Italian Dressing Chicken Breasts

BOTTLED ITALIAN DRESSING has been popular in the United States for decades, at least since the Wish-Bone brand (originally from the eponymous Kansas City, Missouri, steakhouse) became widely available in the early 1960s. It’s tasty stuff: a bright vinaigrette bolstered with dried herbs, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Helping drive the dressing’s growth into a supermarket staple were new recipes (often courtesy of dressing manufacturers) calling for the product to be used not only on salads but also as a quick marinade for things such as fajita meat, flank steak, and baked or grilled chicken.

But a quick survey of shelf-stable supermarket Italian dressings showed us that many of them were, not surprisingly, highly processed. When cooking at home, you most likely won’t be using ingredients such as xanthan gum, oleoresin, calcium disodium EDTA, potassium sorbate, maltodextrin, caramel flavor and color, dimethylpolysiloxane, propylene glycol, or BHA to make salad dressing. Thinking Italian dressing–marinated chicken deserved a more back-to-basics approach, we set out to update this easy weeknight dinner by using homemade dressing.

To make the dish, start with bone-in chicken breasts; they are less expensive than boneless breasts; plus, the skin and bone add flavor and help prevent overcooked, dry meat. Stir together a mixture of extra-virgin olive oil, grated Parmesan (which adds savory flavor and helps boost browning), minced fresh garlic, lemon zest, a little sugar for balance, salt and pepper, pepper flakes, and Italian seasoning. Marinate the chicken breasts in this mixture for at least an hour (or up to one day) so that the flavors