Keto crack chicken in the oven has all your favorite ranch seasonings with cream cheese, bacon and cheddar. This ranch chicken recipe is naturally low carb and keto friendly for a healthy chicken dinner for the entire family. Make this simply, easy recipe for a quick baked dish!
You may have come across my famous crack chicken thighs. That particular recipe is amazing but isn’t as simple and straight forward is this one. Looking for a great baked chicken recipe isn’t too hard if you aren’t keto. But to find a recipe with great protein, high fat and low carb this is the perfect choice. Crispy bacon on top of cheddar cheese in a creamy ranch sauce place right on your plate steaming perfection!
What Is Crack Chicken
Originally, crack chicken is shredded chicken in a crock pot that you can use as a dip or just eat it straight from a plate. The base of the chicken is a cream sauce such as cream cheese, mozzarella, mayo or sour cream. Not all together but some sort of combination of those ingredients. Ranch seasoning is used to season the cream sauce and chicken. Then, the chicken is topped with a sharp cheddar with bacon and scallions or green onions. Delicious sounding isn’t it? Multiple variations of keto crack chicken have risen along with this easy, go-to baked version.
How To Make Keto Crack Chicken In The Oven
To start, when making this recipe you need a good ranch seasoning. The classic combination is dill weed, garlic powder and onion powder but I personally like to buy one that’s combined. My go to are either Hidden Valley which does contain maltodextrin but also a keto approved one by select savory seasonings. Hidden Valley is the easiest to obtain from a trip to the grocery store.
In a small pot combine on a medium to low heat cream cheese, butter and sour cream. After they are combined well add chicken stock and ranch seasoning.
Cook and crisp up bacon then season chicken with ranch seasoning. I avoided black pepper because it would overpower the ranch.
In a baking dish add chicken and pour cream sauce on top. Turn the chicken a few times to get coated in the sauce then cover and place in oven for 20 minutes.
Next, uncover after 20 minutes. Add cheese and bacon then place back in uncovered for 30 minutes. remove allow to cool then top with scallions and serve. Sauce will be super thin when fresh out of the oven. You can thicken it with a a starch such as arrowroot or tapioca. Another option is xanthan gum. See tips below.
Helpful Recipe Tips
- Ranch seasonings vary, if you use hidden valley it is seasoned very well and won’t need anything else including salt. If you go with the other I recommended you may need salt. I know you will with select savory’s version.
- To thicken sauce, when fresh out of the oven the sauce with be piping hot and thin like water. To fix that you can allow it to cool or a quick fix make a slurry with a starch or mix xanthan gum in butter or some sort of oil. 1/2 teaspoon for Xanthan Gum or 1 tablespoon of tapioca or arrowroot starch. Be sure to remove chicken before adding thickeners.
- Bake covered first if using thick pieces of chicken breast. If not they won’t be cooked through in just 30 minutes due to their thickness. Always check for doneness.
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Keto crack chicken in the oven
Ingredients
- 2 pounds chicken breast
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 6 strips bacon
- 1/4 cup Ranch Seasoining
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F
- Cut and crisp of bacon then set to the side
- In a small pot combine butter, cream cheese together. Then add in chicken broth to thin it out and 2 TB of ranch seasoing. See notes. Once combine remove from heat and set aside
- Season chicken breast with 2 TB of ranch seasoining.
- Pour cream sauce in baking dish then place chicken on top. Turn chicken in sauce to coat then cover dish and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and uncover chicken. Add shredded cheese and bacon then place back in oven for 30 minutes
- Once done, allow to cool. To thicken sauce in a hurry see notes below.
Notes
Helpful Recipe Tips
- Ranch seasonings vary, if you use hidden valley it is seasoned very well and won't need anything else including salt. If you go with the other I recommended you may need salt. I know you will with select savory's version.
- To thicken sauce, when fresh out of the oven the sauce with be piping hot and thin like water. To fix that you can allow it to cool or a quick fix make a slurry with a starch or mix xanthan gum in butter or some sort of oil. 1/2 teaspoon for Xanthan Gum or 1 tablespoon of tapioca or arrowroot starch. Be sure to remove chicken before adding thickeners.
- Bake covered first if using thick pieces of chicken breast. If not they won't be cooked through in just 30 minutes due to their thickness. Always check for doneness.
- Nutrition info is a estimate based on all of the ingredients and using Hidden Valley seasoning. Numbers are estimates and not perfect considering sauce not used, cheesed bacon left in dish or plate and so on.
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