The Lunch Lady
Ranch chicken with homemade ranch
Roasted chicken tenders, chopped and tossed with ranch seasoning, lemon and finely chopped herbs. Serve with homemade ranch or lava sauce over rice or buttered noodles.
Published
- Servings
- 6
- Total time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes, including a 30-minute marinade
Ranch runs in our blood
Kids love ranch. I love ranch. Who doesn't love ranch? Here in the Midwest, I think it runs in our blood.
I use MaD Green Ranch Seasoning in both the chicken marinade and the homemade ranch. To me, it's much more aromatic than Hidden Valley. You get that garlic-and-herb smell as soon as you open it.
MaD is my friend Matt Starcher's seasoning line. We competed together on season five of Next Level Chef. He's trained in French cooking, a fantastic chef and an even better human being. I'm happy to have his support in the kitchen and to point people toward his seasonings.
The ranch below starts with equal parts sour cream and mayonnaise. Taste it after the seasoning has had a little time to settle in. Sometimes it wants more lemon. Sometimes salt. Sometimes another bit of garlic. A mini food processor makes that garlic easy.
For the kids, I mixed Frank's RedHot into the homemade ranch and called it lava sauce. I'm always looking for an approachable name when I put a sauce on the tray. This one is just ranch with a little heat. Start mild and add more Frank's until you like it.
Season it again after you chop it
I recommend Smart Chicken, which supplies the chicken for our school kitchen. It's air-chilled with no added water, and I prefer its flavor and consistency. I use the tenders because they cook quickly. Set a timer and start checking early.
Once they're cooked, chop them and hit them with a little more MaD, some lemon and finely chopped chives. A little fresh dill is good here too. Chop those herbs small so nobody gets a mouthful of chive.
Put the chicken over rice or buttered noodles. It even works with noodles and marinara. And if you have some left, stir it into mac and cheese. That's a good lunch waiting to happen.
Home recipe
Ranch chicken with homemade ranch
The Lunch Lady · Jared Veldheer
- Servings
- 6
- Prep time
- About 20 minutes
- Cook time
- About 20 minutes
- Total time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes, including a 30-minute marinade
Equipment: Two rimmed baking sheets, mixing bowls, instant-read thermometer; a mini food processor is handy for the garlic.
Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go.
Chicken and marinade
Fresh finish
Homemade MaD ranch
Lava sauce, optional
Instructions
Chicken and marinade
- Toss the chicken with the olive oil, MaD Green and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or overnight if you're getting ahead.
- Heat the oven to 425°F conventional or 400°F convection. Lightly oil two sheet pans and spread the tenders in a single layer with room between them. Make the ranch while the chicken marinates.
- Roast for about 15 to 20 minutes, checking at 12 minutes. Switch the pans' positions if using two racks. Check a few of the thickest tenders with an instant-read thermometer inserted from the side into the center; they should reach 165°F. Color alone doesn't tell you they're done.
- Rest for 5 minutes, then chop into bite-size pieces and add the fresh finish below.
Fresh finish
- Toss the warm chopped chicken with ½ tsp MaD Green, the lemon and chives. Add the dill and garlic if using. Taste a piece, then add more seasoning, lemon or salt as needed. Drizzle with ranch or lava sauce and serve the rest at the table.
Homemade MaD ranch
Makes about 1½ cups. Set aside some for lava sauce if you'd like.
- Stir the MaD Green and garlic into the mayonnaise, then mix in the sour cream, Worcestershire, lemon juice and salt until smooth.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes while you prepare the chicken. Taste with a piece of cooked chicken and adjust the lemon, salt, garlic or MaD. Thin with water or milk a tablespoon at a time if you want a pourable dressing.
Lava sauce, optional
Makes about ½ cup, using part of the ranch above.
- Stir 1 tsp Frank's into ½ cup finished ranch. Taste and add more a teaspoon at a time until the heat is where you want it. For kids, start with that first teaspoon and taste before adding more.
- To turn the entire 1½-cup batch into lava sauce, start with 1 Tbsp Frank's and add more to taste. You can also keep some ranch plain and mix a smaller bowl of lava sauce for the table.
Recipe notes
- MaD Green and ordinary ranch packets are seasoned differently. If you change the blend, start with less added salt and taste the cooked chicken and finished sauce before adding more.
- Keep the finished ranch separate from the raw chicken marinade.
- Leftover chopped chicken is especially good stirred into mac and cheese. Rice, buttered noodles and pasta with marinara also work well.