Versus: Baked Chicken Recipes

Baked chicken is one of the easiest things to cook, but also takes longer than most other meals because of the bake time.  I never mess around with chicken so I always cook it a few minutes longer than suggested to avoid any surprise pink spots.  When I know I will be home an hour before we eat I really like baked chicken because I can just pop it in the oven and then Maddox and I can play until it's time for dinner!

So, I was very happy when I saw this Pin on Pinterest.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Green Beans and Potatoes

This meal appealed to me because it is virtually a very balanced meal.  But if you know me then you know that no dinner is complete without a salad.

We had it a few times and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Here is the basic process:

1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2) Cover the bottom of a casserole pan with sliced lemons.  (I promise that dish is clean!  I always spray Pam on my dishes before I use them in the oven and it burns on the top edges and I can't get it off with a scrubber or in the dishwasher.  I am sure there is some Pin out there about how to clean your Corningware or Pyrex.  I will work on that!)

3) Mix olive oil, chopped garlic, salt and pepper in a medium dish.

 4) Toss fresh green beans in the mixture and them put them on top of the sliced lemons.

5) Do the same thing with cubed red potatoes. 

6) Then coat your split chicken breasts in the oil/garlic mixture and put them on top of the veggies.  Pour any remaining oil/garlic on top of the chicken.  (The original recipe calls for 4 chicken breasts, but since I knew we had plans the next night and wouldn't need leftovers I only made 2.)

7) Bake for one hour uncovered.  Enjoy!

Now, I told you that we had it several times and liked it which is true.  But, after the last time we had it Konrad and I both came to the conclusion that it was a little too lemony.  I considered just using lemon juice the next time I made it and removing the sliced lemons from the bottom of the dish.

But then, I saw this Pin...

It was not connected to a website so I guess someone just took a picture of their dinner before they popped it in the oven.  Here are the directions that were listed in the comment section:

4-6 raw chicken breasts, new potatoes, green beans (fresh/canned, broccoli is good too). Arrange in 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with a packet of Italian dressing mix and then top with a melted stick of butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!

So, I decided that since the main ingredients were the same I would give it a try and then determine which was best.

Last week Split breasts were on sale for $1/lb so I opted to use those again instead of the boneless/skinless pictured in the Pin.  These must have been some enormous chickens.  Three breasts completely covered the base of my 9X13 Pyrex dish so I had to put the veggies on the bottom instead of the sides like in the picture.  I knew this would work after my experiences with the lemon chicken.

 Then, I melted a stick of better and mixed it with a packet of Italian dressing mix.

I poured half of the butter mixture on the veggies, added the chicken, and then topped it with the rest of the butter mixture.

For this recipe I covered the dish and let it bake an hour.

That chicken was just not dark enough for me so I put it back in another 10 minutes without foil.

Much better!

So, now I am sure you are on pins and needles wondering which one was the best.  I let Maddox and Konrad weigh in too and this is what we say...

Maddox (translated):  "Mom, I do not like green beans or potatoes.  Why do you keep serving them to me?  All I want to do is eat chicken and goldfish.  Now, let me out of my high chair.  I have important business to attend to over by your most breakable items."

Konrad: Italian Chicken

Me: Italian Chicken

My mom also really liked the Italian Chicken, but since she did not try the lemon chicken I don't know that her vote counts.  Either way Italian Chicken wins in our house.  I plan to make it again, but next time I will add two packets of the Italian dressing mix.  

If you do make the Lemon Chicken just go light on the lemons.  And you might want to tell your husband that there are slices of lemons in there.  He might mistake them for squash and eat them (rinds and all!).