Our thirty-minute chicken recipes combine a variety of chicken cuts with other quick-cooking ingredients to make fast, flavorful weeknight meals.
When it comes to planning weeknight meals, chicken is a popular go-to choice because it’s versatile, economical and always available, but we often get in a rut preparing the same chicken recipes over and over.
How to add flavor to chicken
Here are some ideas on how to spruce up your repertoire of chicken recipes without too much effort.
Key ingredients: Onions & garlic
Members of the onion family are the flavor building blocks of many savory dishes, and chicken recipes are no exceptions. As long as you have one of these staples in your kitchen, a delicious chicken dinner is yours for the making. Here are some ideas:
- Onions: For an easy riff on French Onion Soup, top our Oven-Roasted Chicken Thighs with caramelized onions, a sprinkling of crunchy panko crumbs, and some shredded Gruyere cheese. Return them to the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
RELATED: Chicken with Sherry Caramelized Onions - Garlic: Make a simple garlic sauce for pan-seared chicken tenders by sautéing minced garlic in a little butter until golden, then whisking in a teaspoon of Dijon-style mustard and a little cream or half-and-half. Drizzle over the chicken just before serving.
RELATED: Garlic Crumb Topped Chicken
Beyond the basics: Shallots & leeks
- Shallots: Make a shallot vinaigrette by whisking together oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon-style mustard, honey, and minced shallot and drizzle it over a garden salad topped with a sliced boneless chicken breast.
RELATED: Chicken Breasts with Shallots, Honey and Thyme - Leeks: Make a quick and easy sheet pan dinner of chicken tenders, leeks, and baby carrots. Arrange the leeks and carrots on the pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of dried tarragon. Roast at 375 °F for 15 minutes, then add the chicken and continue cooking until the chicken is done.
Finishing touches: Oranges, lemons & limes
Using fresh citrus juices and zest is another easy way to add fresh flavor to chicken.
- Oranges: Mix up a glaze for roasted chicken thighs by combining equal parts orange juice and honey and brush it onto the thighs in the last five minutes of cooking.
RELATED: Chicken with Orange and Tarragon Pan Sauce - Lemons: Try compound butter on grilled chicken. Combine the zest of one lemon, a tablespoon of finely chopped parsley and four tablespoons of softened butter. Form into a log, refrigerate until firm, then add a pat to each chicken breast as it comes off the grill.
RELATED: Classic Chicken Piccata - Limes: Combine the zest of one lime with ground cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Rub it into skin-on chicken breasts, bake and drizzle with fresh lime juice just before serving.
RELATED: Chicken with Cilantro Lime Cream Sauce
Now that you have some easy flavor-boosting ideas, check out the following collection of easy-to-prepare chicken recipes that go from kitchen to table in just about thirty minutes.
Simple Thirty-Minute Chicken Recipes
Our thirty-minute chicken dinner recipes combine a variety of chicken cuts with other quick-cooking ingredients to make fast, flavorful weeknight meals.
This quick roasted sheet pan dinner is made with smoked chicken sausage, apples and baby potatoes tossed with olive oil, shallots, thyme, and honey.
These crumb-coated, shallow-fried chicken breasts get their sweet and savory flavor from a light glaze of sautéed shallots, honey, fresh thyme, and cream.
This easy chicken and noodles recipe features a delicious sauce made with tomatoes, sautéed leeks, sour cream and fresh herbs like dill, chives or parsley.
This smothered chicken recipe is an easy, one-pan dinner combining chicken tenders with mushrooms, fresh spinach and a topping of creamy, melted cheese.
Fresh lemon juice, zest and black pepper add robust flavor to the tangy sauce that makes this fast and easy Lemon Pepper Chicken recipe a family favorite.
Made with shredded chicken, corn and red bell pepper, these easy chicken quesadillas are delicious combination of zesty flavor and cheesy goodness.
This recipe for boneless chicken breasts topped with a simple orange and tarragon pan sauce is an easy favorite for weeknight dinners.
These tender, boneless chicken breasts are smothered in a blend of Dijon mustard, white wine and cream, topped with cheese and panko and baked until golden and bubbly.
Tender, boneless chicken, sautéed garlic, onion, lemon juice, and fresh tomatoes combine with thin spaghetti to makes a quick, easy weeknight dinner.
Ready in less than 30 minutes, this foolproof recipe for roasted boneless, skinless chicken thighs is easy, flavorful and can be served with just about any side dish you can think of.
This recipe for boneless chicken breasts is flavored with a spicy seasoning blend and topped with a light, creamy sauce made with fresh lime juice, cilantro and cream.
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