9 Easiest Weeknight Chicken Recipes
Whether you're feeding yourself or others, wholesome, tasty food is a welcome delight any night of the week. When it comes to meal planning, chicken is an excellent selection for nightly dinners: It's nutritious, versatile, and pairs beautifully with a variety of ingredients. And let's be honest, the last thing any home chef wants is to tangle with an overly-complicated recipe after spending hours upon hours at work during the day.
Fortunately, Daily Meal has your back when it comes to weeknight meals. We've compiled a solid list of enticing weeknight chicken recipes. Each dish featured is as tasty to eat as it is convenient to prepare. In addition to providing yourself and your loved ones with delicious meals all week long, the prep that goes into each recipe can be whipped together relatively quickly in order to ensure plenty of time for relaxation pre- and post-meal. Here are a few wonderful chicken recipes to add to your weekly meal plan.
1. Skillet Chicken Divan
A classic dinnertime preparation, chicken divan offers lots of hearty goodness for any hungry eater. This recipe calls for a perfect marriage of chicken and broccoli, which are united by the decadent cheese sauce that holds the whole thing together. You'll also include crushed butter crackers to add a pleasing bit of crunchy texture to the dish.
While the recipe calls for chicken divan to be served over rice, you're free to choose your own accompaniment according to your personal preferences. If you're not really feeling rice, both pasta and potato beautifully complement this skillet chicken divan recipe.
Recipe: Skillet Chicken Divan
2. Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken
Undeniably delicious and a breeze to prepare, this teriyaki chicken recipe utilizes a single pan — which means it's a generally sure bet that both preparation and cleanup will be easier on any home chef. Along with boneless, skinless sliced chicken thighs, this meal also includes wholesome yet tasty string beans.
Despite the simplicity of this recipe, this teriyaki chicken does indeed call for homemade teriyaki sauce, albeit one with just seven ingredients. However, if you find yourself in a tight crunch, you can feel free to use a storebought brand as a substitute.
Recipe: Sheet Pan Teriyaki Chicken
3. Baked Ranch Chicken
Who doesn't love ranch dressing, especially when combined with tasty baked chicken? In order to make the delectable outer crust for this chicken dish, simply combine breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and ranch seasoning, which is available in convenient packets at your local grocery store.
To ensure the dry mix binds successfully with the chicken, Greek yogurt is a great option for coating the chicken, as well as being healthier than whole milk. Once the chicken is fully breaded, simply bake for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit.
Recipe: Baked Ranch Chicken
4. Quick And Easy Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
Thanks to the convenience they offer, Instant Pots have revolutionized weeknight cooking for a large number of home chefs. For proof, look no further than this chicken tortilla soup recipe, which exemplifies the utility the Instant Pot provides when it comes to preparing tasty meals.
After gathering your ingredients and browning your chicken breast on either side, continue adding ingredients to the Instant Pot and cook it on a high-pressure setting for 25 minutes. The result is a delicious and filling meal perfect for any night of the week.
5. 1-Pot Chicken And Rice
This 1-pot chicken and rice preparation is absolutely perfect when you want to use as few accouterments as possible and cut down on clean-up. Along with chicken thighs — the recipe's hero — this dish also includes vegetables and rice for a nutritious, well-rounded meal.
In order to imbue your meal with some unforgettable flavor, start by frying up the chicken thighs first and then adding the other ingredients to the pan, per the recipe. From start to finish, this delicious yet easy dish only takes about 35 minutes to prepare.
Recipe: 1-Pot Chicken And Rice
6. One-Pan Chicken Marsala
In true form, this chicken marsala recipe is another one-pan wonder you can cook up to impress your friends and family, all without ever breaking a sweat.
Rather than chicken, it can be argued that the real star of this recipe is the indulgent marsala sauce, which consists of Marsala wine, chicken broth, and heavy cream, as well as onions, mushrooms, and minced garlic. The result is a fragrant, aromatic sauce that pairs well with a variety of hero substitutes if you're not in the mood for chicken, including other proteins like pork chops, meat substitutes like tempeh, and even pasta.
Recipe: One-Pan Chicken Marsala
7. Easy Chicken Stir-Fry
If you're a need of an easy recipe that combines satisfying flavors with nutritious ingredients, you can't go wrong with chicken stir-fry. Begin the process by whipping together the sauce for the stir-fry, which consists of a water-cornstarch slurry, ginger, vinegar, honey, garlic, and soy sauce. At this point, you can begin cooking the chicken and other ingredients, which will integrate with the sauce by the end of the process.
Looking for additional texture and flavor? Feel free to throw some cashews into the mix.
Recipe: Easy Chicken Stir-Fry
8. Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan Recipe For A Busy Weeknight
No-fuss chicken parm on a weeknight? It seems impossible, but this recipe allows you to enjoy this decadent dish with relatively little effort. A trusty Air Fryer is key in this preparation, as it ensures the chicken, once breaded, achieves the perfect crusty texture.
Once the chicken is appropriately dredged in the egg and seasoning mixture, you can add it to the Air Fryer and cook for about 12 minutes, give or take, at 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
Recipe: Air Fryer Chicken Parmesan Recipe For A Busy Weeknight
9. At-Home Takeout-Style Orange Chicken
As a citrus-forward dish, orange chicken is chock full of bold, enticing flavors. This staple of Chinese-American cuisine is often enjoyed at restaurants, but it's surprisingly easy to make at home. In addition to its orange juice base, this orange sauce preparation also calls for a bit of orange zest for some added zing.
Along with how amazing it tastes, at-home orange chicken has an added bonus: it's somewhat healthier than its restaurant-cooked counterpart since you as a home chef have more control over what actually goes in it.