Looking for a quick dinner that is super tasty, satisfying and simple? Here ya go!

I’ve debated even posting this because it is so dang simple. As in 2 ingredients, dang simple. And maybe the whole world already knows about it. But, I’m going to go forward because:

1. A good number of my recipes that include chicken taste better when the chicken skinny dips in Italian dressing (Bruschetta Chicken, chicken in the Antipasto Salad to name a couple). 
2. It is so dang good just on its own.
3. It is one of my favorite, “oh crap, my family is probably going to want to eat dinner tonight and I have NOTHING planned” go-tos.

I grew up on this stuff. My mom cooked dinner nearly every night, it never dawned on me that this meal may have been a result of #3 above, I just knew I loved it. I’m the youngest of 4 and I used to watch my brothers and sister add extra Italian dressing to theirs on their plates and so of course I would do the same. I don’t do that anymore, the marinated flavor comes through perfectly, but I won’t judge if you want to give it a try. 

There are a couple of ways to go about this. First, plan ahead and marinate your raw chicken breasts 30 minutes to 2 hours before you plan to grill. Way to go you organizational beast! Your chicken is safely defrosted and marinating, kids are quietly practicing their conversational Chinese by complimenting one another, and you are laying out plans for Spring Break 2 years from now. I aspire to be you!  Keep it up, buttercup.

Second, you people in this group are my soul siblings. You get me. These are the thoughts going through our heads,  “Crap, why do they want to eat every.single.night?!? We really shouldn’t do take-out [again]. I think I have some frozen chicken. Wonder what I could wrastle up with that”. Yes, wrastle, not wrestle. First, don’t panic. No one will ever know this dinner was an afterthought. Second, safely defrost your chicken. Safety first people, even if we might otherwise feel a tad disheveled. Put those breasts in some sealable baggies and get them in a bowl of cold water. It’s magical how quickly they begin defrosting. I flip them after about 15 minutes to their other side and change out the water as it usually has gotten a little too freezy cold. 

Note about frozen chicken – I like to either buy frozen thin sliced chicken breasts (like Foster Farms Thin Sliced Chicken Breast), or buy chicken breasts on sale and cut them to my desired thinness before sealing them up in baggies and freezing. This makes the whole defrost process so much quicker. And, I just prefer eating thin chicken over thick chicken.

Third/Last way, keep some chicken frozen in its marinade in the freezer. When you want to have it for dinner, take it out of the freezer the evening before and place it in the refrigerator until defrosted. I don’t prefer this method as I feel the chicken becomes too saturated with the dressing. I prefer to take it out of the freezer for about an hour or so before intended use and defrost in a bowl of cold water. Voila, you are an amazing human being, on par with the overachiever in scenario #1. 

The Recipe