Crack chicken and crack burgers have taken the internet by storm lately! So we decided to put our own spin on the cheesy bacon ranch trend with some Crack Chicken Quesadillas! With marinated boneless skinless chicken thighs, a homemade ranch dressing, and freshly grated cheese, these chicken bacon ranch quesadillas are delicious and kid-friendly!
My wife was scrolling through our griddle group on Facebook one day, and she stumbled on a post that someone had made with crack chicken crunch wraps. That immediately spurred her idea for this quesadilla version, and I’m glad that it did!
This recipe gave me the opportunity to make my new favorite chicken marinade and cook some amazing boneless skinless chicken thighs on the griddle. Even if you don’t use the chicken to make quesadillas, you can cut it up for salads, burritos, tacos, or just eat the chicken by itself – it’s SO good!
If you’re looking for new and creative griddle quesadillas to make on the Blackstone griddle, or even in a skillet on the stovetop, then give these chicken bacon ranch quesadillas a try! And then be sure to check out our favorite pizza quesadillas next!
What is Crack Chicken?
If you’ve never heard of crack chicken, first off, where have you been for the last 2 years? And second, get ready to discover your new favorite way to eat chicken!
Crack chicken consists of a blend of chicken, usually breasts, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, bacon, and ranch seasoning. What’s not to love?!
The more traditional crack chicken recipe includes shredded chicken that is cooked in a slow cooker with ranch seasoning and cream cheese until it’s tender. Then, you simply shred the chicken and stir in cheese, bacon, and green onions. The juicy and flavorful chicken mixture is then served on a bun.
Ingredients for Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadillas
Besides the typical chicken cheese quesadilla ingredients, you will need a few basic and inexpensive items for this crack chicken recipe:
- boneless skinless chicken thighs – You can use chicken breasts if you prefer, but we chose to use thighs because they are more forgiving, especially for griddle beginners. If you overcook them a bit on the hot griddle top, they aren’t prone to drying out.
- canned pickled jalapeños, ranch seasoning mix, olive oil, and lime – These are the ingredients for the chicken marinade.
- shredded cheddar cheese – We prefer to grate our own cheese, but you can use the bagged pre-shredded if you like. Cheddar cheese is more traditional for crack chicken, but substitute whatever cheese you like.
- cream cheese – You can’t have crack chicken without cream cheese. We added a smear on the tortilla before adding the other quesadilla ingredients. This adds a nice creamy texture and it helps to hold the other ingredients in place.
- bacon – No explanation needed… everything is better with bacon!
- ranch dressing – We made our own jalapeno ranch dressing with a packet of Hidden Valley mix and some finely diced pickled jalapenos. You can also use store-bought dressing if you prefer.
- tortillas – For larger quesadillas, look for the burrito-sized tortillas. We like to use the low-carb tortillas.
More of a visual learner? Watch me make these chicken bacon ranch quesadillas on our griddle cooking YouTube channel!
How to Make Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadillas
*NOTE – We prepared our chicken quesadillas on the griddle, but this easy recipe can also be made in a stovetop skillet. The same recipe instructions apply, just turn your stove to a medium heat.
Step 1: Marinate the Chicken
Our Crack Chicken recipe starts out with our new favorite way to marinate chicken – with pickled jalapeno juice! You’ve heard the rumors that Chick-fil-A marinates their juicy fried chicken in pickle juice, so why not try the briny juice from a jar of pickled jalapeños?
*To give credit where due, we first heard of this idea from one of our YouTube channel subscribers who had seen Meat Church do something similar to make a chicken sandwich.
Simply add all of the marinade ingredients to a large bowl or a Ziploc bag with the boneless skinless chicken thighs. Then, marinate for about 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
While the chicken is marinating, go ahead and make the homemade jalapeno ranch dressing so that the flavors have time to marry together in the fridge.
Step 2: Cook the Chicken
Next, cook the chicken on the griddle (or in a skillet on the stovetop). Just preheat the griddle to about 400-450℉. This is probably a medium heat setting on most griddles, but since every griddle brand is different, the heat setting needed may vary.
*Speaking of griddle temperatures, hop over to this post to grab this free printable griddle temperature chart.
Place the marinated chicken down on the hot griddle and cook for about 3-5 minutes on the first side.
*TIP – The marinated chicken contains alot of moisture, which means that there will be quite a bit of splattering when you first add the chicken to the hot griddle top. You may want to wear a pair of heat-proof gloves to protect your hands from the hot oil splatters.
Then, flip the chicken to the second side and cook an additional 3-5 minutes. Continue to cook the chicken, flipping so that it cooks evenly on both sides, until the internal temperature reaches 165-170℉.
*Cleaning Tip – After the chicken has cooked on the first side, flip to the second side in a new area on the griddle. Then you can use your scraper to scrape down the excess marinade from the spot where the chicken was cooking initially. Direct all of the remaining marinade into the grease tray to “clean as you go” and make clean-up easier at the end of the cooking time.
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