table for Two — July 25, 2012 at 8:27 am

      oh awesome!! i love that you made them into sandwiches..i guess she did say that in the recipe, didn’t she? woops, overlooked it..nonetheless, yours looks so good grilled!! great finale, rachel :)

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      4
      Megan {Country Cleaver} — July 25, 2012 at 9:32 am

      Hooray for girls on the grill!! Thanks for picking such a tasty, and easy and best of all guilt-almost-free recipe Rachel!!

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      5
      Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings — July 25, 2012 at 9:41 am

      love that you made them into sandwiches….yum

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      Gina @ Running to the Kitchen — July 25, 2012 at 9:51 am

      Love that you made sandwiches out of them! I went the stovetop route instead of grill b/c 1. my husband has no grilling skills and neither do I so that would’ve been interesting and 2. running from the kitchen through the family room to the grill when the food has to actually look presentable enough for pictures would’ve been an epic failure. I applaud you. :)

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      7
      Kari@Loaves and Dishes — July 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm

      Saw this on Running to the Kitchen. For anyone who adores Chicken Cordon Bleu, this is like a healthier and easier version.

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      8
      Stephanie — July 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm

      Looks like a great grilling recipe!

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      Anna @ hiddenponies — July 25, 2012 at 8:07 pm

      Way to conquer the grill! It still makes me nervous with those shooting flames :) The bread you chose looks perfect for this sandwich, yum!

    10. #
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      Jennifer | Mother Thyme — July 25, 2012 at 10:04 pm

      Love all these flavors! Great recipe to end the PW series with!

    11. #
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      claire @ the realistic nutritionist — July 26, 2012 at 10:54 am

      I love that these are sliders! I have got to make this recipe.

    12. #
      12
      Carla @ Carlas Confections — July 26, 2012 at 11:57 am

      Haha! I am very afraid of the grill too! But if you can do it, so can I! :D These look fantastic! This looks like my favorite recipe out of them all actually! YUM! Good choice Rachel!

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      Erin @ Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts — July 26, 2012 at 5:49 pm

      Sounds like a good weeknight chicken meal. The marinade sounds good, I am going to have to give it a try!

    14. #
      14
      Autumn@Good Eats Girl — July 26, 2012 at 8:27 pm

      I, too, fear the grill. Ugh! I always have my hubby grill stuff for me!:)

    15. #
      15
      Lisa — July 26, 2012 at 8:28 pm

      Now I’m a fan of Baked by Rachel! PW Wed is truly something to look forward to. Can’t wait to click & read that ‘English Muffin Pizzas’!

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      16
      amanda @ fake ginger — July 29, 2012 at 6:57 pm

      This looks like something I would love! I can’t believe you grilled them by yourself! I’m still too much of a chicken to turn our grill on!

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      Erin @ Texanerin Baking — July 31, 2012 at 3:32 pm

      Cheese and bacon. Love it! And I love that you made it into a sandwich. Cheese + bacon + carbs is just happiness. Look delicious!

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      Caren — August 2, 2012 at 7:07 pm

      This looks so good! Wish I had a grill but I guess I could broil the chicken even though that is not that easy with poultry.

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        18.1
        Rachel — August 2, 2012 at 7:11 pm

        Since the chicken is sliced super thin you could pan fry them fairly easily too! Beats heating up the whole oven if you don’t have to. :)

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      Caren — August 2, 2012 at 9:31 pm

      Now that sounds like a great idea. :-)

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