2For66

Date Cooked: November 7, 2024

Well, it isn’t all caviar and toast points; sometimes a dish is just not good. This was a decidedly blah-bordering-on-yucky way to cook chicken thighs. At the end of the post I have a tried-and-true alternative.

There are many recipes for this recipe of coating chicken thighs with a mixture of powdered ranch dressing, olive oil, pressed garlic, and a bit of pepper. While recipes may vary a bit, the basics are the same.

Mix a 1 ounce packet of ranch seasoning with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and 1 diced or pressed garlic clove.

I trimmed the fat off six chicken thighs, placed them on a baking sheet wrapped in aluminum foil (to facilitate cleanup) and brushed on the coating. The amount of sauce was barely enough to cover the thighs – although the chicken thighs I get some kinda large.

We’ll need some vegetables too; since it’s getting deep into fall so let’s go with root vegetables: parsnips and carrots. Trim and cut in half lengthwise and toss with some olive oil and salt. (Do you see a problem with the vegetables? I’ll get to that in a bit)

A few years ago I roasted some pork chops with parsnips and apple slices on a sheet pan. That was good. I was surprised at how sweet and yummy the parsnips were. And roasted carrots? Delicious.

I couldn’t fit the chicken and the vegetables on one sheet pan; no worries, two sheet pans in the oven works just fine.

Chicken and vegetables cook in a 400° oven, flipping the vegetables at least once. When they are done, it looked tasty.

Dinner is served My serving was uninspired. A small salad would have been nice.

Rating: ★ A rare 1 star.

I’ve roasted carrots and parsnips before and had they were delicious. Had I peeled them prior to roasting they would have actually been good. Regardless, the 1 star is earned by the chicken. The ranch dressing gave off a sharp, almost metallic taste. I just didn’t find any depth to the flavor. But what do I know, this recipe earns 3 to 4 stars on many cooking blogs.

There are way better ways to bake chicken thighs with a tasty crunchy exterior. My favorite is this recipe from Dad Cooks Dinner that I’ve been making off and on for 10 years. You can read my post on it here. If you want to roast the best whole chicken of all space time and dimension (with roasted carrots to prove I know how) check out this post.