Mississippi Chicken Is the Easy 5-Ingredient Recipe You’ll Make on Repeat

I love how time and the right ingredients, specifically salt and acid, can transform a simple cut of meat into a dinnertime masterpiece. For instance, pork shoulder cooks perfectly in apple cider, apple cider vinegar, and aromatics, while short ribs become fork tender after simmering in sherry and beef broth. The same philosophy is what makes Mississippi Chicken so delicious.

The recipe calls for slowly bathing chicken breasts in a mixture of ranch dressing mix, pepperoncini, pepper juice, and butter in a Dutch oven or slow cooker. The result is a juicy tangle of shredded chicken and a rich, zesty sauce that’s made for crowning mashed potatoes or rice or sandwiching between fluffy buns. 

Intrigued? Read on to learn more and find out how to make the super-simple recipe.

What Is Mississippi Chicken?

Mississippi Chicken is a close cousin of Mississippi Roast, a beloved slow cooker recipe credited to Robin Chapman. The home cook and Ripley, Mississippi resident tweaked a recipe she learned from her aunt to create the specialty in the late 1990s. To make it, Chapman threw a packet of dry ranch dressing mix (her aunt’s version used Italian dressing), a packet of beef au jus mix, a stick of butter, and a few pepperoncini into a slow cooker. 

The recipe, which she simply called “Roast,” was shared in a church cookbook by a close childhood friend and eventually published in food blogs—where it gained the name “Mississippi Roast.” More than two decades after Chapman first put the components of her roast into a Crock-Pot, the recipe and dozens of variations continue to be shared on Reddit, Pinterest, and beyond. 

Mississippi Chicken is one of those riffs. With the exception of nixing the dried beef au jus mix and adding a little water, the recipe includes all of the same components of Mississippi Roast and can be made on the stovetop or in a slow cooker.

How to Make Mississippi Chicken

The recipe is so easy, you can memorize it. To start, season the chicken breasts with the ranch dressing mix. Then put them in a Dutch oven or 6-quart slow cooker with the pepperoncini peppers, their reserved juice, water, and slices of butter. Cover with a lid and bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F for 60 to 75 minutes, or slow cook on low for six hours or on high for four hours.

Tips, Tricks, and Variations

• Make it pork. Yes, you guessed it: The recipe also works well with a pork roast. If you make the swap, some home cooks recommend adding the beef au jus mix and extra butter listed in the Mississippi Roast recipe for extra flavor. But choose your own adventure.
• Up the herb factor. Garnish your chicken with fresh chopped parsley, dill, or a combination of both.
• Pair with simple sides. The zippy, slightly spicy sauce is best accompanied by a side with neutral flavors, such as sautéed peas and angel hair pasta or creamy mashed potatoes and buttery biscuits. 

Get the recipe: Mississippi Chicken