Baked Italian Dressing Chicken
Let’s chat about bottom of the jar chicken, aka Italian dressing chicken. A simple chicken breast recipe doesn’t always turn out very flavorful and that’s kind of annoying because every adult out there knows that what we really need is quick, easy AND delicious dinner ideas, which is where this Bottom of the Jar Chicken recipe comes in.
We start with a simple breast of chicken and then just three more ingredients — apricot jam, Italian dressing, and garlic powder — to add a stitch more flavor. As everything bakes in the oven, the Italian dressing chicken marinade seeps into the chicken, making it packed full of flavor and a perfect standalone dish, served over pasta or even shredded on top of salad.
A long time ago I heard someone mention that they had made Rachel Ray’s bottom of the jar chicken. I asked what it was and they responded that you use the last of your jam and fill the jar with salad dressing and herbs or something like that and then cook it over chicken.
I think that’s what she said, at least. Anyway, the other night I noticed that we still had a little of the pineapple apricot preserves from some turkey burgers we had made. I knew it wasn’t enough for more turkey burgers, but I actually don’t really like that jam for toast so I needed to think up something to do with it. I suddenly remembered that girl talking about using it for chicken, so I winged it!
From there we’ve been making versions of this Bottom of the Jar Chicken ever since, though 9/10 I just buy regular ol’ Apricot preserves.
This Italian dressing chicken was fantastic. It was light and incredibly flavorful. You can’t tell in the picture, but there was actually plenty of sauce, which is huge for me. I’m a saucy person 😉 I loved the mild and slight tang from the dressing with the fruity preserves. It was honestly so good! As I type this I’m totally craving it!
Italian Dressing Chicken Ingredients
The ingredients list for this Italian dressing chicken couldn’t be any simpler! Here’s what we use to make baked chicken with Italian dressing:
- Chicken breasts
- Apricot preserves
- Garlic powder
- Italian dressing
Can I Use Other Types of Jam in This Italian Dressing Chicken?
For sure! It’s a fairly flexible recipe, which is why we love this baked chicken with Italian dressing. We’ve tested and tested this recipe and have found that when you’re using jam, jelly, or preserves for cooking you should stick with one of the following:
- Apricot
- Pineapple Apricot
- Mango
- Peach
- Pear
- Apple
We’ve found that strawberry and raspberry are often too seedy and sweet. However, I’m not stopping you if you’d like to try!
Can I Use Homemade Italian Dressing?
Absolutely! We just used store-bought dressing in this recipe to make this baked chicken as simple possible. But here’s a recipe for a homemade version of Italian Dressing that we LOVE if you prefer.
How to Make Italian Dressing Chicken
This baked Italian chicken couldn’t be easier to make! Here are the steps for making the Italian chicken marinade and cooking the chicken:
- Whisk together the preserves and Italian dressing.
- Pour over the chicken in a baking dish.
- Bake until done.
How Long to Bake Chicken
You can use chicken breasts or chicken tenders to make this Italian dressing chicken, although we prefer chicken breasts. Here are the guidelines for baking chicken:
- Chicken breasts are generally baked at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, depending on the size.
- Chicken tenderloins are baked at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or even 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.
Can I Make Italian Chicken in a CrockPot?
Yes, but note that to make bottom of the jar chicken in the slow cooker or crockpot, you need to use chicken breasts or an increased number of chicken tenders or there won’t be enough meat in the slow cooker and it will burn.
Place the CrockPot on low heat and add the chicken breasts. Pour the dressing all over the chicken and place the lid on. Cook for 8 hours on low. Or if you’re using high heat only cook the chicken for 3-4 hours.
Can I Make Italian Chicken in an Instant Pot?
Yes! The Instant Pot is a great shortcut to making this baked Italian chicken.
To make Italian dressing chicken in an Instant Pot, place a little dressing in the bottom of the pot then add the chicken and the remaining dressing. Set the Instant Pot to high pressure and close the lid, making sure the pressure gauge is set to seal.
Cook for 10-15 minutes and allow a 5 minute natural release. Remove the chicken and enjoy.
Tips for Making Italian Dressing Chicken
I say play with the flavor of the Italian chicken marinade! Add the amounts of jam and dressing that I did, then taste test to make sure it’s to your liking.
Also note that there are actually a lot of store-bought dressings that you can use as a marinade for chicken besides Italian dressing. We mention some in our Asian Ginger Marinade for Grilled Chicken recipe. Italian dressing is a great go-to that anyone can use for chicken, but it’s especially good if you add your own fresh herbs, sun dried tomatoes or even, like in this case, jam.
Here’s the best part too. This makes a killer freezer meal. Just whisk up the marinade in a freezer bag, add chicken breasts or chicken tenderloins, seal and freeze for up to 1 month!
More EASY MARINADE RECIPES:
Looking for more marinade recipes? A good marinade is one of my favorite things, so make sure you try the following:
- Balsamic Steak Marinade
- Favorite Steak Marinade
- Sticky Asian Grilled Chicken
- Grilled Hawaiian Chicken
- Greek Marinade
- Sticky Orange Marinade
More EASY CHICKEN DINNERS:
Or, if you’re just looking for another delicious chicken dinner recipe, go with one of the following:
- Panko Crusted Chicken with Lemon Cream Sauce
- Thai Peanut Sauce Noodles and Chicken
- Simple Garlic Butter Parmesan Chicken with Lemon Rice
- Quick and Easy 15-Minute Chicken Stir Fry
- Teriyaki Chicken Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole
- Quick and Easy Cashew Chicken
- Better Than Grandma’s Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup
- Quick and Easy Cornflake Ranch Chicken
Italian Dressing Chicken
Description
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts, Boneless Skinless
- 1/3 Cup Apricot Preserves
- Dash Garlic Powder
- 2/3 Bottle Italian Dressing, or less
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Mix the salad dressing and preserves together. Then, pour over the chicken in a small baking dish.
- Bake for 25 -30 min.
- Serve chicken and sauce over pasta!
Notes
Nutrition
Recommended Products
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Audey
Can I make the apricot preserves and italian dressing recipe with bone in chicken thighs Thank you
Sweet Basil
Absolutely!! Enjoy!
Helen
Delicious, and probably the easiest chicken dish I’ve ever made!
Sweet Basil
Yessss Helen! Love to hear it!
Marc
Your recipe book has it as 1 and 1/3 cup Italian dressing. And the chocolate chip cookies recipe had too little of flour. It said 1 and 3/4 cup of flour. Once we did the recipes as they are online, they are really good
Sweet Basil
Hi Marc! Yes, I am so sorry, there are a few errors in the original edition of the cookbook. I’ll list out the fixes below. For this recipe, the recipe online says 2/3 bottle of Italian dressing. I just converted that to cups for the cookbook. So 2/3 of a bottle of dressing is about 1 1/3 cup.
Cookbook corrections:
2 1/2 cups of oats in the Monster Bites
11-13 cups of flour in the rolls and white bread
2 3/4 cups of flour in the chocolate chip cookies
2 cups bisquick and 1/2 cup of cornmeal in the cornbread
Bake the cheese doodles at 450 degrees.
I’m so sorry about this!
Marc
I love both books though! Are you coming out with another one?? Buying for my parents cause we loved the recipes so much!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much! We don’t have plans to do another cookbook any time soon, but you never know! Thank you so much for the support!
Leisa
Could you do this with boneless skinless thighs? If so, how long and at what temp would you cook them?
Thanks!
Sweet Basil
Yes absolutely!! Keep the temperature and baking time the same. You’ll want an internal temperature of 165 degrees. This will be delicious with thighs!
Ashley Meese
I’ve made SO many of your recipes since quarantine started and they have been some of our families favorites! Have you made this in the crockpot? Thank you!
Sweet Basil
Thank you so much for the support Ashley! Yes, you can absolutely make this in the crock pot. There is a section in the post titled “Can I Make Italian Chicken in a CrockPot?” describing how to do it. Enjoy!
Tammy
What brand of Italian dressing do you like for this recipe?
Sweet Basil
We just use Kraft. Nothing fancy!
Wheniss.com
Thank you and thanks for the heads up! We do have some control with that so I’ll see what I can do!
Sweet Basil
Great! Enjoy!
temple run 2
Can not wait to try it out! It looks so good to try..Thanks
temple run 2
Sweet Basil
Thanks! Enjoy!
Tattooedmomma
Do you know if orange marmalade would work? It’s pretty bitter but maybe the dressing would sweeten it?
Sweet Basil
Yes, it works great! I love the combination of orange and chicken!! Enjoy!
Anette
Any idea on weight of chicken? Some chicken breasts are quite large….
Sweet Basil
I would say about 20 ounces of chicken or about a pound and a half.
Connie Motheral
I am cooking this now. I only had strawberry jam (besides
grape). Lol. I also added a few crushed pepper flakes. So I’ll see how this turns out.
Sweet Basil
Yum! We love it with strawberry! We would love to hear how it went!
Sierra
Can you share the burgers that you made that caused you to have the leftover pineapple apricot preserves in the first place? 😀
Sweet Basil
Here you go! https://ohsweetbasil.com/sweet-and-tangy-turkey-burgers/
Healthy Kitchen 101
The chicken looks wonderful! Honestly, I’ve never heard of this ‘strange’ recipe before 😂 but I can see this is amazing with all your experiments 😍Apricot absolutely will bring to the chicken a great taste! I cannot wait to try this!!
– Natalie Ellis
Sweet Basil
Thanks Natalie! You are going to love it! I am sure of it!
Robyn durkin
Orange marmalade works wonderously on chicken as well. Little but of soy sauce and garlic.. oh man it’s yummy.
Sweet Basil
I love the sound of that! I’ll have to try that ASAP!
Abeer Rizvi
I love the name of this recipe and it’s so versatile too… I can use any jam or preserves I like!
Sweet Basil
Thanks Abeer! It really is so good!
Kristyn Merkley
My family loves trying new chicken recipes! This looks amazing!
Sweet Basil
You are going to love this one!!
Shawna McGrath
Is that calorie count correct?
Sweet Basil
No, we are working on getting it corrected. Thank you, Shawna!
Allyson Zea
I have never heard of this! Can’t wait to try it!
Sweet Basil
It is so dang good! You’re going to love it!
Sabrina
With school starting, I’ve been looking for more freezer meals. This one is perfect!
Sweet Basil
You’re going to love it!
Jaide
Such a good idea and it looks so good!!
Sweet Basil
Thanks Jaide!!
Carolyn
What a great way to use up last little ends of things!
Sweet Basil
Right?! I always feel extra awesome when I clean something out of the fridge that has been in there a while! Ha!
Gina
What do you think about using fig jam?
Sweet Basil
I bet it would be delicious!! If you make it, let us know how it turns out! thanks for asking!
Gina
Sounds delicious! I was shocked at the nutrition info then realized it was for the whole recipe! Eek!
Sweet Basil
Phew, right?!
Sylvia B
I’m curious about the calorie count. I know it is approximate but 3278 seams like a lot. Is that correct? Love the blog and your recipes!
Gina
I just posted similar. It says it’s for the whole recipe. Still seems like. Lot for 2 chicken breasts.
Sweet Basil
That is way too high! I will check on it. Thank you for leaving a comment!
Carol G
I love this idea Carrian! All too often I find those dribs and drabs of preserves or jam-if I use it on a sandwich then there won’t be enough for another one but too much for this sandwich…this recipe solves that problem lickety split1 I love that you can do it it a slow cooker or pressure cooker too. In the hot summer weather, those last 2 appliances have been my friend for sure.
Now off to the refrigerator to see what I can find! 🙂
Sweet Basil
We just love this chicken and it’s an extra bonus that it uses that extra jam!! If you make it, we would love to hear what you think!
Grandma Honey
You say up to 2/3 bottle of Italian Salad dressing, but not what size the bottle is? Not sure whether to buy an 8 oz bottle or 16 oz. I’m anxious to try this. Thank you!
Elizabeth
Grandma Honey, I was wondering the same thing 🙂 Possibly it means 2/3 Cup of the Italian Dressing?
Sweet Basil
2/3 of a 16oz bottle
Sweet Basil
16 oz bottle! Great question!
Grandma Honey
How kind of you to get back to me. You too Elizabeth!!
helene
I’m in your camp on RR too. She has good ideas but you always have to improvise on it.
Sweet Basil
Exactly
Val
This looks so great to me. I love your blog.
burntapple
Great idea! Thanks for posting!
Carrian
haha i sure do! plus i love that you said “valuable real estate”. i've never heard that but i'll for sure be stealing it!!!!!!
Joseph’s Grainery Recipes
Don't you just love it when a recipe comes together like this and you get to use something that's been taking up valuable real estate in your fridge? Yumm!