Do you have a recipe in your kitchen that is so easy that it doesn't really need a recipe? Me too and this Easy Chicken and Gravy Recipe is it. Your family and friends will love it and you will too because it's so very easy!
Easy Chicken and Gravy Recipe
A few weeks ago as we were planning an out of town gathering with a few friends and I suggested that I make this easy chicken and gravy recipe because it's so simple, filling and delicious.
It's also versatile, which is a big help when you are planning for a group! The taste is similar to the Bake in a Bag Chicken that I featured here a few weeks ago.
I've made it for only 2 people and as many as 15. It's easy to use any cut of chicken you prefer, but I'll share that chicken with the bone in and skin on tastes best usually (but that is the case anyway).
There are lots of options for side items and as long as you've got an oven and a baking dish, you are set.
Now go get your chicken and gravy on!
Here's What You'll Need
Only a few things...
- Chicken
- Spices
- Packet of McCormicks Chicken Gravy
That's it!
Here's How You Do It
This is such an easy chicken and gravy recipe, it doesn't really need instructions, but here's the basics...
- Place the chicken in the pan (if it has the skin, then skin side up, if it doesn't have the skin then smoothest side up).
- Sprinkle spices on the meat.
- Add water to the pan (don't pour it over the meat, you'll wash the spices off).
- Bake for an hour (give or take, depending on the cut you chose).
- Remove the meat from the pan to a plate.
- Mix the packet of gravy into the drippings in the pan with a whisk or a fork until smooth (add more water if there isn't enough in the pan ).
- Put the chicken back in the pan with the drippings that have occured on the plate while it's been resting.
- Spoon some of the gravy up on the chicken.
- Serve hot.
Special Equipment
You don't need any special equipment, just an oven safe dish. An iron skillet will work. I have this 9x13 baking dish and I love it because of the lid. I've had it for years and it is still working just great!
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)
Yes you can! Just watch the cooking time, it will take less time (maybe as little as 15-20 mins). The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temp of 165 or when the juices run clear and there's no pink left inside.
Yes! You absolutely can! Wrap in freezer safe packaging and freeze for up to 3 months.
If kept in the fridge, covered, it will last up to 5 days.
Yes ,Again, watch the cooking time, it make take longer or less depending on the cut you use. It is done with an internal temp of 165 and the meat is white and juices run clear.
Can You Cook Raw Chicken in Gravy
Yes! You absolutely can if you follow this recipe! The chicken makes the gravy for you and all you have to do is add a packet at the end.
By cooking the chicken and it's juices, everything is cooked completely through and is safe to eat.
Tips and Tricks
- You'll get the most flavor with bone in and skin on chicken, but any cut will work.
- You can mix cuts of chicken as long as you don't mix bone in and bone out. For example: It's fine to cook a bone in breast and bone in thigh together but don't put chicken strips and bone in thigh together in the same pan because the cooking times are so different that one will be done or over done and the other wont be done at all.
- If you are doing more than 4 pieces of chicken in one pan, you will want to double the water and use two gravy packets.
- If your grocery store is short on gravy packets and you need two, I've substituted an Au jus packet before and it turned out fine and tasted great.
- To add more flavor, use broth instead of water in the recipe.
- You do not need to cover the pan with aluminum foil.
- The chicken skin will crisp as it bakes in the oven but if it isn't as crispy as you like at the end, simply put under the broiler for a few minutes in a separate pan before putting it into the gravy.
- The spices are highly variable. If you prefer more or less of one or the other, add or substract from what is given here (or leave off entirely).
- Some great alternatives to the spices listed are: Ranch Dressing mix, cayenne, chili powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, Thyme, heavy blacked cracked pepper, taco seasoning. Go wild! See what happens! Channel your inner Julia Childs!
Substitutions
- Bone In/ Skin On Chicken - substitute any cut you prefer just don't mix bone in and bone out cuts together (because they won't cook in the same amount of time).
- Water - For more flavor use chicken or vegetable broth instead!
- Spices - Use any combination of spices you like in this recipe! Get wild with it (just use spices you enjoy - for example, if you like lavender on your chicken, then by all means, use lavender but most people won't enjoy lavender with a brown chicken gravy, if you do, cheers to you).
- Chicken Gravy Packet - That's what makes this recipe so easy to make, however, if you just can't do a packet gravy, then I'm going to suggest you follow the instructions for making gravy using corn starch in this other article here at Loaves and Dishes. It will be more difficult and won't have quite the same flavor, but it is a possible substitute. Also, as long as you are using one chicken gravy packet, I have used an Au Jus packet by McCormick and had delicious results.
What to Serve with Chicken and Gravy
The choices are almost endless! Here's the flavor profiles I would go for though...
- Starch - pick a starch to serve like mashed potatoes, rice, butter noodles, baked potato, potatoes au gratin, brown rice, etc.
- Green Veggie - A bright green veggie is always nice like a salad, roasted asparagus, fresh green beans, english peas.
- A Crusty Bread - oh man, a hot crusty bread with this slathered with some butter? Hello!
- An Orange Veggie - Baked sweet potato, roasted red and orange peppers, buttered carrot.
What If Things Go Wrong
What could go wrong and what can you do about it?
- Put the Chicken in upside down - Just flip it over when you realize you put it skin side down. The skin may be a little rubbery when the chicken is done. Just put the chicken on a baking dish and put the broiler on high. Broil for a few minutes until the skin get crispy.
- Forgot to add water - no worries, add some when you realize you forgot. If you don't know until the chicken is already cooked, that's ok too. Take the chicken out of the pan, add warm water to the pan and scrape up the bits on the bottom of the pan and there is probably juices in there too. Just mix that all up well and then add your gravy packet.
- Set the oven too high/ too low - The chicken will get done too fast or too slow. Set the temp to the correct measure as soon as you realize. Keep an eye on it and remove it from the oven when it's done (the internal temp is 165 and the juices are running clear and the meat is white).
- Covered the dish with aluminum foil because didn't read the directions carefully enough - The skin may be a little rubbery when the chicken is done. Just put the chicken on a baking dish and put the broiler on high. Broil for a few minutes until the skin get crispy.
Watch Me Make This Dish
Can You Give Me a Hand
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Easy Chicken and Gravy Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 chicken thighs bone in and skin on
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoon paprika smoked paprika works too
- 1 cup water or broth
- 1 packet McCormicks Chicken Gravy
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- In a baking dish (2 quart if doing 4 thighs, 9x13 if doing more, see notes), lay the chicken skin side up. Do not lay chicken on top of one another, set beside each other so each can cook evenly.
- Sprinkle the seasonings over the top of the chicken in the pan. Add the water slowly and between the pieces so that it doesn't wash the seasoning off the chicken.
- Place on the middle rack in the oven in the center of the oven. Bake for an hour. The chicken is done when it reaches an internal temp of 165 or when juices run clear and the meat is white throughout.
- Remove the baking dish from the oven. Remove the pieces of chicken from the pan to a plate.
- Using a fork or a whisk, whisk the contents of the gravy packet into the pan juices. If there isn't at least a cup of juices in the pan (just estimate, no need to measure), then add water or broth to the pan so that you have that amount and then whisk in the gravy packet. If you are cooking more than 4 pieces of chicken, then you'll want two packets of gravy.
- Once the gravy packet is mixed in, place the chicken pieces and the juices that have dripped onto the plate back into the original pan and spoon some of the gravy up over the top of the chicken. Serve hot.
Notes
-
- You'll get the most flavor with bone in and skin on chicken, but any cut will work.
-
- You can mix cuts of chicken as long as you don't mix bone in and bone out. For example: It's fine to cook a bone in breast and bone in thigh together but don't put chicken strips and bone in thigh together in the same pan because the cooking times are so different that one will be done or over done and the other wont be done at all.
-
- If you are doing more than 4 pieces of chicken in one pan, you will want to double the water and use two gravy packets.
-
- If your grocery store is short on gravy packets and you need two, I've substituted an Au jus packet before and it turned out fine and tasted great.
-
- To add more flavor, use broth instead of water in the recipe.
-
- You do not need to cover the pan with aluminum foil.
-
- The chicken skin will crisp as it bakes in the oven but if it isn't as crispy as you like at the end, simply put under the broiler for a few minutes in a separate pan before putting it into the gravy.
-
- The spices are highly variable. If you prefer more or less of one or the other, add or substract from what is given here (or leave off entirely).
-
- Some great alternatives to the spices listed are: Ranch Dressing mix, cayenne, chili powder, Italian seasoning, oregano, Thyme, heavy blacked cracked pepper, taco seasoning. Go wild! See what happens! Channel your inner Julia Childs!
- Bone In/ Skin On Chicken - substitute any cut you prefer just don't mix bone in and bone out cuts together (because they won't cook in the same amount of time).
- Water - For more flavor use chicken or vegetable broth instead!
- Spices - Use any combination of spices you like in this recipe! Get wild with it (just use spices you enjoy - for example, if you like lavender on your chicken, then by all means, use lavender but most people won't enjoy lavender with a brown chicken gravy, if you do, cheers to you).
- Chicken Gravy Packet - That's what makes this recipe so easy to make, however, if you just can't do a packet gravy, then I'm going to suggest you follow the instructions for making gravy using corn starch in this other article here at Loaves and Dishes. It will be more difficult and won't have quite the same flavor, but it is a possible substitute. Also, as long as you are using one chicken gravy packet, I have used an Au Jus packet by McCormick and had delicious results.
Nutrition
***This recipe is in honor of my dear friend Shack who always asks the best questions and who I love dearly
So thankful for grace and also thinking that without works a heart is dead.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
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