These bacon ranch chicken foil packets are a super easy dinner option with minimal cleanup! Chicken breasts are cooked with potatoes and ranch flavored butter, then topped with melted cheese and bacon for a meal that’s sure to please any crowd.
Foil packets are reliable recipes when I need to make a easy dinner that everyone will enjoy. I love the way the flavors of everything in the foil packets complement each other. Some other great foil packet recipes are salmon foil packets and chicken fajita foil packets.
Foil packet meals are all the rage it seems, I’m seeing them all over Pinterest and Facebook with everything from steak to shrimp to chicken. I decided it was high time I made my own foil packet recipe, and this bacon ranch chicken is not to be missed. In fact, my family loved these chicken foil packets so much that I made them two days in a row!
How Do You Make Bacon Ranch Chicken Foil Packets?
For this recipe you’ll need chicken breasts, small red potatoes, ranch powder, butter, bacon and cheese. How can you go wrong with an ingredient list like that? You can find ranch seasoning packets in the salad dressing aisle of your grocery store. The chicken and potatoes are seasoned with ranch flavored butter, then wrapped up and baked or grilled to perfection. The potatoes I used were about 1 and 1/2 inches in diameter, and I used average sized chicken breasts. If your potatoes are on the larger side, cut them into quarters so that they’ll bake in the time that the chicken is cooked through. I’d also stay away from the thin cut or oversized chicken breasts for this recipe, each breast should weigh about 4 ounces so that it cooks evenly with the potatoes.
After the chicken and potatoes are done, they get smothered in cheese and go back to the oven or grill for a few minutes until the cheese is melted. Add a sprinkling of bacon and parsley and you’ve got an amazingly flavor packed meal!
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Other Recipes You’ll Love
- One Dish Grilled Chicken Dinner
- Salmon Foil Packets
- Greek Lemon Chicken
- Marinated Salmon
- Grilled Potatoes in Foil
Bacon Ranch Chicken Foil Packets Video
Bacon Ranch Chicken Foil Packets
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter melted
- 2 tablespoons ranch seasoning powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 medium sized chicken breasts approximately 4 ounces each
- 1 pound small red potatoes halved or quartered
- nonstick cooking spray
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees or a grill over medium high heat. In a small bowl whisk together the butter, ranch seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Coat 4 large squares of foil with cooking spray.
- Place the potatoes in a bowl and drizzle with 4 tablespoons of the ranch butter over the top. Toss to coat evenly.
- Place a chicken breast onto each of the foil squares and season with salt and pepper to taste. Divide the potatoes evenly among the 4 foil squares and arrange them around the chicken.
- Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over the chicken breasts. Fold the edges of the foil over the chicken and potatoes to make a packet.
- Bake for 45 minutes or grill for 30 minutes. Open the packets and sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and potatoes. Leave the packets open and return to the oven or grill for 2-3 minutes or until cheese melts. Sprinkle with bacon and parsley and serve.
Stephanie Todd says
I loved this. The only problem I had was the ranch wouldn’t disintegrate into the butter like yours. It was gummy in it. How do I fix this?
Sara says
What brand did you use?
Stephanie Todd says
I used the hidden valley each seasoning
Kim says
I want to make this for our camping trip. Do you recommend cooking in oven at home first and then freezing to bring out there and just rewarm on the fire? Or would you cook meat only ahead of time and then assemble into tinfoil packets out there? Or how does this work? I’m new to camping… Thanks!
Sara says
The optimal solution would be to cook everything together. You could try freezing it but you’d want to add the bacon after the packets have thawed and cooked or it won’t be crispy.
Christine higgins says
How long should I cook them if I’m using bone in thighs?
Sara says
Add another 10-15 minutes!
Sarah says
I want to cook these without the potatoes. Would I cook for the same time?
Sara says
You would cook for 25 minutes!
Brandi says
Is chicken frozen or thawed when you put it in foil?
Sara says
Thawed chicken!
Maya says
I made this tonight and it was so simple and tasty plus the clean up was a snap. Absolutely recommend this to any and everyone! This is without a doubt a new staple in our house.
Tammy says
Can you just use ranch dressing instead packets
Sara says
I’m not sure if that would work as I haven’t tried it!
Cathy says
This recipe is awesome and I have also made the foil pouches with just the potatoes and ranch butter as a side dish, adding the cheese, parsley and bacon just before serving. I get lots of compliments.
Julie says
Could you tell me please what is ranch seasoning? I’m in UK and never heard of this,thank you for any help ,as great meal 👍
wanda duckworth says
Look for it on the salad dressing isle,, its comes in single packetts or in a box of 4 i believe
Emma says
You can’t buy dried ranch seasoning in the U.K. However, it’s easy to make. Combine some dill, parsley, garlic power, onion powder, salt and pepper and use that.
Samantha says
Could I make the packets ahead of time and put them in the oven when I get home from work?
Sara says
That would be fine, but I would leave the potatoes whole so that they don’t discolor from being in the fridge all day!
AnnieGirl says
I cut my potatoes at night if I’m putting in the crock pot before work the next morning & I completely cover them in water. This seems to keep them from discoloring.
Tracy says
I don’t think I’ve ever had a fail with one of your recipes. This one was soooo easy to prepare (I used the oven) and my family loved it.
Dawn says
Do you set these foil packets on a pan in the oven
Sara says
Yes you’d put them on a pan.
Valerie Vanbergeijk says
This was amazing! I used chicken tenderloins and cut the potatoes smaller so they would cook faster. The chicken and potatoes were nice and brown. The only thing I may do differently next time is to add a bit more ranch seasoning. I used Kroger brand ranch dressing mix and it could have been more “ranchy”. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Traysa says
I made this tonight and we all absolutely LOVED it!! My kids said thanks for making it!! It was not only delicious but quick and easy which makes it even better! Thanks!!
Karen Dykstra says
You most likely do this in a crock pot by eliminating the foil and placing the potatoes in the bottom & chicken on top. Add the cheese towards the end.
Brenda says
Couldn’t you put the foil packets in the crock pot? If so, what temp and how long?
Toni says
I LOVE THIS , CAN’T WAIT TO MAKE .
THANKS FOR SHARING THIS WITH US
TONI
Tina says
Could you do this in crock pot
Sara says
I’ve never tried that so I can’t really say, I’m not sure how well it would work because you’d have to pile up the packets in a crock pot instead of cooking them in a single layer like the oven or grill.