My Aunt Ruth brought this to every Elks Lodge dinner for 30 years. Only 3 ingredients and the men always went back for seconds.
This Oven-Baked 3-Ingredient Chicken Tavern is the kind of easy comfort-food dinner that tastes like you spent hours making it.
Bone-in chicken is baked in a rich mixture of cream of chicken soup and onion soup mix. As the chicken cooks, its juices blend into the creamy sauce, creating a thick, savory gravy that’s perfect for spooning over the meat.
Best of all, you only need three ingredients.
Oven-Baked 3-Ingredient Chicken Tavern
Ingredients
- 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 1 packet dry onion soup mix, about 1 ounce
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, 10.5 ounces
Directions
1. Preheat the oven
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or a similar-sized casserole dish with cooking spray or a little butter.
2. Arrange the chicken
Pat the chicken pieces dry with paper towels.
Place them in the prepared baking dish in a single layer with the skin facing upward.
Keeping the skin on top helps it brown better while the chicken cooks.
3. Make the creamy onion sauce
Add the condensed cream of chicken soup to a medium bowl.
Sprinkle in the entire packet of dry onion soup mix.
Stir until everything is well combined.
Spoon the mixture evenly over the chicken, making sure each piece gets a generous coating.
4. Bake covered, then uncovered
Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Carefully remove the foil and return the chicken to the oven.
Continue baking uncovered for another 25 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling, the chicken is browned, and the thickest pieces reach an internal temperature of about 175°F (80°C).
5. Rest and serve
Remove the casserole from the oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
This gives the sauce time to settle and thicken.
Stir the flavorful pan juices, spoon plenty of the creamy gravy over each piece of chicken, and serve warm.
This dish is especially good with mashed potatoes, rice, egg noodles, or warm bread to soak up the sauce.
