Spare Spoons Kitchen
Aunt Betty’s Comfort Kitchen · Chicken

Ritzy Chicken

Bite-size chicken folded into a sour-cream-and-soup sauce, baked under a buttery crushed-Ritz crust. Five ingredients, one dish, pure creamy comfort over rice.

10 min prep 25–30 min bake
Effort ●○○○ Time ●●○○ Anytime
Servingsamounts scale to match
4
Units

Ingredients

Cut the chicken into even, bite-size pieces so it cooks through in the bake. Raw chicken goes straight into the sauce here, so uniform pieces are what let it reach a safe 165°F in 25–30 minutes — bigger chunks need longer. Keep the buttery Ritz on top (don't stir it in) so it stays crunchy.

Easier, if you like

  • Use cooked or rotisserie chicken — then it's just heat-through: bake about 20 minutes, until bubbly and the topping is golden.
  • One-dish meal: spread a layer of cooked rice in the dish first, then the chicken mixture and crackers.

Method

    Cook's notes

    Creamy and crunchy. The sour cream and soup bake into a rich sauce, and the Ritz crust gives it the salty-buttery top that makes it disappear.

    Doneness: because the chicken goes in raw, cut it small and even and check it hits 165°F; see the Kitchen Notes on chicken doneness.

    Betty's card says “good with rice” — a bed of rice or noodles soaks up the sauce.

    Stir a little poppy seed into the sauce for the classic “poppy seed chicken” version of this dish.

    Easy to make gluten-free; lighten it up

    Gluten-free: use gluten-free crackers and a gluten-free cream of chicken soup.

    Lighter: light sour cream and a reduced-fat soup both work fine here.