Easy and Delicious One Pan Smoked Italian Ricotta Chicken

Tender and juicy chicken breasts covered in a cheesy Italian herb ricotta mixture and smoked to absolute perfection. The best one-pan chicken dinner perfect any night of the week!

One Of The Best Chicken Dinners I’ve Ever Had!

I kid you not folks. It literally took me one single bite to fall head over heels in LOVE with this recipe! Like to the point I was craving it daily!

I know part of my job is to put into words just how incredible a dish is by describing it but honestly, this dish rendered me speechless as it’s THAT AMAZING!

The chicken is so incredibly tender and juicy – seriously I only used a knife to cut mine out of habit. You could get away with using a fork to cut it. There’s that hint of smokiness that infuses into the chicken but then into the marinara and that over-the-top INSANELY DELICIOUS ricotta cheese topping.

THIS. IS. WHAT. HEAVEN. TASTES. LIKE!

Grab Your Ingredients

This dish uses pretty much ingredients most of us have in our pantry and fridge. If not, you’re definitely going to want to add these to your shopping list (or run to the market right now. I’ll wait for you).

• Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts – you can also use boneless/skinless thighs
• Cheese – ricotta (make sure it’s dry), freshly grated parmesan, and freshly shredded mozzarella
• Italian Seasoning – I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chupacabra Italian Seasoning! It’s the best I’ve ever had!
• Marinara – homemade or jarred
• Olive Oil

Chef’s Tip About Ricotta

I use a whole milk ricotta that is dry. You want that type of ricotta for this dish as you want to avoid any extra liquid.

Fire Up Your Yoder Smokers YS640!

Seriously this smoker is THE BEST one I’ve ever owned! Just make sure it’s cleaned out inside, add your pellets to the hopper, and then set the temperature to 250F. That’s it!

Prep The Ingredients

This really only requires 2 tasks:

1. Season the Chicken
2. Mix The Cheeses

Let’s Season The Chicken

1. Pat the chicken breasts dry, drizzle with olive oil and both sides then sprinkle both sides with the Chupacabra Italian Seasoning. Set that aside for 20 minutes as you want to “wet” the seasonings. This is where the seasonings will almost melt into the protein.

Mix The The Cheeses

1. In a bowl mix together, the ricotta, half of the mozzarella, grated parmesan, and the rest of the Chupacabra Italian Seasoning; set aside.

Watch The Video

This recipe really is very easy to make.

1. Place your seasoned chicken breasts on the top rack of your Yoder Smokers YS640 and close the lid. Smoke until the internal temp reaches 145F. This should take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes to reach 145F but always rely on a thermometer like a MEATER.
2. When the thermometer in the chicken reads 145F, take an 8 x 11″ or 9 x 13″ baking pan and pour half of your marinara into the bottom of the pan. Add the partially smoked chicken breasts from the smoker to the pan in a single layer. Pour more of the marinara over top leaving some to drizzle overtop the cheese.
3. Next, add the ricotta cheese mixture evenly across all of the breasts. Top with the rest of the mozzarella and finish with the last of the marinara.
4. Place the pan back into the smoker, top rack, and smoke until the chicken reaches 165F.
5. Remove from the smoker and allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.

Seriously Cheesy Chicken Perfection!

There is just something intoxicating about the smell of smoky cheese that always puts the biggest smile on my face!

When I pulled this out and could see the cheese and sauce bubbling up, I knew I was in for something pretty incredible!

Basil Makes Everything Better!

I’m not sure if I’ve shared this but I actually grow 5 different types of basil – Genovese, Thai, Greek, lemon, and opal. Yes, they all taste different in case you’re wondering. For this, I went with the Genovese (the stuff you typically find in grocery stores). I grow mine with Sow Right Seeds.

What To Serve With Smoked Ricotta Chicken

I went with both angel hair pasta for Mr. Fantabulous and spaghetti squash ‘noodles’ for me. Folks that first bite we took was honestly pure magic!

It’s smoky but not overpowering. From the rich marinara to that ooey gooey cheese that I totally plan on baking as a dip with sauce. That stuff is pure money!

Here are some ways I served this dish up:

• On top of pasta
• Sliced and placed on a toasted ciabatta bun as a sandwich with extra sauce
• In a wrap with grilled zucchini and more cheese
• On top of rice
• Sliced for crostini

Recipe Substitutions and Additions

Being fully transparent, I seriously wouldn’t change one thing about this dish. If anything you could add more spices like red pepper flakes or add some cooked crumbled Italian sausage to the sauce but this is pretty much perfect as-is. Here are a few swaps/additions:

• Boneless chicken thighs for the breasts
• Add cooked and drained spinach to the ricotta mixture
• Chopped artichokes would be good in the ricotta as well

Aside from putting it on pasta, this dish is gluten-free and keto-friendly.

No Smoker? No Problem

First, you need to fix this. I highly recommend putting one of these YS640s on your wish list. I am blown away by just how INCREDIBLE it is. But I get it, right now you don’t have one but you want to make the recipe!

Full disclosure, this won’t have that signature smoky flavor that sets this apart from the rest. I suppose you could add 1/2-1 teaspoon of liquid smoke to your marinara sauce but taste it first.

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. To the baking dish add the layers of sauce, chicken (yours will be raw), more sauce, and ricotta mixture. STOP THERE! Don’t add the rest of the mozzarella or sauce.
2. Cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes, remove the foil, add the rest of the mozzarella and marinara, and pop it back into the oven (uncovered) for another 15-20 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165F on the chicken.

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