Italian Dressing Chicken made with only two ingredients is a simple and mouth wateringly delicious dish with juicy baked chicken thighs smothered in a tangy marinade.
Chicken cooked with Italian Dressing is ridiculously simple to make, but absolutely one of our family’s favorite meals! This recipe makes flavorful and incredibly juicy piece of meat that you’ll want to make again and again! Try it alongside some easy zucchini noodles with blender spaghetti sauce and chocolate chip nutella brownies for dessert!
Italian Dressing Chicken
Italian Dressing Chicken
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Italian Dressing Chicken Ingredients
- Chicken – My preference for this recipe is bone-in chicken thighs with skin. The meat comes out tender and juicy, while the skin browns and crisps beautifully. Drumsticks are also a great option. You can use boneless cuts or breast meat as well.
- Italian Salad Dressing – You can use any kind of Italian salad dressing you prefer, but our favorite for a quick dinner is a super basic Wishbone or Kraft bottle. Store brand is totally fine too! It is fun to play with flavors sometimes too though, try a few different styles (maybe balsamic or red wine vinegar) and find your own fave! Want to get fancy? Try using our homemade creamy dressing.
- Parsley – This is a very tan dish (delicious, but very tan). As such, I like to sprinkle a little fresh chopped parsely, or sometimes green onion on top before serving.
How to you make chicken with Italian dressing? (Step-by-step)
⭐ First, place chicken thighs skin side up in a casserole dish. It’s fine to crowd them in, but they should still be in a single layer.
⭐ Next, using your upright blender or stick blender, blend the Italian dressing until it is emulsified and completely homogeneous (looks the same throughout).
⭐ Then, pour dressing over chicken, making sure to lift each piece and allow dressing to get underneath as well.
⭐ Finally, bake until chicken reaches a safe temperature and skin is turning golden. If you are using a broiler safe dish, you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two (watching very closely) to brown skin further.
Preparation
Can you make Italian Dressing Chicken ahead of time?
You can prepare the chicken in the marinade up to 48 hours in advance of cooking it. Alternatively, you can bake it 3 – 4 days ahead and store the cooked chicken in the refrigerator until ready to eat.
Do you have to marinate the chicken in advance?
You do not have to marinate the chicken in this recipe ahead of cooking. We typically do not at our house.
How long can you marinate chicken?
Chicken should be marinated no more than 48 hours in advance. Any longer than this and the dressing will cause the chicken to be tough.
Can I use chicken breasts instead?
You can use chicken breasts instead of thighs in this recipe. Use a meat thermometer to remove the breasts from the oven as soon as they reach a safe internal temperature (165 F) to avoid over cooking. Chicken breasts can become dry and tough if cooked too long.
Leftovers and Storage
How long will Italian dressing chicken last before it’s cooked?
You can marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours before cooking it. Do not marinate chicken longer than that as the acids in the dressing will cause the meat to toughen if left too long.
Another alternative is to freeze the chicken in the marinade for up to several weeks.
How long will cooked Italian dressing chicken last?
Cooked chicken will last 3 – 4 days in the refrigerator. Leftovers can also be frozen for up to three months.
Make sure it’s kept in a sealed refrigerator/freezer safe container and has not been left out at room temperature for longer than two hours at any time. If it has been left out in excess of 2 hours, the chicken should be disposed of.
Can you freeze Italian dressing chicken?
You can freeze the chicken either before it is cooked or after. The chicken should be stored in an airtight freezer safe container.
If freezing before cooking, you can keep the uncooked marinated chicken in the freezer for a few weeks. If freezing after cooking, the chicken can be kept in the freezer for several months.
How to reheat?
Reheat in the microwave for 60 – 90 seconds on high power. You may want to cover the dish with a paper towel or other device to avoid splatter.
Complete this meal with our recipe suggestions
I am a chicken and potatoes gal, so you’d better believe I’m going to suggest some oven roasted red potatoes as the perfect side dish for this recipe.
But if you don’t have two ovens and still want potatoes, try using a larger casserole dish and cooking the potatoes right alongside the chicken. They’ll be totally delicious!
For something green, try our broccoli salad recipe, easy sauteed vegetables, or shaved brussel sprouts salad. I also love chicken alongside this easy cranberry sauce recipe. And you’ll definitely want to end on a sweet note with a thick slice of our cinnamon sour cream coffee cake!
More Chicken Thigh Recipes
- Pan seared chicken thighs
- Teriyaki chicken thighs
- Crockpot honey garlic chicken thighs
- Peanut butter chicken thighs
- Honey mustard chicken thighs
- See all our easy chicken thigh recipes!
Other Italian inspired dishes
Tools we love
- Stick blender – Possibly the most used gadget in my entire kitchen. The key to making a hand blender useful versus a giant pain in the butt is to rinse it immediately after using. That way you’re never trying to get crusty dried goop out from under the blades.
- Digital meat thermometer – The best way to get a quick reading on your meats and make sure you don’t serve overcooked food!
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How to Make Italian Dressing Chicken
Italian Dressing Chicken
Ingredients
- 8 large chicken thighs bone in/skin on
- 1 bottle Italian dressing 16 ounces
- Chopped fresh parsley or green onion optional
Instructions
- Blend Italian dressing with a stick blender or in an upright blender until emulsified (when the oil is no longer separated and it all looks the same throughout).
- Place chicken thighs in single layer, skin side up, into a 9 x 11 roasting pan. It’s fine if they are packed in tightly, just make sure they are in a single layer and not stacked on top of one another.
- Cover with Italian dressing, lifting each chicken thigh to make sure sauce is on all sides.
- Bake on middle rack of oven at 350 degrees uncovered for 45 - 50 minutes, or until chicken reaches a safe internal temperature (165 F).
- If using a broiler safe dish, turn on broiler for 1 - 3 minutes to brown and crisp skin. (Watch carefully to avoid burning).
- Garnish with chopped parsley or green onion.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t get enough chicken? Try our smoked chicken legs recipe!
Italian Dressing Chicken
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Melody Gravitt says
I would make this with skin on breasts with some homemade Italian dressing. Love being an email subscriber! Thanks so much.
Barbara Sears says
This sounds delicious and will be trying with chicken breast – not a fan of dark meat.
Teodora says
I was brought up on homemade Italian dressing! My mom made it all time ! It’s so yummy and we’ll Let’s be honest everything tastes better with Italian dressing ! So yum! Chicken thighs breast wings! I love putting it in my pasta salad!!
Lori Nflgirl says
Chicken Breasts without skin for sure and bottled or homemade is just fine!
Elizabeth says
I would make it with Chicken thighs, as they would be too dried out with breasts, in my opinion. I would also probably grab a bottle of Italian dressing from the store, as the Olive Garden brand is delish, and would probably work great. Thank you for the recipe!
Meredith says
Can’t wait to try this with thighs! I used to make with strips of chicken breast when the kids were young.
Sherry Courtney says
I can’t wait to try this recipe with chicken thighs!
Gail Marvin says
Definitely thighs with the skin on!
Brenda says
Use thighs more than breast because they don’t dry out as much
Cyndi says
I will be using boneless chicken breasts because I already have them, and bottled dressing. i will be adding garlic, love it.
Larry says
Looks good will try it next week.
Nysha Key says
I’m making this tonight with skin-on chicken thighs and roasted red potatoes in the same casserole dish. Can’t wait for dinner!
CAROL G NYE says
This is the method used for “Chicken Bar-B-Que” by the volunteer fire departments in New York State! Delicious! Cooked over a charcoal or wood fire!!
Crystal Landers says
I am so going to make this for dinner. It sounds delicious. I agree with the oven roasted potatoes and then I’ll do my scalloped cabbage with it. I think that will be delicious.
Shirley Gagne says
I would make this with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Looks delicious. Love your emails, thank you
Brenda S. says
Yum! probable doing chicken breasts, not chicken thighs.
Pat A. says
I prefer chicken thighs and drumsticks because they have more flavor and are not dry. If chicken is fried or bbq’d I like the skin on but if baked or stewed then no skin. I’m not going to lie, I’ve always gotten the Good Seasons Italian salad dressing packets because I didn’t know how or have a recipe to make my own; but now I can try to make it from scratch! 😀
Yolanda Barajas says
Would make it with chicken breasts, skin on so as to not dry out too much, bottled Italian dressing and roasted potatoes, green leafy salad. Good summer cooking.
Heather Rhodes says
I love this with chicken thighs.
Angela Germagliotti-Copas says
I just made this recipe the other night with chicken breast’s. I used bottle dressing I didn’t know about using a blender to blend the salad dressing. We love chicken made this way and it’s so quick and easy. Makes a great dish.