What’s for dinner? How about one of these simple 31 chicken recipes for an easy and delicious comfort food dinner every day of the month.
It’s easy to let a healthy dinner routine suffer when the weather begs us to stay wrapped snuggly in a blanket with a bowl of popcorn in our laps instead. That’s why it’s time to get back to basics and get back on track with 31 days of simple chicken recipes that are far from a bare-baked chicken breast.
This list of chicken dishes is made for every day of the week: from Sunday chicken dinners to Friday night chicken ideas that even Ina’s Jeffrey would love. These simple chicken recipes run the gamut from exotic but accessible flavors to surprising twists on classics, to simple ethnic dishes that will spice up your routine with praises of, “winner, winner, chicken dinner!”
1. Cast-Iron Skillet Whole Roasted Chicken With Potatoes
FoodieCrush
Channel your inner Ina Garten with this easier-than-it-looks comfort food classic. Serve up a complete one-pot dinner that’s ready in just one hour for any night of the week.
2. Easy Baked Chicken Parmesan
FoodieCrush
Skip the skillet and make this healthy baked chicken parmesan dinner with marinara and melty cheese on a sheet pan instead.
3. Baked Harissa Chicken
The Forked Spoon
Butterflied and glazed with an apricot jam, this harissa flavored chicken winner is savory, sweet, spicy, and sticky all in one.
4. One Pan Sesame Chicken
How Sweet Eats
One and done with this creative, yet crazy-simple skillet meal. Toss traditional stir-fry veggies (or whatever’s in your fridge) with tender chicken thighs in a richly balanced sesame sauce for a quick weeknight meal that comes together in a single pan.
5. Thai Coconut Curry and Rice
FoodieCrush
I’ve made this Thai chicken dinner recipe for fast weeknight dinners but because it’s easy and keeps on the stove it’s great for entertaining, too. It’s one of those recipes any home cook can easily master.
6. Beyond Easy Chicken Mole Enchiladas
FoodieCrush
A super easy, no-cook, homemade mole sauce gives regular chicken enchiladas a delicious twist for a super fast Mexican dinner to meal prep or even throw together for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
7. Chicken With Chiles, Olives, and Roasted Garlic
Cooking for Keeps
Rosé makes this roast chicken my way. And olives. Pucker up chicken.
8. Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Skinny Taste
Your favorite appetizer just got a dinner-friendly makeover. White meat chicken stuffed with jalapeños, cream cheese, cheddar jack cheese, scallions and bacon. Tastes naughty, but Gina from Skinny Taste always keeps it nice (and easy on the waistline).
9. Easy Chicken Piccata
FoodieCrush
This easy chicken piccata recipe with a lemon-caper sauce is a classic you’ll find on the menu of nearly every Italian restaurant, and because it can be made in just 20 minutes, it’s one of my favorite at-home recipes too. Serve it with my Easy Lemon Rice Recipe and Winter Green Salad with Orange Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.
10. Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Broccoli and Tomato
FoodieCrush
Chicken quinoa bowls have staked their healthy claim on quick and easy meal-prep dinners that are flexible enough to mix and match ingredients for take-to-work lunches that never get boring, too.
11. Easy Tandoori Chicken with Vegetables
FoodieCrush
Traditional tandoori chicken is made in a clay oven, but this version of the classic Indian chicken dinner is baked on a sheet pan with Indian spiced vegetables for a complete meal any night of the week.
12. Sweet Potato Chicken Skillet with Kale and Bacon
Primavera Kitchen
Dirty a single dish and call it done with this ultra-savory, protein-packed, real food skillet meal. So many superfoods (and BACON) combine to make this quick and clean meal.
13. Oven Roasted Chicken with Lemon Rosemary Garlic Butter
Foodie Crush
One of the most popular recipes on the blog, this super simple roast chicken tastes far more decadent than it’s humble ingredients might imply. The PERFECT dinner.
14. Creamy Salsa Chicken
Budget Bytes
Use your favorite jarred salsa to simplify dinner in a snap. Pickup all the ingredients in one fell swoop at the grocery store on your way home, or (bless) you might even have everything in your pantry already. Black beans, corn and tasty toppings balance out this dish, served easily over rice or a salad.
15. Chicken Piccata Pasta
FoodieCrush
This chicken piccata pasta’s lemony white wine, butter and caper sauce makes a light and snappy coating for linguine with tomato bursts and mushrooms for an easy pasta dinner that won’t weigh you down.
16. Stuffed Chicken Thighs with Spinach and Goat Cheese
Foodie Crush
You don’t need a fancy French cooking degree to master this impressive one-pan skillet. Meaty thighs are stuffed with a mixture of creamy, melty goat cheese, spinach, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes that sits right under the crispy skin, so you can bid au revoir to chicken deja vu.
17. 30-Minute Chicken Caprese
FoodieCrush
With store-bought pesto (or make this homemade pesto), cherry tomatoes, leafy basil, and thick sliced fresh mozzarella, you can make this chicken caprese, skillet dinner in under 30 minutes.
18. Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken
Budget Bytes
You all know I love a good sheet pan meal, and I want to try this one out soon. Basil-y Italian chicken, perfectly complimented by rustic roasted potatoes and a simple Caesar-style salad make a balanced, but comforting, winter meal.
19. Chicken Tikka Masala Casserole
Fit Foodie Finds
Get ready to give your take out the boot with this mind-blowing comfort food take on Indian food. Tender marinated chicken ingeniously baked up with rice, bell peppers, and potatoes for traditional taste without the tandoor.
20. One-Pot Creamy Chicken and Rice
FoodieCrush
It’s not easy being cheesy…but actually, it is with this saucy chicken dish mixed with carrots, peas, chicken and rice for a dinner that feeds four all under 10 bucks.
21. Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
The Novice Chef
Creamy, dreamy pillows of dumpling heaven that take only 5 minutes to make are just part of the winning ways of this chicken and dumplings equation.
22. Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore
FoodieCrush
This dish is all about old-school Italian flavor made modern with simple slow-cooker instructions. Meaty bone-in chicken thighs add body to savory herbs and rich tomato sauce for flavor that feels like you spent the day cooking. Add my fluffy garlic rolls and some noodles or steamed veggies to round out the meal.
23. Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Two Peas and Their Pod
The key to killer fajitas is a good marinade, and this one has all the right stuff. Even better–the chicken and veggies all bake together on a sheet pan to save time and maximize flavor so you can get your Tex-Mex on in a flash. Love this with oven-warmed tortillas, or over crisp lettuce.
24. Potato Chip Crusted Chicken Breast
FoodieCrush
The best things about this recipe is how easily you can customize it to your family’s tastes. Love barbecue? Craving tangy salt and vinegar? Keeping it real with ranch? Add some creamy mac n cheese and steamed broccoli for a delightfully kid-friendly dinner.
25. Skillet Sweet and Sour Chicken
The Real Food RDs
This healthy spin on your favorite Chinese dish is full of veggies, chicken and basic sauce ingredients you’ll be able to pronounce for a clean, easy meal prepped in one skillet.
26. Chicken with Easy Mushroom Cream Sauce
FoodieCrush
Basic be gone–this recipe saves the dinner day with velvety smooth white wine, lemon, and thyme mushroom sauce with a hint of cream. Pro-tip: While I recommend different types of mushrooms, you can pick up the pre-sliced variety in your produce section when you’re in a pinch.
27. Tuscan Sheet Pan Dinner
Recipe Girl
Blistered green beans, juicy roma tomatoes, and Parmesan-dusted chicken make a flavorful and nutritious pan dinner when you’re short on time. I’d love to try this with my crispy oven-roasted potatoes.
28. Instant Pot Orange Chicken Lettuce Wraps
FoodieCrush
When your belly needs a break from the holiday cookie crush, reach for these light and healthy restaurant copycat wraps. Sugar and calorie-slashed, so much better than takeout, and you’ll still have room for that gingerbread man ;).
29. Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Stuffed Bell Peppers
FoodieCrush
Fresh green bell peppers stuffed with chicken, rice, mushrooms, and a creamy mushroom-infused sauce create an easy-to-make weeknight dinner in a convenient, nutritious and delicious little package.
30. Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas
Add a Pinch
Kick up classic chicken enchiladas with a spicy buffalo-style sauce, Monterrey jack and a sprinkle of blue cheese.
31. Easy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (Instant Pot or Stove Top)
FoodieCrush
This easy Instant Pot fettuccine alfredo recipe is a classic one-pot meal made even faster in the pressure cooker (or on the stove top) for a comfort food dinner that’s ready in just 30 minutes or less.
What to Serve With These Chicken Recipes
- The Best Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Easy 5-Minute Parmesan Zucchini
- Easy Lemon Orzo Faux Risotto
- 5 Ingredient Slow Cooker Creamed Corn
- The Best Buttery Parsley Potatoes
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
31 Chicken Recipes that Are Winter Winners
Ingredients
- one 4-5 pound chicken at room temperature, giblets and neck removed from cavity
- 2 onions quartered
- 1 head of garlic cut in half plus 3 garlic cloves minced
- 3 lemons 2 cut in half and remaining half sliced into thin slices
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter* softened
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- 2 fresh rosemary sprigs plus 1 sprig minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- ½ cup white wine
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Mix the butter with minced rosemary, 3 cloves of minced garlic, lemon zest, salt and pepper.
- Pat the chicken dry and rub half of the butter, garlic and lemon zest mixture under the skin and the rest over the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Generously season cavity of chicken with salt and pepper and stuff with lemon half, ½ head of garlic, 2-3 quarters of onion and 2 rosemary sprigs. Truss legs with cooking twine and tuck wings under bird.
- Place chicken in a roasting pan breast-side-up with the remaining onion, garlic, lemons and herbs. Add ½ cup of white wine.
- Roast for 30 minutes or until the breast is firm and just beginning to brown in spots. Using tongs, turn the chicken breast-down, baste with juices and roast for 20 minutes longer, until the skin is lightly browned. Using tongs, turn the chicken breast-side-up and baste again. Add ½ cup of water if wine has evaporated. Roast for about 20 minutes longer, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the inner thigh registers 155°F to 160°F and juices are running clear.
- Transfer the bird to a cutting board and tent with foil. Remove aromatics and vegetables from the cavity, carve the chicken and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
More Chicken Recipes Ideas
- 30 Healthy Easy Chicken Recipes
- 5 Tips for Juicy Roast Chicken
- How to Cook Instant Pot Chicken Breasts (from Fresh or Frozen)
- The Best Baked Chicken Breast
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- 20 Chicken Dinner Ideas You Can Make On the Sheet Pan
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Alishah Matthew says
You are the best.
Will certainly try these, specially the combination of pasta and chicken. I love both.
Thanks for the post.
Bryan says
The jalapeno stuffed chicken is my favorite on the list! My wife has made broccoli stuffed chicken and I loved that! I want to make this for her now, thank you!
Ashley @ Foodie Crush says
YES! The Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken is amazing. Enjoy!
John Valensi says
Your recipes are always the best! I’ve tried only 11 out of 31 and i guess the futher the more interesting it gets :)