One Dish Chicken, Potatoes, and Vegetables

This is my go-to meal for a busy day when I don't feel like trying something new or putting a lot of work into dinner.

The chicken is juicy and flavorful. The potatoes soak up all the butter, seasoning, and chicken fat and they are delicious. The green beans are buttery and have the perfect texture.  It is delicious and simple, and it only takes about 5 minutes to throw together!

You could do this in the crock pot, but I think the chicken turns out better when it's done in the oven.  I hate overcooked chicken. Chicken jerky, yuck!

Yields 4 servings


Ingredients:
3-4 chicken breasts, frozen*
2-3 red skinned potatoes, washed
1 bag prepacked fresh green beans**
1 pkg Italian dressing seasoning packet, unprepared***
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
Slice the red potatoes thinly, or dice them into chunks. I prefer to run them through a mandolin on my thickest setting, giving me about 1/4 inch slices.  Place the potatoes on the bottom of a 9X13 casserole dish.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a little bit of the Italian dressing packet.

Open the fresh green beans, sprinkle all of them on top of the potatoes.  Add salt, pepper, and a little more Italian dressing seasoning.

Place frozen chicken breasts on top of the green beans. Add more salt, pepper, and the rest of the Italian dressing seasoning packet. It may seem like a lot of seasoning, but remember that chicken is bland and potatoes are bland, and this is NOT too much seasoning. Trust me!

Cut the stick of butter into small cubes, and dot all over the pan.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake at 375 for 1 hour. Check to make sure chicken is cooked all the way through and the juices are clear before serving.



*You can also use fresh chicken breasts, and you do NOT need to add water. Simply decrease your cooking time by about 15 minutes.

**Other vegetables I have tried: broccoli, carrots. Any root vegetable will do!

***You can use a ranch dressing packet instead of Italian. It's still delicious, but Italian dressing adds a little more zest and interest to the flavors.