23 Quick Chicken Recipes

Our 23 quick and, quite frankly, rather-not-live-without chicken recipes. Because weeknights are already demanding enough.

Two pan seared chicken breasts in a stainless steel skillet with a pair of tongs resting on one of the chicken breasts.
This pan seared chicken breast from Cook’s Illustrated calls for just four ingredients—chicken, olive oil, salt, and pepper—but boasts shatteringly crisp skin, tender meat, and a stovetop that isn’t spattered with grease. This is going to change your weeknight chicken game.
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Plastic container or North African chicken soup with shredded chicken, ras el hanout, couscous, and preserved lemon
This North African chicken soup is made with chicken stock, ras el hanout, couscous, and preserved lemon. It’s an easy and inexpensive soup that is just as satisfying at dinner as it is at your desk for lunch the next day.
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Black pottery bowl filled with the Chinese dish gung bao chicken
This gung bao chicken, made with boneless chicken breast, chiles, Szechuan peppercorns, and peanuts, is authentic Szechuan fare.
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Three spiced roast chicken thighs, with warm spice, cajun, and spiced curry coatings
This spiced roast chicken is like a choose-your-own-adventure in weeknight cooking. Choose your favorite rub—spiced curry, Cajun, or warm spice–slather it on chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, drumsticks, they all work well!), and roast until tender.
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A bowl inside another bowl filled with Thai chicken salad with peanut dressing on the side.
This easy Thai-inspired chicken salad with tangy peanut dressing makes lunch something to look forward to, with loads of veggies and chicken.
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A metal sheet pan covered with 8 golden and crisp chicken thighs.
This oven roasted chicken thighs so ingenious is the technique. Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are baked until cooked through and then broiled to crisp the skin. The result? Juicy, flavorful chicken. Marvelously crisp skin.
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Wood bowl with tequila-lime chicken tacos, charred limes, radishes, sour cream
These easy chicken tacos, made with marinated grilled chicken and a cilantro-spiked mayonnaise, are an easy meal, perfect for weeknights or casual entertaining.
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A Chinese chicken lettuce cup topped with cashews and cilantro on a white plate.
Chinese cooks don’t use a lot of raw vegetables, but instead prefer to stir-fry or braise them. There are a few exceptions, however, and in Hong Kong, cooks fill crisp iceberg lettuce leaves with savory minced meat.
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A plate piled with homemade chicken strips and dishes of dipping sauce on the side.
Homemade chicken strips. When it comes to this type of quick weeknight dinner, we’re all about respecting the yum factor. This recipe does exactly that.
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A basket of Sriracha chicken wings, two glasses of beer, and a plate with one eaten and one uneaten chicken wing and a wedge of lime.
Spicy Sriracha chicken wings are a step up from the ubiquitous bar food. Fiery heat with lip-smacking flavor, these crisp little beauties will disappear before your eyes. Pass the napkins!
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White bowl of sliced parmesan-crusted chicken, lettuce, and red and yellow cherry tomatoes
This Parmesan-crusted chicken recipe is made from chicken, Parmesan, egg, and nothing else. It’s baked, which means you don’t have to constantly tend it or clean up a spattered stovetop afterward. A swell weeknight dinner from the pantry.
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Six breaded oven fried chicken thighs with four lemon wedges in a parchment-lined dish.
These breaded oven fried chicken thighs come together quickly with just a handful of pantry ingredients. They have all the crispy goodness of fried chicken, without the mess and hassle of deep frying.
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A wok filled with kung pao chicken with two chopsticks on the edge
This Kung Pao chicken is an easy, authentic Chinese dish made with crisp chicken breast, peanuts, and chile peppers in a sauce made from soy sauce, black vinegar, and sesame oil.
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A white oval serving platter topped with three skewers of chicken yakitori with honey sauce.
This chicken yakitori with honey sauce is a simple Japanese style method for grilling skewered chicken thighs. Served with a soy, honey, and garlic marinade and dipping sauce, this easy recipe belongs in your weeknight dinner rotation.
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A pile of Cajun fried chicken pieces.
This Cajun fried chicken recipe is bathed in buttermilk and turns out crisp, slightly spicy, perfectly deep-fried loveliness thanks to its Southern charm and Louisiana personality. Quite literally the best we’ve had.
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A bowl filled with Vietnamese chicken soup with a spoon resting in it
Vietnamese chicken rice soup is a quick and easy version of congee, a sensationally soothing southeast Asian elixir of rice, chicken broth, and ginger.
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Four pieces of classic chicken piccata topped with parsley and capers on a white oval serving plate.
This is a simple, delicious dish that’s quick to make. It’s perfect to serve on a big plate for the whole family to share with a simple green salad.
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Crispy fried chicken pieces on grease-stained paper.
The key to moist, plump, juicy fried chicken is the marinating, either in salted water—a brine—or in milk. I've combined the two methods. The combination of salt and milk results in sheer, succulent pleasure because the milk makes the meat even sweeter.
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6 grilled chicken skewers piled on a wooden cutting board and sprinkled with slices of red onion and cilantro.
These chicken skewers are magnificently easy to toss on the grill for a quick dinner. The distinct Thai taste comes from a simple marinade of coconut milk, fish sauce, cilantro, and curry.
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Port-paprika chicken bites garnished with cilantro, piled on a square white plate with a dish of picks.
These port and paprika chicken bites include Portuguese and Spanish ingredients flavor these tapas. It's also perfect served over rice as an entrée for two.
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Bowl of cashew chicken with chunks of stir-fried chicken, carrots, sugar snap peas, celery, cashews.
This cashew chicken is close to the real Cantonese deal. It calls for chicken thighs, ginger, and garlic to be stir-fried with sugar snaps and carrots in a simple, barely there sauce made with rice vinegar and soy sauce. Done in 30 minutes. And darn near keto.
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A white plate topped with a piece of brown butter flattened chicken, tomato sauce, arugula and red onion salad, and pine nuts.
This brown butter flattened chicken is served with a buttery tomato sauce and a pickled red onion and arugula salad. The finished dish rivals a restaurant-quality meal, yet it takes only 30 minutes to toss together.
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