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Smothered chicken topped with a ranch cream cheese mixture, cheddar, crispy fried bacon, and green onions. It doesn’t get tastier than this cheesy chicken recipe!
Have you guys noticed a trend when it comes to chicken recipes here?
They basically all involve cheese and many involve bacon.
The truth is that I’ve not always been the biggest fan of chicken, but lately I’m just obsessed with it. We eat some version of low carb chicken multiple nights a week these days and it’s almost always a hit with everyone in my family.
This keto chicken recipe is pretty fantastic – super low in carbs, extra fat from the cheese and bacon, and enough protein to keep you full.
Oh, and don’t worry – I didn’t just sprinkle some cheddar on a chicken breast here. I added ranch seasoning to cream cheese, smeared that on some chicken, and THEN added the cheddar.
This is keto. We need fat and flavor. 😉
How to make ranch chicken smothered in cheese:
To start, we’re going to season up some chicken breasts. I used paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder, but you can use any seasoning blend you think sounds good.
Just remember not to add too much salt as the cheesy topping is a bit salty on it’s own, plus we’re adding bacon down the road.
Once your chicken breasts are covered in seasoning, heat up a skillet and swirl in some avocado oil.
Add your chicken breasts and let them brown on each side. This dish will be finished in the oven, so no need to fully cook the chicken. Just get a nice browned outside.
While the chicken is browning, stir together some room temperature cream cheese and ranch seasoning mix. The ranch seasoning mix isn’t strictly keto as it contains a few questionable ingredients. If you’re strict keto, use the dry seasonings/herbs from my recipe for ranch dressing, mix them together, and measure out 1 tablespoon for use in this recipe. Store the rest for use in my low carb crackers!
Smear the ranch cream cheese mixture evenly over the tops of the chicken breasts and then pile on some freshly shredded cheddar cheese.
It seriously looks so good at this stage, right?
Pop all this in a hot oven and let it finish cooking. This should take about 10 minutes, but you’ll want to use a meat thermometer to test for doneness. This is the one I use and recommend. That’s an affiliate link which means that I’ll earn a small commission if you use that link to purchase a thermometer.
When the chicken is cooked through, the cheese will be perfectly melted and you’ll be ready to top your cheese smothered chicken with some freshly fried bacon and chopped green onions.
This dish has such a pretty presentation, doesn’t it? Who wouldn’t want to dive right in to that cheesy chicken??
What to serve with this cheese smothered chicken:
Fried Radishes: Believe it or not, when you cook radishes they lose their bite and soften up like a potato!
Keto Coleslaw: Everyone’s favorite coleslaw recipe!
Brussel Sprouts with Bacon: Bacon makes everything better – especially sprouts.
Oven Roasted Veggies: The simplest way to prepare vegetables!
If you enjoyed this low carb chicken recipe, please be sure to follow me on Facebook for more low carb recipes!
Cheddar Bacon & Ranch Smothered Chicken
The cheesiest smothered chicken ever! Top it off with bacon for extra goodness.
Per chicken breast: 617 calories, 42g fat, 57g protein, 4g carbs, 0g fiber = 4 net carbs
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts about 6 ounces each
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 6 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning powder
- 1 cup grated cheddar
- 10 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Mix together onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika and sprinkle evenly over chicken. Rub to coat chicken in seasoning blend.
- Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed, oven safe skillet over medium heat.
- Add the chicken to the skillet and cook for 4 minutes on each side or until nicely browned.
- As chicken is cooking, stir together the cream cheese and ranch seasoning in a small bowl until well combined.
- Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over each piece of chicken.
- Top with the shredded cheese.
- Place pan in the oven and bake until chicken is fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
- Top with the crumbled bacon and green onions just before serving.
54 comments
This just looks so good! I could definitely do Keto with this! YUM!
is this recepie good with diabetes? too much salt i’m afraid
This recipe is low in carbs, which is generally a win for diabetics.
I made this the day you posted it, was wondering what to do with the chicken I had thawed out. I used chicken tenders & did 2 per serving. So good & hubby approved! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes, your hard work makes low carb a breeze.
Yay! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! <3 Glad you find the recipes helpful!
OMG just found you and loving the low carb recipes and pics AND totally love how you list your nutritional info. I will definitely be trying out a lot of them. The total cal in this particular one…is on one piece or all 4?
The nutrition info is based on the serving size – so one piece of chicken. 🙂
Awesome thanks!
Excellent. Easy and quick to put together.
My family devoured this! Thanks so much! Keep these amazing recipes coming!
What I saw ranch seasoning
Yes, the recipe calls for ranch seasoning.
This was tasty for sure. I used dark skinless thigh meat instead of chicken breast. I had a devil of a time getting the cream cheese mixture to spread evenly on hot chicken after browning though.
Yeah, it’s not the easiest to spread it around, but if you’re using room temp cream cheese, it definitely helps. Worth it in the end though. 😉
I melted my cream cheese a bit in the microwave and had no trouble spreading it over the hot chicken.
What a great idea! Thanks for the tip!
I was sad that this came out so bad. I had high expectations since I love each ingredient. Expected the cream cheese to melt more and the chicken to come out with more flavor. Also had to cook in the oven much longer then expected. 🙁
Sorry to hear this one wasn’t a hit for you guys!
I made this tonight. So easy and they look exactly as yours do! Delicious! Thank you!
Can you use the flavored cream cheese dips instead of regular kind? I can’t stand cream cheese and even cooking with it sometimes still has a taste so just wondering.
I’ve never tried a cream cheese dip before – do you just mean the tubs of flavored cream cheese or is it an actual dip? Either way, it should be fine if the main ingredient is cream cheese. If the mixture is too thin it might drip off the chicken otherwise.
Omg it was so good!! Def a must eat!
Yay! So glad to hear that! 🙂
Huge hit with the family!! It’s as delicious as it looks plus super easy and quick to make. A+
So glad it was a hit!
How much equals one serving? One breast?
We tried it and lover it
Yes, one chicken breast is one serving. Glad you enjoyed!
The chicken needs to be sliced thinner, or the ten minutes is not near long enough. Wish this was mentioned in the recipe.
The chicken is cooked for closer to 20 minutes, so that may have been your issue?
10 minutes! The chicken was still raw in 10 minutes. Almost every recipe claims in put it in the oven at this temp for this long and they are never right I don’t even care about the taste at this point this is very annoying.
Perhaps the chicken breasts you’re buying are thicker or your temperature is lower than what the recipe calls for. There are a lot of variables at play, so cook times will always be a guide.
Added some sliced jalapeños on top for that extra kick. Was excellent, we will definitely be eating this again.
OMG made it tonight and added jalapenos and it was so good will make it again for sure good for Keto diet.
Delicious!! I am not a cook but this made me look like one (so easy to follow the recipe)! Thank you!! My husband loved it! Also, my daughter came over to eat after sharing a picture of the food with her. Since she has a 5 week old baby, getting her here doesn’t happen often. She loved it as well! Can’t wait to try more recipes!! We had the roasted vegetables with it, they were tasty as well!!
So glad it was a hit and you got to enjoy some family time! 🙂
I never write comments on recipes, but I felt like this recipe required one. So yummy!!! I used my Instant Pot to cook the chicken, then just browned the chicken in a cast iron, before topping and putting in the oven for 5 minutes.
So quick and easy! It’s definitely going to be worked into my regular meal rotation.
Thanks!