Go to the Recipe: Ranch Chicken
So this looks delicious. More to come when I cook it.
Let us know how it works out for you... I’ve eaten a few, or 15, and not one has disappointed.
Is there enough salt in the ranch packet to properly season the bird? Would a dry brine make this way too salty?
Hi Kyle, There is enough salt in the ranch packet to properly season the bird. You can always add additional salt to taste as needed after cooking.
I made this with small deviations. Baked in a 12 inch cast iron pan. Used buttermilk powder with dry dill, parsley, thyme, onion, garlic, dried mushroom dust and 1% by kosher salt for the rub. I love the idea of the crispy potatoes basted in chicken drippings but my potatoes did not crisp at all when cooked at the temp hiding under the chicken. The spatchcocking worked well to cook the white and dark meat evenly based on two probes and baking at 400F with fan for 30 minutes. The skin was lightly browned throughout from the milk powder but was leathery not crispy. I did let it dry in the fridge for 24hrs prior to cooking but clearly it didn’t work. Any tips to make this with crispy skin and crispy potatoes? Broil to finish? Cook potatoes separately at high temp?
I have purchased the jar of ranch powder from Amazon (as seen in your link). It would be helpful if you could give the weight of 2 packets of powder similar to what you do with other ingredients. Thanks.
I had a look on the hidden valley website and it looks like they are 28g packets. Helpful if you make up your own ranch powder!
Cast iron heats slowly and unevenly, so I would pre-heat it for at least 30 minutes before adding the meat and potatoes. Based on your comments, it might also be worth playing around with raising the chicken on a cookie rack above the potatoes and upping the temp to 500°F a la Kenji's spatchcocked o/n dry-brined roast chicken (as long as the rub didn't burn). Will have to try this recipe this weekend...
https://www.seriouseats.com/2019/11/the-food-lab-video-series-roast-chicken.html
Thanks you for your input. I will try the food lab method this weekend and preheat my pan. I realize deviation from a recipe can lead to weird results that cannot be accounted for by ChefSteps and the real heart of the recipe is the butchery and quick one pot meal concept, which I appreciate. But the recipe is a bit too simple especially in relying on a ranch packet that is difficult to get and expensive outside of the US. Reverse engineering it from ingredients I get the idea of the browning properties of the milk powder but I think it interfered with crisping of the skin. I have actually found several ChefSteps recipes over the years that weren’t quite perfect benefitted from some tweaking a la Kenji to get them next level.
I made the Kenji recipe yesterday, just to get a baseline before trying some of ChefSteps's "Ultimate Roast Chicken" tricks.
After spatchcocking a 5.6 lbs organic chicken, I cold air dry-brined (salt and pepper on both sides) on a cookie rack for 9 hours, then roasted in a 500°F standard oven for 50 minutes (the last 5 under the broiler), until a probe in the breast hit 150°F (thigh was a bit higher). Let rest 5 minutes before serving.
The only change I made was to do a more complete spatchcocking by also removing the rib cage, sternum and wishbone as in the ChefSteps' "Ultimate Roast Chicken" recipe. This made it very easy to quarter the chicken into 4 portions after cooking without ruining the lovely skin.
In the future, I might pull out the torch and touch up some areas of the skin a bit for presentation purposes, but it was still fairly evenly browned and crisped.
Definitely a very easy to make juicy roast chicken with crisp skin.
Could you make this with either cornish hens or duck?
The game hen would be awesome, just adjust the amount of time you need to cook it and go off of temperature instead. And I personally wouldn’t recommend doing this to a duck. I guess I just think that it’s too nice of a bird to throw ranch all over it, but I’m guessing it would end up being delicious.
Thank you I will definitely try it on the game hen when I get the packet
Kyl - is there any advantage to dry brining the chicken before seasoning it with the ranch dressing? Planning this for four days from now.Thanks, in advance...
This was great. For slightly less effort and lower presentation results I might quarter the chicken and follow the recipe from there. Removing the ribs and breastplate from the breast is more challenging than removing the breasts from the bones. If that makes sense. Definitely will be my go to roast chicken recipe.
There is going to be enough salt just in the ranch packets that I wouldn’t recommend adding more. Also you should put the ranch on as close to the cook as possible. If you do it days in advance you get a bit of a soggy skin.
Quick and easy, moist and tasty! I like the extra deboning steps after removing the backbone because it makes it easy to cut apart the finished dish into 4 quarters for serving.
As noted below, only some of the potatoes had crisp bits because of all the the fat and juices dripping from the chicken on top of them. But they still tasted great (think Fondant potatoes). You could collect the drippings and juices, remove the fat and make a quick sauce for the potatoes too.
Hit it with the broiler at the end as it was approaching temp, but be careful since the Hidden Valley will burn a bit (still fine though).
4.8lbs Bell & Evans Air-Chilled chicken. 425°F x 45 min to 140°F in breast, then turned on the broiler until 150°F.
Made this and it was awesome and looking forward to making another soon. This is so simple, it's hard to imagine variations. With a recipe so basic, what kind of testing leads to 15 chickens???
this was a result of testing a bunch of options from our roasted chicken trials and was a happy surprise. We didn't start out with the goal to make a ranch flavored chicken.
We know you have a Ranch-flavored fetish Kyl, admit it!
First meal of 2020
Thanks for coaching!
Ok next challenge, can you develop a recipe for a ranch seasoning blend? That would be great for those of us that don't want to buy Hidden Valley Ranch and/or consume the various chemicals included in that seasoning mix...
challenge accepted Kevin...
Can I make this with normal sized potatoes, cut into pieces and cooked in less aggressively seasoned water to stop them getting too salty, then smashed? I can't always get baby potatoes here in Australia, they tend to be a seasonal offering at the grocers I shop at.
Also: your wee weeny inch potatoes are adorable, I don't know I've ever seen them so small in retail sale here!
I would recommend still cooking the potatoes whole, just don't boil them so aggressively. Cook until very soft, then cut and smash.
Hi we are in Europe (Ireland) and don’t have ranch dressing powder could you give us the ingredients of this powder so we can try to replicate please?
we are going to work on our own home made version over the next few months, but basically it is buttermilk powder, dried herbs, dried garlic and dried onions. and some MSG and some other preservatives you can skip when making it at home
We are going to work on our own homemade version over the next few months, but basically it is buttermilk powder, dried herbs, dried garlic and dried onions, some MSG and some other preservatives you can skip when making it at home.
I’ve done this twice and both times were awesome. The first time I had to prep ahead of time so I put the powder on first and put it in the fridge for a couple hours. The second time I powdered it and put it right on top of the potatoes and into the oven.
The second go around was noticeably better. Maybe it just happened to be better, but not letting the powder soak into the skin and meat for a long time seemed to result in a more flavorful dish. This is an every other week staple. Like $15 all in? This is legit.
Here's a previous CS attempt at Ranch. But ranch isn't hard to make at home without a recipe; it was my 5 year old's first recipe to make herself! I like a mix of sour cream and mayo, and then throw in green herbs of your choice (I like lots of dill), some garlic powder and onion powder 'to taste', some lemon juice, and some MSG. It is really hard to screw up!
thanks Wes, that is a great one.. I'm going to work on making our own powdered version so you all can make your own packets...
My favorite homemade ranch powder:
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried chives
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Add that to 2 cups of sour cream for dip or a mixture buttermilk and sour cream for dressing.
Thanks! I will keep an eye for your homemade version!
This recipe was easy to follow, and even with some slight modifications turned out very good and very easy. I added some Brussels and used my own spice rub instead. Didn't get the crispy skin all over, but lots of flavor, and again EASY.
Looks great, @Nick Roush!
Wow! You nailed it, @Tim Phelps!
My wife brought some ranch dressing from a holiday. Can we use this liquid dressing instead if a powder? If yes, how does it work?
Thank you your recipes are amazing and you are already using grams and liters instead if cups. It would be great if you could also use more international versions of ingredients, basically just more natural things, so we Europeans have an easier time to follow your recipes
So, just cooked this for a second time. It was even better than the first time. Butchering the chicken takes a few minutes but with a sharp knife and watching the video, it's REALLY worth it.
I have made this twice now, awesome both times. Spatchcocking is fun and seems to impress people. Love this Chef Steps and Joule. Thank you to the team.
that's not going to work out for you, sorry. it will burn and keep it from getting crispy
I made this last night when we had my parents over for dinner. Watching the video really helped me to butcher the chicken. It was worth it -- the dish was delicious and impressed!
In addition to the ranch powder, the chicken really benefits from a few pinches of chicken powder. I also melted some schmaltz before
putting in the potatoes - the dish turned out great!
Any recommendations about using the Traeger on the chicken prior to the roast?
ohhh smoked ranch chicken!! way to level it up. all you really need to do is watch the temp of the chicken. I would bring it to around 100-110f in the smoker before transfer to the oven to get a good roast on it.
Just made this recipe, but added a brine. Hang on. I can explain. It’s become customary for me to add a thin coating of Shio Koji to chicken, turkey, beef, venison..okay, any protein, an hour or so before cooking. The time depends on the thickness of the cut. A big turkey would go overnight. It’s important to rinse the Koji off with water before cooking in air because of the sugars left over by the enzymes(?). This dish is roasted, so rinse vigorously before adding the Ranch. Still, it browned way to early so I covered it about half way through. The result was Delicious. However, the skin was tough, not crisp. I’ll have experiment with that a bit. The potatoes were incredible!
By the way, you can make your own Koji in three days with Joule.
@Andy, I am very interested in making my own Koji. I bought the Noma Guide to Fermentation and learned all about it, but I'd love to find out how to do it in 3 days! Any info you can share?
Kyl,
Any update on your home made ranch powder?
I marinated my butterflied chicken in Shio Koji for 24 hours. As I was scared I washed all the Shio Koji away and started to roast the chicken with Cretan homemade pasta. However, the chicken hasn't been even brown even after 66 degrees in the breasts.
Next time I won't wash Shio Koji marinade.
Thank you for all the shared information
Hi Mike. I really enjoy that NOMA book. I left out a word in my description above. I make my own "Shio and Shuyo" Koji in just a few days. The original recipe came from Cook's Illustrated. Basically crumble up the inoculated rice and add salt water (for Shuyo Koji, use full salt Soy Sauce). I accelerate the fermentation by using a canning jar in the 86F sous vide. Give it a shake every day. At the end of 3 days, I put it in the blender then the fridge, then it's ready to use. Shuyo Koji is really good in red meats.
Baby potatoes readily available Coles and Woolworths in Australia
What about brining the chicken in a 2% salt/water solution?
I tried a few versions in the freeze dryer that turned out well.. but not worth the effort.... trying some in the dehydrator soon
flesh will be great, I would recommend adding some of the ranch in the brine. but it does create uneven browning on the skin and it will be less crisp.
Late to the party here but finally got around to making this (a few times now). Love it, and i'm not even that much of a ranch fan. Worked just fine with sweet potatoes and russets too.. Great weeknight meal w/ time for making sides/cocktails built-in as the chicken roasts...
Re homemade ranch powder - Ideas in Food has a good recipe in their first book.
very tasty recipe,
however, chicken juice in bottom of pan prevents potatoes from becoming crispy
does anyone else have this issue?
We made this last night while various other longer recipes were "in process" of brining, fermenting, proofing and it was delish. I had bone-in skin-on chicken breast w/rib and bone-in skin-on chicken thighs. I tend to soak any chicken I'm going to make in buttermilk for a few hours so I did that first, patted it dry then sprinkled with ranch and pepper on both sides, then coated with EVOO. I added fennel to the potatoes in the oven and made bacon brussel sprouts on the side. The skin was nice and crisp and there was plenty of rendering for au jus or gravy. My husband and neighbor were raving about it and neither of them associated the "ranch dressing" flavor.
Has anyone tried this with turkey? I’m wondering if the longer cook time would ruin the potatoes.
You could leave the potatoes whole and they would stay intact and be great.
Thanks for the reply! Just to confirm, would you still boil the potatoes first?
yep, just leave them whole.
How much ranch powder is in a packet? Have some bulk ranch powder, but not sure how much is in the packets you are using
1 oz- 28g per packet.
I preheat my pan in oven with the olive oil and when oven gets to temperature I take pan out and carefully layer potatoes. This helps immensely for crisping. I also put my ranch on the chicken at this point. I lay the chicken breast side down on potatoes and sprinkle on ranch. Then flip it breast side up and do the same. This way any ranch that doesn’t stay on chicken ends up on potatoes.
