Ritz Cracker Chicken

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!

January always seems to last no less than 300 days. This year, it seemed like it lasted no less than 3,000 days.

But it’s finally February. Hopefully the shortest month of the year doesn’t let us down.

Between sickness that just won’t quit and the general state of the world, 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.

Buttery ritz cracker chicken: an easy weeknight dinner

I’ve mentioned in the past that I have a very picky eater for a husband. The guy would gladly eat pasta with crockpot spaghetti 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.

And it’s kind of mine, too. 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 already-buttery ritz crackers and butter creates a wonderfully crispy outside with 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 chicken

There’s a good chance you might already have everything you need to make this recipe. And even if you don’t, the ingredient list is pretty short so it’ll be a quick run to the grocery and you’ll have dinner on the table in no time!

Ingredients you’ll need

To make my ritz cracker chicken, you will need:

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 sleeve (from a 13.7-ounce box) of Ritz crackers, crushed into crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (optional)
• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/3 cup butter, cut into cubes

You want a whole standard-size sleeve of ritz crackers for this recipe – so one of the sleeves that comes in a 13.7-ounce box. 

But, like a lot of my dinner recipes, this one doesn’t have to be exact. Just make sure you have enough crushed ritz crackers to coat all of the chicken pieces on both sides.

My go-to seasoning for this recipe is a mix of Italian seasoning, garlic salt, and black pepper. Scroll down to “recipe variations” for some additional seasoning ideas.

We like to use thin chicken breast halves for this recipe. If you use larger pieces of chicken or opt for chicken thighs, they may take longer to cook through, so make sure you check them with an instant-read thermometer for doneness.

Making this easy dinner

This ritz cracker chicken recipe 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 it, start with two shallow bowls.

In one bowl, beat 2 eggs. In the other, mix together the ritz cracker crumbs and the seasonings.

Dip each piece of chicken into the beaten eggs, then into the cracker mixture. Place the cracker-coated chicken into a large baking dish and arrange the cubes of butter around each piece of chicken.

All that’s left to do now is bake! Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the thickest part of the meat reads 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.

If you used large or thick chicken breasts, they make take longer to bake, so it’s doubly important to use a thermometer to check for doneness.

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.

Recipe variations

As I mentioned above, my go-to seasonings for this ritz cracker chicken are garlic salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning. 

But you can easily change up the seasonings and change the flavor profile of the dish. It could be like a whole different recipe each time you make it!

Some other seasoning ideas include:

• Ranch seasoning 
• Taco seasoning
• Pizza seasoning
• BBQ seasoning
• Lemon pepper
• Hot sauce, such as Frank’s RedHot (add this to the egg mixture)