Cranberry Chicken

 Cranberry Chicken is one of those recipes that has been around forever.  If you think back hard enough, you've probably had it or something very similar served to you in the past. 

It seems like a strange mixture of ingredients, cranberry sauce, Catalina dressing and Lipton Onion Soup.  I mean, really?  I can't help thinking someone discovered it by accident when they poured the wrong bottle into their bowl and decided not to let it go to waste.  However it came about, it's a zesty combination of sweet and sour that when paired with rice, makes my family super happy.

Cranberry Chicken is also great for throwing together and freezing ahead of time.  You can even make the rice ahead of time and freeze it.

Learning that rice could be frozen changed my world.  Seriously.  I can throw this in the oven, reheat some rice in the microwave and toss a bag of salad with dressing and extra veggies and I'm done.

Dinner just took 5 minutes to assemble.

I now have time to make playdo critters with my kiddo, check my email and empty the dishwasher.

Life is good.

Ingredients
4-6 chicken breasts
1 small bottle Catalina dressing
1 can whole cranberry sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix (I used Lipton Onion Soup Mix)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to and line a 9x13 pan with nonstick foil or spray it with cooking spray.
2. Pound chicken breasts until even in size.  (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.)  Place chicken in dish.
3. Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix.  Pour over chicken.
4. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Serve over rice.

Freezer Directions:

1. Pound chicken breasts until even in size.  (This step is optional, but they will cook more evenly and soak up more sauce.) 
2. Place chicken in freezer bags.  (This makes 2 meals for us so I divide it between to smaller freezer bags.)
3. Whisk together dressing, cranberry sauce and onion soup mix.  Pour over chicken.
4. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and freeze flat.
5. To serve, thaw completely and pour into greased or foil lined glass dish.   Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until juices run clear.  Serve over rice.