My family has been making this easy chicken dish for many years. It was my favorite request for birthday dinners as a kid. We like it so much, in fact, that our friend (a restaurant owner) prepared it for our wedding rehearsal dinner!
Here's what you need:
Russian Chicken
Ingredients:
8 chicken breasts, bone in
1 package of onion soup mix (dry)
1 cup Russian salad dressing
1 cup apricot jam
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Remove skin from chicken and season with salt and pepper. Place chicken in a large deep pan - a 9" x13" casserole dish works well. In a medium bowl mix together the dry soup mix, Russian dressing and apricot jam. Pour the sauce over the chicken and cover the pan loosely with foil. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches at least 170 degrees.
The result is a tangy chicken with a nice balance of sweet and savory flavors. My husband likes it over mashed potatoes, but I still prefer it the way it was served to me as a kid - over white rice. Add in a green salad or some steamed veggies and you have a can't miss dinner that your family will love.
The key ingredient to this dish is the Russian dressing. Wishbone makes the Russian salad dressing I use in this dish. It is not as popular as some of their other flavors, so it's sometimes hard to find at small grocery stores. It does have a good shelf-life, so I stock up when I find it. Other brands make Russian dressing, and Kraft makes a Catalina dressing that is similar if you cannot find this in your local store.
Article comments
1 - Julia
Thanks a lot for the recipe! What are the ingredients of the Russian dressing? I never knew they produce such thing! :-)
2 - Kerry D
It's a tomato-based dressing. The label says it's got corn syrup, soybean oil, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, beet juice, garlic and other spices. I don't know that I would use it on a salad (I'm more of a ranch dressing girl myself) but it is great as a marinade/sauce.