Cheesy (Cheap and Easy) Chicken

As a 19-year-old male college student, there are two driving factors in every food choice I make—money and effort.  Basically, I look for something quick and easy that won’t bottom out my meager budget.  With this in mind, I scanned the cookbooks in my kitchen, and lo and behold, came across the 5-Ingredient Cookbook.  Since I do make a mean baked chicken breast, I decided to go straight to the poultry section where I found a Cheesy Chicken recipe that only called for one ingredient not already at my disposal.  Cheap, easy, cheesy, and chicken?  It sounded good to me.

• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
  

  
• 1 cup crushed cheese-flavored crackers
• pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Instructions: Combine cracker crumbs and pepper.  Dip chicken in melted better, then spread with sour cream.  Roll in crumb mixture.  Place in dish, and bake at 375 degrees until chicken juices run clear.  Yield: 4 servings

First, I had to crush the crackers. The recipe didn’t offer any suggestions as to what would be the best way to do this, but luckily my mom was there to keep me from making a huge mess. Per her suggestion, I put them in a sandwich bag with a little pepper and crushed them with my hands.  I just guessed how many would make a cup, and after getting a little overzealous with my breading, I had to crush a few more to finish. 

Then I melted the butter in a microwave-safe dish big enough to dip the breasts in (even though that wasn’t pointed out in the recipe).

Next, I spread the crackers in dish and went through the last steps.  This was MESSY.  The instructions were vague, so I wasn’t sure how much of the chicken to cover.  I used a butter knife to spread it as evenly as possible, covering both sides of the breast.  I had to hold it up between my fingers to do this.  I then rolled it in the Cheez-Its, sprinkling some on the ends to make sure every part was covered, and put it in the oven. 
 

                                          

I checked the chicken around every 15 minutes since there was no specific bake time given.  After exactly 48 minutes, the middle was white and juicy, so I took it out and served it to my family.

 

When the dish came out of the oven, it DID look very appetizing.  I expected the Cheez-Its to be more brown, but they looked no different.  The chicken itself was juicy and tender, but as my dad and sister said, it really “just tasted like chicken…and Cheez-Its.”  I expected a salty flavor from the crackers, but that, along with the sour cream and pepper were completely absent.  It was really cheesy, but not in a good way—in a processed cheese cracker way (that I think would’ve come through no matter what brand of crackers I used) that left a dry aftertaste despite the juiciness of the chicken itself.  It wasn’t totally inedible to me.  (Although my mom did not finish hers, calling it “a very bad version of Shake ‘n Bake.”) It just looked much better than it tasted.  I don’t think I’ll be making it again.

 

 

This recipe taught me a good lesson—quick, easy, and cheap aren’t always good things. The recipe needed more specificity for me to feel comfortable, and Cheez-Its are still just Cheez-Its, even if they’re baked for 48 minutes.  I think the butter and sour cream idea is a good one, but if I do ever attempt something like this again, I’ll go for real cheese on top. 

 

 

 

 

 

Cassidy, Catherine, ed. Taste of Home 5-Ingredient Cookbook. Greendale, WI: Reiman

     Media Group, 2013. Print. Reader's Digest.