Easy Chicken Recipes for Effortless Yet Delicious Dinners

Your weeknight dinners will never be boring or repetitive again with these easy chicken recipes. Whether you’re looking for a classic, experimenting with a new twist to the recipe, or cooking up a lavish feast, this list has you covered. Regardless of how grand they are, these dishes come together with ease – you’ll have no trouble whipping up a meal any time of the day.

Explore Chicken’s Versatility With Our Easy Chicken Recipes

Uncomplicated yet a marvelously diverse meat, it’s no wonder chicken is such a beloved staple. If you haven’t found your go-to chicken favorite yet, don’t be afraid to try out some dishes from our list of easy chicken recipes. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you’d find.

Breasts

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Air Fryer Blackened Chicken Recipe

This air fryer blackened chicken recipe makes you a delectable meal in about 30 minutes. Once the air fryer is running, you can sit back and relax, knowing you’ll have a succulent meal in no time at all.

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Pan Seared Chicken Breast Recipe

In this recipe for pan seared chicken breast, we use searing and sautéing techniques for a crispy touch and buttery finish.

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Cashew Chicken Recipe

Today's cashew chicken recipe is going to save you a bunch of time while taking mealtimes to the next level within 10 minutes of pan-frying.

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Chicken Larb Recipe

Our healthy chicken larb recipe takes only 5 minutes to prepare and 10 to cook. Your dinner will be ready in a blink of an eye.

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Cilantro Lime Chicken Recipe

Using simple everyday ingredients, this cilantro lime chicken recipe combines fresh limes and tenderly baked chicken breasts for a filling and flavorful meal, served over hot white rice and Pico de Gallo.

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A plate of Greek Chicken Salad placed on a brown cloth and near lettuce leaves, black olives, and cherry tomatoes.

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Greek Chicken Salad Recipe

Craving for a refreshing salad with delicious savory chicken? This dish is none but both! Our Greek chicken salad recipe will give you a colorful and flavorful dish that is appealing and satiating at the same time.

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Air Fryer Chicken Breast Recipe

This healthy air fryer chicken breast recipe makes for a wholesome, hearty meal without excess salt, oil, or calories. Let’s begin.

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Chicken Salad with Grapes Recipe

This chicken salad with grapes recipe can create a satisfying dinner or a quick-to-make picnic salad— wonderful for prep-ahead lunches.

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Hawaiian Chicken Recipe

Our Hawaiian chicken recipe showcases the melting pot of Hawaiian cuisine with a simple dish featuring chicken, vegetables, and rice.

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Chicken with Avocado Salsa Recipe

If you’re looking for a tasty and fulfilling dish, we promise that this tender, moist air fryer chicken breast with fresh and creamy avocado salsa won’t let you down.

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A plate of cooked chicken breasts covered in spices, fried sweet potatoes, lettuce, and cucumber slices

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Cajun Chicken Recipe

This Cajun chicken recipe is a four-step wonder that gives you a restaurant-worthy yet surprisingly comforting dish. Coated in spices and air-fried, the golden chicken carries an eye-catching charred exterior, made even more irresistible by a beautiful accompaniment of colorful vegetables.

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Chicken Salad with Avocado Sauce Recipe

This chicken salad with avocado sauce recipe certainly makes a wholesome meal with lean chicken, fresh veggies, and rich avocado sauce.

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Air Fryer Chicken Salad Recipe

This air fryer chicken salad recipe is the ideal option for a quick and healthy meal when you have less than 30 minutes in the kitchen.

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Air Fryer Grilled Chicken Recipe

Our air fryer grilled chicken recipe might take 35 minutes, but the final 20 is all hands-off. It’s the perfect time to whip up some delicious sides.

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Chinese Chicken Salad Recipe

This Chinese chicken salad recipe features a plethora of crunchy veggies, tender strips of chicken, and crispy fried noodles.

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Stir-fried Chicken and Broccoli Recipe

Today’s stir-fried chicken and broccoli recipe is quick and easy to make: in just around 30 minutes, you will have a delightful main dish with chicken cubes stir-fried with tender-crisp mushrooms and broccoli, served over hot white rice.

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Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Chicken Recipe

This air fryer bacon wrapped chicken recipe takes 35 minutes to prepare — 15 minutes to cook, and 20 minutes to wait. It's simple to plan ahead.

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Stir-fried Chicken Asparagus Recipe

Bite-sized chicken breast chunks, flavored with paprika and garlic powder, are pan-seared to perfection with snappy asparagus. We also add an Asian-inspired condiment, made of hoisin sauce, reduced-sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, etc., to bring out the best of chicken and greens.

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Thighs

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Barbecue Chicken Recipe

Our barbecue chicken recipe helps you cook up the center of attention at mealtime thanks to the flavorsome chicken and tasty vegetables.

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tips for cooking chicken thighs in the air fryer

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Air Fryer Chicken Thighs Recipe

If a simple and customizable weeknight dinner is what you're up for, then today's air fryer chicken thighs recipe is for you.

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A piece of cooked chicken sliced crosswise into medium pieces, placed next to white rice and bok choy

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Soy Sauce Chicken Recipe

This soy sauce chicken recipe is all you’ll need for an effortlessly flavorful dinner. It cooks chicken in a hearty mixture of soy sauce, mushrooms, aromatics, and other traditional Asian condiments. The result is tender and succulent meat that’s infused with deeply savory and umami flavors, complemented by fragrant undertones and a sweet aftertaste.

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Shoyu Chicken Recipe

This shoyu chicken recipe can stop you from living off takeout food. It takes just 30 minutes to make juicy chicken thighs swimming in sauce.

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Air Fryer Mongolian Chicken Recipe

Tired of dry air-fried chicken? Give our air fryer Mongolian chicken recipe a try and you will find yourself making the dish again and again.

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Four chicken thighs on top of cooked rice in a cast iron skillet decorated with a tablecloth, utensils, and ingredients of the recipe

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Chicken Rice Recipe

This chicken rice recipe packs a fulfilling meal in one pot with succulent chicken thighs, flavorful rice, and vegetables.

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Chicken Chop Suey Recipe

This chicken chop suey is a great way to enjoy a healthy tasty meal, high in protein and packed with vitamins. The chicken is flavorful, and the veggies are refreshing.

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Air Fryer Peri Peri Chicken Recipe

With only a few minutes of prep time, our air fryer peri peri chicken makes a satisfying and delicious meal with minimal work and maximal flavor.

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What is the sauce for honey butter chicken

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Honey Butter Chicken Recipe

This honey butter chicken recipe will give you a light and healthy dinner ready in an hour. No more guilty pleasures!

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Air Fryer Greek Chicken Recipe

Our 30-minute air fryer Greek chicken recipe provides a hearty meal of flavorful chicken and salad. It's simple and only requires a few ingredients.

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A close up of chicken slices with brown exterior and white meat

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Chicken Alfredo Recipe

Chicken alfredo recipe combines a creamy sauce with tender and well-seasoned slices of chicken, and earthy mushroom. A quick meal that can be made one-pot!

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Chicken Bowl Recipe

We air-fry chicken thighs until the skin is crispy and the interior remains juicy and tender. To assemble this chicken goodness, we layer fresh lettuce, cherry tomatoes, black beans, corn, and blistered chicken on top of a bowl of steamy white rice. A drizzle of homemade ketchup yogurt sauce to tighten all the ingredients, and your chicken goodness is ready for serving.

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Wings

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Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Recipe

This air fryer honey garlic chicken recipe is a simple way to enjoy chicken wings with rice and vegetables. It’s a wholesome meal in 37 minutes.

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Air Fryer Chicken Wings Recipe

This air fryer chicken wings recipe makes crispy, succulent, saucy, and satisfying buffalo wings that taste like the real deal.

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Instant Pot Chicken Wings Recipe

Craving fall-off-the-bone tender chicken but don't want oily take-outs anymore? This Instant Pot chicken wings recipe will be worth a try!

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Drumsticks

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Instant Pot Chicken Legs Recipe

Our Instant Pot chicken legs recipe will liven up your dinner routine with simple ingredients you might already have on hand.

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A saucepan containing cooked chicken drumsticks and chopped scallions in a brown stew sauce

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Brown Stew Chicken Recipe

Embracing the colorful diversity of Caribbean cuisine, this brown stew chicken recipe creates great flavor complexity. The deep, caramelized sweet sauce seamlessly harmonizes with the subtle aromatic and savory spices, giving you a downright irresistible and comforting main course to enjoy on cold nights.

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How Our Air Fried Chicken Is Made Better

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Air Fryer Fried Chicken Recipe

Our air fryer fried chicken recipe will help you make the perfect crispy-on-the-outside, juicy-on-the-inside chicken drumsticks.

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Chicken Afritada Recipe

Our chicken Afritada recipe is a perfect choice for everyday cooking. It’s delicious when served with rice, yet really quick and easy to make.

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Chicken and Potatoes Recipe

Today’s chicken and potatoes recipe features moist flavorful chicken drumsticks baked with gorgeous Hasselback potatoes—a beautiful weeknight staple for a satisfying meal.

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Air Fryer Chicken Legs Recipe

In today’s air fryer chicken legs recipe, we kept the chicken skin on so you won’t miss out on that golden and crispy exterior.

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Instant Pot Chicken Adobo Recipe

Chicken drumsticks are the star of today's Instant Pot chicken adobo as they're a healthy protein choice with little saturated fat.

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What Are the Easiest Ways to Cook Chicken?

Chicken is quite versatile, so there are plenty of exciting ways to cook it. If you’re aiming for simple, no-fuss dishes that can be prepared without too much effort, here are some common methods to try:

Frying

When it comes to chicken, there’s nothing more classic than drumsticks with crispy skin and utterly juicy meat. An easy way to achieve this is by coating them in a batter, then deep-frying to perfection.

In addition to deep-frying the drumsticks, you can cut up other parts like the breasts or the thighs for a quick and easy stir-fry to enjoy on casual dinner nights. Pan-frying is also a great option if you want your chicken golden and tender with beautifully browned edges.

Baking

Baking is a foolproof, effortless way to create intensely flavorful chicken dishes. All you need to do is season the chicken with some herbs and spices, then leave it in the oven for a golden transformation.

Roasting

Roasted chicken looks incredibly extravagant and complicated, but you’ll be surprised by how simple it truly is. The steps are minimal and straightforward, mainly involving seasoning and trussing, then letting the oven do the rest. Even so, the dishes are unbelievably gratifying: infused with flavors and oozing with delectable juices.

What Are the Easiest Cuts of Chicken to Cook?

Some parts of chicken are especially diverse to work with when you want a quick, easy and tasty meal. They require minimum preparation and with proper attention to detail, you can come up with some unbelievably flavorful dishes.

Thighs

For those who like their chicken rich and succulent, give chicken thighs a try. This dark meat cut is full of red muscle fibers, which make the meat flavorful. It’s also relatively easy to prepare. You can grill or roast the whole cut alongside colorful veggies for summery dishes, or chop it up to make toppings for various stir-fries and salads.

Breasts

Many of you might be under the impression that the mild taste of chicken breasts’ is not very flavorful. That’s not true; but when cooked right, it actually lays the perfect base for endless flavor pairings.

Before pan-searing, roasting, or baking, you can choose a brine, marinade, or stuffing for the breast cut. You’ll love how tasty and juicy it can become with a little extra effort.

Drumsticks

Much like the thighs, drumsticks are also a dark meat cut. They usually come with the bone in and skin on, making it nearly impossible to cook up meat that’s dry or tasteless.

With skin that deliciously crisps, the go-to cooking method for drumsticks is deep-frying. However, you can also bake, air-fry, or roast them in a coating of savory sauces or robust spices for game day meals or casual dinners.

Tips for Cooking

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make a difference. Take a look at these simple tips and tricks to create juicy and tender chicken:

Use a Meat Thermometer

Certain chicken cuts dry out quite easily when overcooked, so you should use a meat thermometer to precisely determine when it’s done cooking. For chicken, the internal temperature should reach 165 °F.

Pound Your Chicken Breast

Preparing your chicken properly could help tenderize and keep it from becoming dry. For the breasts, one of the most effective ways is to put them in airtight ziplock bags and pound them flat using sturdy utensils. This will prevent the chicken from uneven cooking and allow the seasonings to be absorbed more easily.

Use Oils With High Smoke Points

Chicken is usually cooked at high temperatures in a short period of time to ensure the meat is juicy and tender. Therefore, if oil is required, you should use varieties that have high smoke points, such as avocado oil, olive oil, or canola oil, to prevent smoking and drying out the meat.

Don’t Overcrowd the Space

Whether you’re pan-searing, grilling, roasting, or baking the chicken, make sure to keep space between the pieces. This will allow them to brown and finish cooking at the same time.

Let the Meat Rest

Once the chicken is cooked, don’t cut into it right away. Let it rest for at least 5 minutes to give the juice time to settle and distribute evenly within the meat. Slicing it too soon will cause the juice to spill out onto the plate and leave you with dry-textured meat.