Island Ranch Chicken with Coconut Rice

Island Ranch Chicken is a prettier name than what this recipe was called when my mom found it.  It was named "Carl's Chicken."

Who is Carl?

I have no idea, but I love his chicken!


A lovely woman who used to be my neighbor, gave this recipe its new, improved name. And I'm keeping that name.


My mom used to serve this with plain rice, but I love the sweet taste of coconut rice.  Do whatever suits your tastes!


Yields 4 servings

Island Ranch Chicken
3-4 chicken breasts, frozen*
1 small jar apricot jam
1 packet onion soup mix
1 cup prepared ranch dressing**

Mix the apricot jam, onion soup, and ranch dressing together in a bowl.  Place the chicken on the bottom of 9X13 casserole dish, and pour the sauce over top.  Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 1 hour.

This can be done in the crock pot, which is how my mom used to cook it.  I don't really like cooking chicken in the crock pot as it tends to always be overcooked. I get much juicier results when I use the oven.

Sweet Coconut Rice
1 cup long grain, brown rice
1 12 oz can coconut water (I think it's more like 11.8 oz)***
4.2 oz water****
Salt, to taste
1 TB butter
1 green onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine everything in a rice cooker and let it do its magic!


*You can use fresh chicken if you prefer, but do not add extra water if you do. Decrease cooking time to 45 minutes.

**I make ranch dressing using dry ranch dressing mix, mayonnaise, and milk. Combine the ingredients together before adding to the other sauce ingredients.

***You can use coconut water with pulp or without pulp. It's all about preference.

****To get the right amount of liquid, I pour the can of coconut water into a measuring up, and then add water to make 2 cups. You want 2 cups of liquid for 1 cup of rice.