Caesar Chicken is the perfect melt-in-your-mouth chicken recipe! It’s creamy, simple, and filled with flavor. This easy baked chicken recipe only has 4 ingredients and takes less than 30 minutes to make. It’s one of the absolute best weeknight dinners out there.
What’s in Caesar Chicken?
With just a handful of ingredients and 30 minutes to bake in the oven, this chicken dinner will be ready in no time!
- Chicken Breasts: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts for this recipe. If they are on the thicker side, thin them out evenly.
- Caesar Dressing: Use your favorite creamy Caesar salad dressing. Or try making this homemade Caesar dressing recipe.
- Parmesan: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will melt best.
- Black Pepper: Ground black pepper adds just a bit of spice into this dish. Simple but effective!
Notes from the Test Kitchen
If you find that the sauce seems to separate or curdle, try mixing 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour into the dressing/sour cream mixture before adding it to the chicken. This will help bind it together.
Variations on Baked Caesar Chicken
While you only need 3 main ingredients to make this baked chicken breast recipe (chicken, caesar dressing, cheese), there’s another ingredient that will make it extra creamy. Mixing sour cream into the dressing will add an extra bit of tanginess to the flavor, and it will really make this chicken melt in your mouth! It’s an optional ingredient though, so skip it if you prefer. Plain Greek yogurt would be a nice substitute if you want something lighter.
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Serving Suggestions
This melt-in-your-mouth Caesar chicken is the perfect dish to serve for any weeknight dinner, and it goes well with almost any side dish. Start with a Kale Caesar Salad, and add some roasted mushrooms or Air Fryer baked potatoes. And don’t forget the dinner rolls! You could also mix in some Instant Pot rice to beef up the meal.
How to Make Caesar Chicken Step by Step
Season the Chicken: Preheat your oven to 375°F and spray the inside of an 8×11½-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. If the breasts are uneven thickness, pound them (placed in a Ziplock bag and on a flat surface) to an even ¾-1-inch thickness using a meat pounder. Sprinkle 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (both sides) with 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese and ½ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper, and place them in the prepared baking dish.
Pour Over the Sauce: Whisk together 1 cup of Caesar dressing and ½ cup of sour cream in a small bowl. Pour the Caesar/sour cream mixture over each breast then sprinkle the remaining ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Bake and Serve: Place the prepared chicken in the oven and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of one of the middle breasts reads 150°F. Turn the oven to broil and broil the breasts an additional 2-4 minutes, or until the chicken turns golden brown. It can burn quickly, so watch it closely. When done, a meat thermometer should register 165°F when stuck into the thickest part of one of the middle breasts. Remove from the oven, cover loosely with foil and allow chicken to rest 5-10 minutes before serving. If desired, garnish with chopped parsley.
How to Store and Reheat
Store leftover baked Caesar chicken in an airtight container, and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, place it back in the oven at 350°F until it reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
How to Freeze
Store creamy Caesar chicken in a freezer-safe container, and freeze it for up to 2 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
I just made this for dinner tonight. I used Litehouse Caesar Dressing and it turned out great. Next time, I might try a little less than 1/4 cup dressing on each piece and maybe 1 cup Parmesan instead of the full 1 1/2 cups. I used 2 thick chicken breasts and cut them in half to make 4 thinner pieces. I let them cook an addition 10 minutes to get a little bit more of a golden crust instead of using the broiler. They came out beautiful, tasted fantastic and pretty and elegant enough for company. I served it with white rice and steamed zucchini, but it would be great with a simple green salad and warm French bread. It’s very rich, no need for mayonnaise or sour cream.
Just wanted to add that next time I am going to try this with Litehouse Cilantro Cotija Dressing with a tomato slice and Mexican cheese blend over the top for a bit of a Mexican flair. Thank you Becky for such a simple recipe that is so easy to adapt to your own personal taste. A different brand of dressing or more or less dressing or cheese is such an easy fix for some of those who said they didn’t like it. They might be missing out if they don’t give it another try by just changing it up a little.
I made this using the Marketside brand Caesar dressing sold by Wal-Mart’s deli and it was delicious! I served it over garlic basmati rice with extra fine green beans. Easiest meal to prepare but tasted like I spent all day in the kitchen!
Do you use freshly grated parmesan cheese or bottled like Kraft.
Do you adjust the racks to broil it closer to the top of the oven? Mine were on the bottom for baking and above the middle for broiling. Used thighs, so adjusted the cooking time, but broiling from the lower rack has me stymied.Very hard to read this light grey font when your eyesight is poor!
Can you fix this in a slow cooker (crock pot) ?
I made this exactly as shown. I did not like it. The Caesar dressing was too strong. Won’t do it again
Just pulled it out of the oven. I added 1/2c. mayo to the dressing, and my chicken is sitting in a pool of cheese with a layer of oil on top of it. It broke, majorly. Doesn’t look very appetizing. Did I do something wrong? My chicken breasts weren’t that thick to begin with, and I split them, then pounded them a little thinner, so I only cooked them for about 18 minutes, and then put the broiler on. Hoping they taste good…
They tasted good, but I wouldn’t add the mayo next time. The taste of it was overpowering. I think the dressing is enough. It’s such an easy recipe, I will definitely try it again.
What is the green garnish on your?
Just guessing, but looks like cilantro?
Could be flat leaf parsley.
Made this tonight. It was so easy & delicious! Everyone cleaned their plate.
I know your recipe says 30 minutes at 375 or to an internal temp of 155 so I go 30 minutes and it is way over done; like 180 after the broiler. I broiled only til browned. I’m sure my oven is pretty accurate because it’s a new Wolf range. I would start checking the internal temp at just over 20 minutes. Otherwise, I liked it quite well.