Ritz Chicken – A Family Favorite

Ritz Chicken Casserole. I'm pretty sure this is the MOST popular meal ever made in this house! It is a great entree to feed larger groups of people and is always a crowd pleaser. If you happen to have leftovers - they will not last long. As part of the challenge, Grant needed to learn to make this as I'm sure he will be craving it when he is grown and moved away. He was surprised at how easy it is to make!

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When you cook food yourself, you know exactly what goes into it

and can make it exactly the way you like it best!

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We began with cooking the skinless, boneless chicken breast in the crockpot for a few hours on low. I have found this to be the easiest way to cook chicken for recipes that call for cooked chicken. I told Grant that if he added carrots, celery, onions, and seasoning (salt, pepper, thyme), he would make chicken broth, but we only needed water and salt for cooking the chicken.

He added enough water to cover the breasts and then turned the crockpot to low for approximately 4 - 5 hours. It is really important to be sure you clean up anything that might have been exposed to raw chicken, as it can make you really sick. I'm teaching Grant to clean up as he goes and to be extra careful about contamination.

Salt is such an important part of cooking! I never really knew how essential it was until I found out about a chef named Samin Nosrat. She wrote a cookbook called Salt Fat Acid Heat and she has a series on Netflix as well. If you have time, you should definitely check them out! She teaches that there are different types of salt for different cooking purposes and even discusses the process of salt being dried from the ocean. After learning more about it, I made sure that I have Himalayan salt (a finely ground and pink salt) and a course salt for salting pots of water and even adding to some recipes.

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Anyone who has ever visited us or had a cooking conversation with me

knows that I LOVE cookbooks. I have hundreds of them and actually do use them!

I hope to share this love with Grant in a new way - with him using them for fun!

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After cooking the chicken on low for a few hours, Grant took it out of the water using tongs and placed them in a casserole dish to cool down before shredding them. He learned how to double check that no bones were mistakenly left in the breast and shredded the chicken into a bowl. Then he began adding the ingredients to make the sauce.

There seems to be some confusion about the necessity of a can opener! LOL

It's interesting to watch someone who is unfamiliar with the kitchen and the danger they can inadvertently put themself in. Grant was opening the canned food and holding onto the opened top by the sides...

DANGER!!! I quickly explained that those edges are so sharp and showed him the best way to remove the lid. I told him to grab the flat lid on both sides and gently turn it until it releases. To show me he was comfortable with the opening process after this mishap, he used the can opener to open up the sour cream seal -- that made no sense, but it did bring a chuckle.

Grant melted the butter for the Ritz Chicken and seemed surprised that a whole stick went into the recipe. However, he said it makes sense since it is delicious!

After adding the cream of chicken soup, melted butter, sour cream, salt, and pepper, he mixed everything together. He poured it into the pan and it was ready to bake. I suggested he wipe off any spilled bits as they would burn on the edge of the pan. He then proceeded to let me see his newest trick -- opening the oven with his foot!

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Reality set in!

It was at this point I realized for real that I was teaching a teenage boy to cook.

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Grant baked his Ritz Chicken for 20 minutes at 350 and then took it out of the oven to add the all important Ritz crackers. He crumbled up two sleeves of crackers and added it to the chicken with sauce. He placed it back in the oven (Yes, he used his foot again!) and baked for another 15 minutes until it was bubbly, browned, and smelled delicious.

Grant successfully made egg noodles and peas to go with the meal as well. You can pretty much sum up his experience by looking at this picture:

I'm clearly going to have to keep working on kitchen etiquette.

So far, teaching Grant to cook has been fun and interesting. He has tackled this challenge with a sense of fun and seriousness that has surprised me. I knew he'd give it his all since he committed, but I wasn't sure it would be fun for him. I think he is discovering that he is pretty adept in the kitchen (even with a bit of danger) and he has been successful in his attempts so far. Maybe once he makes something that even a squirrel won't eat he'll feel differently. Yes. I'm speaking from personal experience. Seriously!

Now that he's made a few meals, I'm thinking it is time for a dessert.

Maybe Cottage Pudding?

(see below for the recipe for Ritz Chicken)

Ritz Chicken

5 - 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 pint sour cream

1 stick of melted butter

3 10.5 oz. cans of Campbells Cream of Chicken soup

2 sleeves of Ritz Crackers, crushed

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Mix together shredded chicken, sour cream, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, salt, and pepper. Pour into a casserole dish (we used 9 x 13). Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and place crushed Ritz crackers on top. Return to oven and bake for 15 - 20 more minutes, until bubbly and golden brown.