Ritzy Cheddar Chicken Breasts

Ritzy Cheddar Chicken Breasts
Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
4(4,566)
Notes
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They’re as good as they sound: cheesy chicken cutlets coated with buttery Ritz crackers. Skipping the usual flour-egg-bread crumb dredge, this recipe relies instead on a flavorful base layer of tangy sour cream, which has lactic acid that tenderizes boneless, skinless chicken breasts beautifully. When it comes to breaded white meat, thin cutlets are ideal, which you can buy from the store or achieve by slicing thick breasts in half horizontally (no pounding necessary). They cook more evenly this way, staying tender throughout as they’re quickly baked in a hot oven. Serve with something fresh — a big green salad, perhaps — to balance the wonderful richness of this nostalgic number.

Featured in: Three Ways to a Better Chicken Breast

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 1tablespoon olive oil, plus more for greasing wire rack
  • ¼cup sour cream
  • 1large egg white
  • 1teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
  • 2large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1½ pounds total)
  • 1sleeve Ritz crackers (about 100 grams)
  • 2ounces extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
  • ½teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½teaspoon onion powder
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

526 calories; 27 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 49 grams protein; 595 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Position rack in the bottom third of the oven and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place an ovenproof wire rack over a sheet pan. Dab a folded-up paper towel with olive oil and rub it over the wire rack to grease it.

  2. Step 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, egg white and Dijon mustard until smooth. Season with salt. Lay the chicken flat on a cutting board and carve each breast in half horizontally so you end up with four thin cutlets. Add the chicken to the sour cream mixture, and using your hands, smear the sour cream all over the chicken.

  3. Step 3

    In a large bowl, crush the Ritz crackers into coarse pieces with your fingers. Some crackers will turn to rubble while others turn to dust. Add the cheese, garlic powder, onion powder and olive oil. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and toss until evenly distributed. Holding one of the chicken cutlets by its thinner end, add to the bowl with the crumbs, and using your hands, pack the crumbs onto the chicken, pressing them in to create a thick coating. Transfer the breaded chicken to the rack in the sheet pan. Repeat with the remaining three cutlets.

  4. Step 4

    Bake the cutlets until the outsides are crispy and the insides are no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Let the chicken cool slightly so the coating can set, about 5 minutes, before transferring to plates and serving.

Ratings

4 out of 5
4,566 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

This recipe is a “cousin” to a 1960’s family favorite, “RitzCracker Chicken” OUR RECIPE: One whole chicken, cut in eighths and skinned Crushed Ritz Crackers Melted butter (ouch) Bake in preheated 425• oven and serve. Every once in a while my grown sons still request…

Good recipe. I counted the crackers as I crumbled them into a bowl on my scale. About 32 crackers for 100g. Then I zeroed the scale and switched to ounces to add the cheese. What’s with the mixed measures here? It would be nice if Times recipes used one set of measurements consistently in a recipe, preferably with the other in parentheses since the USA is the only nation that doesn’t use metric.

yes, and since yogurt is a bit thinner than sour cream, you can actually skip the eggwhite - still binds nicely

Hey London, I copied this from the NYT substitution guide, it's very helpful."Tangy, textural ingredients like crema, crème fraîche, mascarpone, Neufchâtel, Quark, queso fresco, sour cream or yogurt of any variety can be used interchangeably."

I'm thinking Cheez-Its might be fun, too.

This worked well in an airfryer at 400 F for 15 minutes, flipping once. (internal temperature of the chicken needs to be 165 F)

I'm thinking of using Cheez-Its instead of Ritz crackers and cheddar. Should I go get my coat?

An even easier variation I have made frequently: 1/4 cup olive oil mixed /1 tbs chopped garlic in one bowl 1/4 cup grated Parmesan mixed / 1/4 cup bread crumbs in second bowl Dip chicken into oil & garlic, then cover with crumbs & cheese. Bake @ 425 degrees x 20-25 minutes.

Just made this. Used pounded thighs. Ritz makes the crust a little sweet. I will add a bit of chili flakes next time. I also cooked this on a cookie sheet on a 450 degree grill. Cooked perfectly

I can’t eat gluten, so I use Rice Chex cereal, crushed. I keep a box in my freezer so it stays fresh. Comes out very crispy, like Panko.

in this recipe the sour cream serves a dual purpose - the lactic acid tenderizing the chicken, while the sour cream itself coats the chicken and gives the breading something to adhere to. you definitely could sub yogurt, but neither queso fresco nor neufchâtel would work as a sub, and quark might be iffy depending on the product. i think most people here know this and would make an educated sub but, hey, it takes all kinds you know? ;)

I have made this using seasoned Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix after dipping in sour cream and drizzling with a little butter. Delicious and simple.

This chicken was AMAZING. It was so juicy and tender. I let it marinate in the sour cream mixture of a couple of hours.

This is one of those old ideas from a mid-20th-century Ritz Cracker recipe booklet, slightly tweaked. It's funny to see the NY Times audience high-falutin' it up with mascarpone, etc. Anyhoo, cooking it on a rack is an improvement!

Similar. Julia Child from really old Julia Child. Use Swiss Cheese and Panko

Air fryer for 15 min at 400 flip once. 165 degrees for done.

After working hard all day, my husband asked for some comfort food. This fit the bill - only substitution I made was using Jalapeño-cheddar duo Cheez-its, since I had them on hand. I think it was an upgrade. This was an easy, reasonably healthy dish.

Amazing. I didn't use Ritz crackers because I was concerned it would be too sweet. I used saltines instead and it came out excellent.

Sleeve size is different due to different packaging. About how many crackers are needed?

Okay, this is a fantastic recipe. But I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with the dijon mustard. I just wanted a little bit of a change in flavor. You can add all kinds of stuff, any concentrated liquid-adjacent food. My personal favorite is sun dried tomatoes packed in oil. I use a heaping tablespoon of that stuff in the sour cream mixture and boy golly is it good. But y’know, there’s also your yellow mustard, barbecue sauce, honey, there’s tons of good stuff. Play around with it!

Big hit! Wasn’t quite as crispy as a fried cutlet, but was plenty delicious, moist and flavorful. Made some changes to accommodate the pantry and based on other comments: -Used yogurt with a bit of mayo instead of sour cream and forgot to add the egg white. Marinated about an hour. -Chopped up some leftover slices of Swiss cheese instead of the cheddar -Added cayenne to both yogurt and crumbs -Baked on parchment paper for 10 minutes, flipping halfway

Kept the egg intact (tripled the recipe) and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Turned out amazing!

I sub half the crackers with Cheezits for my very picky wife whose comfort food is Cheezits. She’s obsessed. Five stars.

I can’t believe how tasty this chicken turned out, and it was also a great recipe to team-cook with my almost 6 yr old! She grated the cheese, crushed the crackers, mixed, and she especially loved pounding the chicken breasts. Plus she eagerly gobbled it up and was so proud to have helped! Definitely a new family recipe.

Is there a reason for using just an egg white, rather than a whole egg?

This is so delicious, it’s more like two servings because you can’t stop at just one piece. I dream about this dish! Thank you Eric!

Delicious. Used pre-filleted chicken breast from Whole Foods. Followed video to a tee (video may have more salt than recipe). Cut breasts in strips and then in half. Don’t forget to POUND to even out thickness— in video Pre-heating pan and rack is important

Used Cheez-Its and the kids and grandkids inhaled these. Marinated the chicken a couple hours and I think this made a big difference. These were flavorful, fun and deliciously different!

My 4 hard-to-please kids with varying tastes all enjoyed this! Just as easy as it says. My cheesaholic daughter suggested adding (not substituting) parmesan, so may try that next time. Added to ingredients to create 6 servings. Didn't have a baking rack so I just put them on a foil lined pan for 22 minutes and they came out tender yet cooked thoroughly.

Definitely add ground pepper to the crumbs, and don’t be afraid to fry this in a half-inch of oil in the cast-iron skillet, instead of baking it. Nobody has to know…

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