I don't think it's controversial that using "it depends" without further explanation isn't helpful. In my experience, if someone says "it depends", they typically follow it up with the condition in which "it" depends upon.
On the "curiosity based question", If I ask "how long does it take to cook a chicken", a response in the form of "It depends upon the size of the chicken" and "What is the size of the chicken?" mean much the same thing.
On the "curiosity based question", If I ask "how long does it take to cook a chicken", a response in the form of "It depends upon the size of the chicken" and "What is the size of the chicken?" mean much the same thing.