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

Spoon cost

Time ●●○○○ Anytime

Servingsamounts scale to match

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.

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.

One-dish meal: spread a layer of cooked rice in the dish first, then the chicken mixture and crackers.

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.

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.