Tomatillo Ranch Chicken (Printer-friendly)
Zesty tomatillo-ranch marinated chicken baked until juicy, finished with cilantro-lime sauce—easy Southwestern weeknight dish.
# What You'll Need:
→ Marinade and Sauce
01 - 1 cup tomatillos, husked, washed, and roughly chopped
02 - ½ cup gluten-free ranch dressing
03 - ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves
04 - 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
05 - 2 garlic cloves
06 - 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
07 - ½ teaspoon ground cumin
08 - ½ teaspoon salt
09 - ¼ teaspoon black pepper
→ Chicken
10 - 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
11 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
12 - Salt and pepper, to taste
# How to Prepare:
01 - Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil or nonstick spray.
02 - In a blender or food processor, combine tomatillos, ranch dressing, cilantro, jalapeño, garlic, lime juice, cumin, salt, and black pepper. Blend until completely smooth.
03 - Place chicken breasts in a large bowl or zip-top bag. Pour half of the tomatillo ranch sauce over the chicken, reserving the remaining sauce for serving. Marinate for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator for deeper flavor.
04 - Remove chicken from the marinade and discard any used marinade. Arrange the chicken in the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
05 - Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F and juices run clear when pierced with a fork.
06 - Remove from the oven and let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. Slice or serve whole, spooning the reserved tomatillo ranch sauce generously over the top. Garnish with additional fresh cilantro if desired.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The sauce doubles as marinade and finishing drizzle, which means maximum reward for minimal dishes.
- It is genuinely weeknight fast but tastes like you spent your whole afternoon on it.
02 -
- Never reuse the marinade that touched raw chicken as a finishing sauce, which is exactly why you reserved half before it ever made contact.
- Overblending the sauce can make it frothy instead of creamy, so stop the blender as soon as it looks smooth.
03 -
- Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness before marinating so the thin ends do not dry out while the thick centers finish cooking.
- Roast the tomatillos under the broiler for five minutes before blending if you want a deeper, slightly sweeter sauce with almost no extra effort.