I’ve been seeing a recipe for brown sugar and Italian mix on baked chicken thighs floating around Pinterest. Tonight, I tried it for the first time. The recipe called for 1/2 cup of brown sugar and a packet of the Italian dressing mix. This covered three thighs well. The fourth thigh was barely coated. Since I had a lot of thighs to cook and only one packet (poor planning), I decided to try one batch of 4 following the recipe on Pinterest, and another batch of 4 with Ranch dressing mix added to the (*ahem) 1 cup of brown sugar.
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Picture above is the Italian recipe. The picture below is the Ranch recipe.
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I served one thigh of each recipe to my husband and teen boys with a toothpick in the Ranch recipe thigh. They were to tell me if they preferred the toothpick thigh or the non-toothpick thigh. The reviews were completely mixed. I preferred the Italian. One son preferred the Italian while the other preferred the Ranch. My husband liked them both equally.

I suppose I have two new recipes to add to my repertoire. Yay!
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Are you ready to make some baked chicken thighs? Check out the recipe below!
Baked Chicken Thighs with Brown Sugar and Italian Dressing Mix
Category
Easy Dinners for Busy Moms & Dads
Food
Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs
- Packet of Italian dressing mix or Ranch dressing mix
- 1 cup of brown sugar
Instructions
- Mix the packet of dressing mix with the brown sugar.
- Drop the thighs into the mixture until covered.
- Place in pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees until browned and thoroughly cooked.
- Easy Peasy! Just the way I like it.
Baked Chicken Thighs with Brown Sugar and Italian Dressing Mix
Ingredients
- Chicken Thighs
- Packet of Italian dressing mix or Ranch dressing mix
- 1 cup of brown sugar
Instructions
- Mix the packet of dressing mix with the brown sugar.
- Drop the thighs into the mixture until covered.
- Place in pan.
- Bake at 400 degrees until browned and thoroughly cooked.
- Easy Peasy! Just the way I like it.

*This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from clicks or purchases through these links.
8 chicken thighs
2T olive oil
1 packet powdered Italian dressing
2t brown sugar
Mix the olive oil, Italian dressing and brown sugar in a small bowl. Arrange the chicken thighs on a rimmed baking pan. Sprinkle with coating.
Bake at 400° for 40 minutes
This recipe is easy to adjust for different preferences. I’m glad you found a version that appeals to you.
Hi! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Just to make sure, if I had 8 thighs would that be 2 packets of seasoning and then 1 cup of brown sugar total? Thanks in advance!
That will work if you’re a little less heavy-handed than I was that day. 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar with 2 packets would work better in my opinion.
Hi! Do you happen to know if this is slow cooker friendly? ☺️
It can be cooked in the slow cooker, but the consistency would definitely be different.