Weeknight
3491 recipes found
Sheet-Pan Chicken With Shallots and Grapes
This one-pan meal is simple enough for a weeknight, but impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. Chicken thighs are quickly marinated in garlic, olive oil and za’atar, if you’d like, while the oven comes to temperature. Then, they’re roasted alongside thick wedges of shallots and sweet grapes, whose flavors are gently coaxed together and deepened by the chicken fat as they cook. Serve straight from the sheet pan, or plate on a pretty platter. Serve with a salad of chicories dressed with lemon, olive oil, anchovies and salty pecorino cheese.
Pressure Cooker Chicken Korma
Flavored with cardamom and saffron-infused cream, then garnished with golden raisins and slivered almonds, chicken korma is a delicate and elegant dish. This version, by the cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey, is quickly made in an electric pressure cooker. You can substitute chicken breasts here, as long as you buy them still on the bone. Boneless chicken is apt to overcook. Serve this over basmati rice to soak up the rich, creamy sauce.
Ginger Chicken With Crisp Napa Salad
Ginger, garlic and cilantro form the base of an aromatic marinade for this easy stovetop chicken dish. Lightly pounding the chicken breasts increases their surface area, which helps them soak up the marinade and cook evenly. A refreshing and crunchy salad of napa cabbage, cucumbers and fresh mint rounds out the dish into the perfect light lunch or dinner. To make this for a larger group, simply double the recipe.
Crispy Sour Cream and Onion Chicken
Picture sour cream and onion dip slathered on chicken cutlets, dredged in panko bread crumbs, and fried until crisp like a potato chip, and you’ll envision this recipe. The marinade doesn’t just deliver flavor here: The lactic acid in the sour cream also keeps the thin chicken breasts juicy. Shower the crispy chicken with fresh chives and lemon juice, or, if you crave something creamy for dunking, pair it with a dip of sour cream, lemon juice and chives.
Pad Krapow Gai (Thai Basil Chicken)
As dynamic as it is speedy, this ground chicken and green bean recipe from “Night + Market” (Clarkson Potter, 2017) by Kris Yenbamroong and Garrett Snyder, delivers a wallop of flavor with punchy ingredients that stir-fry in just 15 minutes. While this popular Thai street food can be whipped up using a range of proteins, Mr. Yenbamroong refers to his riff as “low-rent” because it’s prepared with ground chicken rather than pricier slices of meat. It’s piled with basil; Thai basil or holy basil provide more assertive licorice notes, but sweet basil adds herbal bursts of brightness. Spiked with Thai seasoning (see Tip), the chicken mixture is salty on its own, but it’s inextricably linked with rice, and imparts the right amount of salinity when dispersed.
Honey-and-Soy-Glazed Chicken Thighs
In this simple weeknight recipe, chicken thighs are tossed with a sweet-salty glaze made of honey and soy sauce that caramelizes into a sticky coating as it roasts in the oven. Serve the sliced chicken with bibb lettuce cups for wrapping, or over steamed rice to catch all the juices. Leftovers can be chopped and combined with vegetables for a tasty clean-out-the-fridge fried rice.
Weeknight Lemon Chicken Breasts With Herbs
Boneless chicken breasts suffer a bad reputation, owing in large part to their propensity to dry out. The solution here is a lovely bath in an ample amount of olive oil, white wine and lemon, which seasons and tenderizes the chicken. Later, the marinade becomes an easy pan sauce once it cooks with the breasts. Use fresh herbs in the summer; in the winter, dried herbs will do the trick.
Chicken-Zucchini Meatballs With Feta
These meatballs harbor a secret: They’re half vegetable, half chicken. More than just a surprise, the grated zucchini provides moisture that ground chicken can lack. Roast more zucchini next to the meatballs on the sheet pan, then top everything with feta tossed with lemon juice. For an easy starch, add chickpeas to the feta, or toast bread or pita on the free rack in the oven.
Slow-Cooker Chicken Ragù With Herbed Ricotta
This recipe has a comforting lasagna vibe, as the spicy chicken-and-tomato sauce mingles with the rich, herby ricotta. Make the sauce as hot as you like: Begin with 1 1/2 teaspoons red-pepper flakes for a fairly mild spice level, then add more at the end if you want more heat. You’ll notice there isn’t much liquid when the chicken and vegetables go into the slow cooker, but have faith: The juices released during cooking end up making a not-too-thick ragù that is perfect for saucing pasta. In fact, because some chicken has more moisture than others, you may end up with more liquid than you’d like. If that happens, turn off the heat so the sauce cools a bit and is not bubbling, then vigorously stir in two egg yolks before you add the pasta. This adds glossy thickening power, just like it does in carbonara.
Air-Fryer Chicken Thighs
Simple and satisfying, chicken thighs brown beautifully in the air fryer, maintaining moisture thanks to their fat content. A quick, vinegar-spiked sour cream marinade adds oomph and helps tenderize the chicken. Despite being tossed and coated in a quick wet marinade (or overnight, if time permits), the skin still comes out deeply golden-brown and shatteringly crisp without leaving the meat lackluster. Because thighs vary in size, and air fryers range in size and power, make sure to take the internal temperature before removing your chicken from the air fryer, or pierce the chicken to check that the juices run clear rather than pink to ensure doneness.
Sheet-Pan Miso Chicken With Radishes and Lime
This vibrant dish is adapted from “Keeping It Simple” (Hardie Grant, 2020), a book of weeknight recipes by the food writer Yasmin Fahr. Miso and ghee are tossed with radishes and rubbed underneath the skin of chicken thighs before both are roasted on the same sheet pan. Fresh scallions, sesame seeds and lime juice provide a bright finish. If you don’t have ghee, regular unsalted butter will do just fine. And if you’ve never had roasted radishes, you’re in for a treat: High heat eliminates the vegetable’s bitterness, coaxes out its sweetness and leaves the lovely pink color behind.
Chicken Salad With Lemon-Sesame Dressing
This main-dish salad is inspired by chicken larb, which is a dance of contrasts: light but rich, with tender meat, crunchy vegetables and seasonings that span sour, sweet, spicy and savory. This recipe dresses lean-but-juicy ground chicken or turkey with sesame oil, fresh lemon, miso, ginger, basil and celery, but there are many ways to adapt it: You could sauté crumbled tofu or cubed salmon instead of the chicken; or add yuzu kosho, wasabi paste or fried garlic. It’s good on its own, or with roasted potatoes, grains, salad greens, soba noodles or wrapped in nori.
One-Pan Chicken Thighs With Coconut Creamed Corn
If it’s possible to upstage crispy-skinned chicken thighs, the coconut creamed corn in this dish comes close. The sweetness of caramelized corn and coconut milk is balanced by the brightness of the ginger, chile, scallions and lime. As the corn simmers, the browned chicken thighs finish cooking right on top, so the flavors meld and deepen. It’s a complete summery meal in one skillet, although you can make it anytime. Just use frozen corn. Garnish it with cilantro, chives, fried shallots or coconut flakes, and serve it with a green side. If you feel like it, you could use shrimp instead of chicken. (Use this recipe as a guide.)
Chicken Francese
Chicken francese, sometimes called chicken French, is one of those rare restaurant dishes that's truly easy to cook at home. If you can make chicken cutlets, you can make this lemony, buttery recipe; the only difference is an easy pan sauce that brightens the whole plate. This version includes lemon slices browned in butter, which are pretty and tasty but entirely optional. Although the name suggests that it's a French or Italian dish ("Francese" means French in Italian), it's actually neither: Like spaghetti and meatballs, it's a mostly Italian-American invention. Serve with something starchy to soak up every drop of the sauce; pasta is traditional.
Pan-Seared Ranch Chicken
In this recipe, America’s favorite salad dressing serves double-duty: as a creamy, herbaceous sauce and as a marinade. But don’t reach for bottled ranch. Instead, make your own brighter, tangier version using Greek yogurt. Unlike lemon or vinegar-based marinades, which can toughen meat, yogurt tenderizes even the leanest of chicken breasts. When the chicken is seared in a hot pan, the yogurt-mayo coating forms a flavorful, caramelized crust. (It also makes an excellent marinade for fish, pork, shrimp or sturdy vegetables.)
Chicken Braised in Two Vinegars
In this satisfying weeknight recipe, boneless chicken thighs are cooked in best-quality balsamic and red wine vinegar and plenty of garlic, resulting in a pleasantly sticky agrodolce sauce. You could easily crisp some pancetta before the garlic hits the pan or stir in some anchovies right before you begin to braise. This dish can be made a day or two in advance and gently reheated with a splash of water or broth, but wait until right before serving to garnish it with the fresh herbs. (They'll lose their vibrant color otherwise.) Serve over polenta or rice pilaf.
Pernil-Style Roasted Chicken Thighs
Pernil is a Puerto Rican slow-cooked marinated pork shoulder dish in which the pork is roasted for hours until succulent and crispy-skinned. The flavors of pernil become accessible on a weeknight with the use of quicker-cooking chicken thighs. The chicken pieces are coated in a garlicky, oregano-and-citrus rub that combines orange and lime juice for a sweet-sour hit. Serve the juicy chicken with rice or tucked into corn tortillas; a simple green salad or cabbage slaw would also make a nice accompaniment to complete the meal.
Sheet-Pan Scallion Chicken With Bok Choy
This weeknight sheet-pan chicken dinner makes exciting use of refrigerator staples. A fun mash-up of mustard, miso, scallions, garlic and ginger creates a zesty coating for skinless chicken thighs. The flavors soak into the chicken as it roasts, and the thighs are left on the bone to keep the meat juicy. The chicken cooks atop a bed of fresh bok choy, which picks up the rich aromatics of the pan juices, but broccoli florets also work well here. Turn leftovers into chicken salad sandwiches for lunch the next day: Simply pick the meat off the bones, chop the bok choy and mix it with some olive oil, lemon juice and chopped celery or fresh herbs.
Shake and Bake Chicken Thighs With Parmesan Peas
Crushed shredded-wheat cereal perked up with spices creates a super-crunchy coating reminiscent of the "Shake 'n Bake" of countless childhoods. Here, it works so well on boneless, skinless chicken thighs that you won’t even miss the crispy skin. For a twist on the classic beloved side dish, buttered peas are showered with Parmesan cheese.
Coconut Milk-Simmered Chicken Breasts With Vegetables
This fast but fabulous chicken dish pairs Thai-inspired flavors with French technique. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts have weeknight appeal, largely because they cook so quickly, but that also means they can dry out and become tough if you’re not careful. Here, the chicken is gently cooked for about 10 minutes, then simmered in a ginger-scented coconut sauce studded with green beans and corn, resulting in tender and juicy chicken. Slicing the breasts before serving allows the sauce to coat each piece, adding more moisture and flavor. If you want more heat, sprinkle thinly sliced serrano chile over the top before serving. The best part is the entire meal comes together in about a half-hour: If you’re quick, you can get all the vegetable prep done while the chicken cooks.
Kua Kling (Southern Thai-Style Red Curry)
Whereas larb is bright and acidic — light on its feet — this simple adaptation of a traditional Southern Thai dry red curry, is grounding and spicy. It owes much of its flavor to red curry paste, turmeric and fresh chile that have been toasted until they shake awake. For scorching heat (a curry like this is typically brutally hot), add more chile. As the chicken — though it could be ground pork, sliced beef or chicken, or mushrooms — cooks, its fat renders and the fired-up curry paste adheres. Season it with brown sugar and fish sauce, and serve with rice, cabbage, herbs, avocado, cucumber and-or a crisp fried egg.
Chicken Marsala and Mushrooms
Served over a tangle of linguine or with side of roast potatoes, this classic Italian-American dish made with chicken breasts, mushrooms and Marsala wine is comfort home cooking at its absolute best. Good news: It's also weeknight easy. First, pound boneless chicken breasts (you can use boneless thighs, too, but they might need a little more cooking time) with a mallet or a rolling pin until they're about 1/4-inch thick. Season them generously with salt and pepper, dredge in flour and fry in a little olive oil until they're golden brown. Make a quick sauce of mushrooms, shallots and Marsala and pour it over the chicken. Garnish with a little chopped parsley or chervil for color. That's good eating.
Mojo Chicken With Pineapple
This simple, bright chicken dinner will transport you to a sunnier place, no matter what color the sky may be where you are. It starts with a citrusy, garlicky Cuban mojo. Instead of marinating the chicken in the mojo before cooking, you marinate it afterward: As the warm, broiled chicken sits in the mojo (for up to an hour), it soaks up the lively flavors.
Easy Chicken Kapama
The traditional version of this Greek-inspired dish calls for a whole chicken to be broken down into parts, then braised in a fragrant, cinnamon-laced tomato sauce. This weeknight version instead calls for boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which are are much less work and less time-consuming to prepare. Like most braised dishes, this one tastes even better once the flavors have had a chance to mingle, so it’s an ideal make-ahead meal. Serve it over buttered egg noodles or orzo with a showering of grated Parmesan or Greek kefalotyri cheese.