Cranberry Catalina Chicken
This is a wonderful, savory chicken recipe. I hope that your family enjoys it as much as ours does.
This is a wonderful, savory chicken recipe. I hope that your family enjoys it as much as ours does.
- Carbohydrate 25.394325 g
- Cholesterol 61.00625 mg
- Fat 23.1475625 g
- Fiber 2.5739999628067 g
- Protein 3.1583875 g
- Saturated Fat 14.61038 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (635g)
- Sodium 3450.562 mg
- Sugar 22.8203250371933 g
- Trans Fat 1.6189325 g
- Calories 318 calories
Step-by-step
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- You can use Chicken Breast halves, or Chicken tenderloins.
- In a frying pan, melt butter, Sear chicken, adding salt and pepper to taste. When I sear them, I allow them to stay in the pan about 1 minute on each side.
- Mix jellied cranberry sauce, Catalina dressing, and Lipton Onion Soup Mix together.
- In a glass baking dish, arrange chicken pieces. Pour sauce mixture over the chicken. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-minutes to 1 hour, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Swapping the Base Elements
Substituting French dressing for the Catalina changes the sweetness profile significantly because French dressing contains more vinegar and less sugar. Testing this variation reveals a much sharper tang in the resulting sauce, which cuts through the heavy sweetness of the cranberry component. Using tenderloins instead of breast halves reduces the baking time by about ten minutes, but thinner cuts dry out faster under a heavy blanket of sauce. Control the salt and pepper addition carefully since the onion soup mix already contains high sodium levels.
Scaling the Liquid Ratios
Doubling this recipe requires careful attention to the volume of the sauce mixture relative to the baking dish surface area. Pouring too much Catalina dressing and cranberry sauce into a standard nine-by-thirteen-inch pan creates a deep pool that steams the poultry rather than roasting it. Reduce the dressing by twenty percent if you are doubling the poultry quantity to prevent the liquid from overflowing the edges in the oven. Glass baking dishes retain heat differently than metal pans, requiring the full temperature of 350 degrees to properly set the sauce.
Managing Prep and Sequence
Searing the poultry for precisely one minute per side in melted butter creates a slight crust that holds up better against the liquid sauce. Letting the meat rest uncovered for five minutes after baking allows the internal juices to redistribute before the internal temperature drops below 165 degrees. Prep the sauce mixture in a separate bowl beforehand to fully dissolve the onion soup mix clumps before pouring it over the meat.
