5 Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes
Table of Contents
Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes
Hi lovelies I’m sharing some of my favorite Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes most of which can be pulled together in 20 minutes or less including today’s delicious recipe this absolutely scrumptious pesto chicken gnocchi
So these quick and easy chicken dinner recipes use just a few amazing ingredients but they’re so flavorful and everything comes together in a single skillet which means fewer dishes for you and more time spent with the people you love.
Creamy Pesto Gnocchi with Chicken
Ingredients –
- 1/4 Cup – Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 tbsp – Oil
- 2 Cups – Chopped Baby Spinach
- 2 – Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Cut into 1-Inch Cubes)
- 1 Lb – Gnocchi
- 1 – Shallot, Diced
- 1/4 Cup – Heavy Cream
- 2 – Garlic Cloves, Minced
- 1 Cup – Chicken Broth
- 1/3 Cup – Pesto Sauce
Direction –
Step 1
Now to get started I have got my handy dandy skillet heating up on the stove as you can see I’ve got a nice flat bottom skillet which is perfect when you’re cooking things like chicken in a pan and you want to give everything lots of space in the pan so here I’ve got two boneless skinless chicken breasts I’ve just cut them into one
Inch cubes and we are just going to season these liberally with some salt and some pepper and we want to let them cook until they become nice and golden this is the part of the process that actually takes the longest and seriously guys it doesn’t take very long at all and you can do
All of the chopping ahead of time during your Sunday meal prep and basically have all your ingredients ready to head straight into the pan so you can really have dinner on the table in under 20 minutes and it’s something the whole family is going to love and that you can feel really good about
Step 2
Now if you wanted to use chicken thighs in this recipe you definitely could or you could swap in some shrimp here instead that would be really delicious or you could leave the meat out of this recipe entirely it is totally up to you now you don’t want to rush
Your chicken in a recipe like this you want to make sure you get that golden color because that’s how you know you’ve developed a lot of really wonderful flavor
Step 3
Once our chicken is nice and golden we can get to work on adding even more great flavor to the pan and to do that I am starting with some finely diced shallot you could use onion in this recipe if that’s what you had I like shallot cause it’s just a little more mellow and to my shallot, I’m also going to be adding some minced
The garlic you guys know how much I love my garlic so I am going for it as always I’m just going to let those cook away for about 30 seconds or so just until they become nice and fragrant and they fill the kitchen with that beautiful aroma.
Step 4
Then it’s time to add my pesto to the pan now there is so much to love about pesto sauce because it is full of so many high impact ingredients like basil parmesan cheese and garlic so it’s got a ton of amazing flavor and just a little pesto goes a long way now you always have the option to use store-bought pesto in this recipe or you can make some homemade it’s actually really easy to do.
Once my pesto is in the pan I’m just going to stir it together with that shallot that garlic that chicken and let it cook up for just 30 seconds to a minute.
Step 5
Then it’s time to get some liquid in the pan so today I’m using a combination of chicken broth here as well as a good splash of heavy cream you could use milk in this recipe if you want to keep it a little on the lighter side.
But of course, the cream makes this really rich and delicious I just want to give that mixture a minute or two to allow it to come to a nice simmer, and then it’s time to add my gnocchi to the pan.
Step 6
Now if you’re not familiar with gnocchi it’s a type of pasta made with potato and when it cooks it gets really light and fluffy and pillowy and it’s super satisfying especially as the autumn months arrive
To make Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes, I’m using fresh gnocchi in this recipe which you can usually find in the deli aisle at your supermarket you can also buy frozen gnocchi if you want to I prefer the fresh because I think it gets the best texture but it’s totally up to you the best part about gnocchi is that it takes almost no time to cook it’s going to cook up in our amazing sauce which we’ve made with our heavy cream our pesto and our chicken broth
Step 7
Okay guys so after just a few minutes do you see the kind of magic that is unfolding in this pan so our gnocchi has released some of those amazing starches and really thickened this sauce up so it’s rich and creamy and it’s really coating the gnocchi in the chicken
that means it’s time to add our finishing ingredients first up I have got some spinach headed in here I wanted to add some greens because we could all use more nutrients in our life you could swap in some kale here or some asparagus or even some broccoli would be really good I love baby spinach because of course, it’s so easy to work with I just gave it a quick chop and I’m just gonna stir it right
Step 8
Then for my final mix in I have got about a quarter cup or so of freshly grated parmesan cheese you guys know the freshly grated parmesan cheese takes any dish from a 10 to about an 11 and a half at least as far as I’m concerned so if you have it you definitely want to use it just gonna get it right in the pot and give it a stir
Maple Dijon Chicken
Hello, lovelies as you know all month long I am sharing easy weeknight dinner ideas to help weeknights in your household run a little more smoothly and today I have three awesome chicken dinner ideas that I know you’re going to love including this garlic brown sugar chicken that has quickly become Greg’s new favorite dish.
Now I’m gonna kick things off today with one of my absolute go-to chicken recipes it’s my maple Dijon chicken and it all starts with a great marinade
Ingredients –
- 8 – Chicken Thighs
- ⅓ – Maple Syrup
- 1 tsp – Fresh Thyme Leaves
- 2 – Garlic Dijon Mustard
- 3 tbsp – Oil
- 2 tbsp – Grainy Dijon Mustard
Directions –
Step 1
To make Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes, I am starting with a little bit of oil in my bowl I’m using a nice flavorless oil here you could use canola vegetable sunflower or even avocado oil to that I’m going to add some maple syrup being the Canadian that I am maple syrup is available in abundance where I live I’ve got some grainy Dijon mustard headed in here a whole heaping helping of garlic because we love garlic in this kitchen and some fresh thyme leaves Fresh thyme it’s really really critical in this recipe it adds this really beautiful earthy savory flavor to all the nice sweetness of that maple syrup
Step 2
I’m also going to hit this with a little salt and a little pepper and then I’ll just give it a good whisk and get it on top of my chicken.
Today for all next three Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes, I am using chicken thighs with the skin on and a bone in the reason I love these so much is that they have a ton of amazing flavor and they’re really really affordable compared to say boneless skinless chicken breasts that being said any of these recipes will really work with any kind of chicken you like so feel free to decide what you want to use in your house
Step 3
To make Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes, I’m gonna get as much of this marinade over everything as I possibly can and then I’ll just use my tongs to sort of shake everything around I used to do this in zipper bags but I’m trying to be a little more environmentally sound so doing this in a glass container like this is a great way I like to just pop a lid on this and get it into my refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or a few hours if you have
Step 4
Them I’m gonna be baking this up on a parchment-lined baking sheet at 375 now you probably know this already but just in case you don’t it is really really important once we’re done with our marinade to discard it because obviously it’s touched the raw chicken
Now I will say in a recipe like this where you’re using something really sugary like maple syrup you’ll want to make sure to use some parchment or aluminum foil to line your pan just because it can tend to burn around the edges and you don’t want to spend your evening doing dishes that would defeat the entire purpose of easy weeknight dinners., I am right? Please comment below
Step 5
At this point, I always like to hit it with a little more salt and pepper, and then we will get it into the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for between 30 and 40 minutes or until that chicken registers a hundred and sixty-five degrees on a meat thermometer
When these come out of the oven they smell absolutely incredible you’ve got that gorgeous garlic and of course, that maple syrup in your kitchen will smell good enough to eat, and what perfect timing because dinner is served.
Honey Chili Garlic Chicken
Next for you spice lovers out there I have got some chili garlic chicken that is oh so yummy
Ingredients –
- 8 – Chicken Thighs
- ¼ Cup – Chili Garlic Sauce
- 2 – Limes, Zest and Juice
- 3 tbsp – Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp – Freshly Grated Ginger
- 2 tbsp – Honey
Directions –
Step 1
It starts once again with a really wonderful marinade I’ve got some oil in my bowl to that I’m going to add a little soy sauce for a nice savory flavor and of course, the most important ingredient is chili garlic sauce you can usually find this in the international aisle at your supermarket I am slightly obsessed with it so I basically use it in everything
Step 2
Now I’ll add some honey to this for a touch of sweetness some ginger that’s been grated and then once all that yumminess is in the bowl we’re gonna add something a little different just a bit of freshness with some lime zest and juice this adds just a bit of tartness to this marinade we’ll give that all a stir
Step 3
Then once again I’m just going to pour it over my chicken thighs and get them into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes I said the longer your chicken marinade the more delicious that’s going to become so if you’ve got the time use the time
Once that chicken has soaked up all that marinade I’m going to arrange these on my parchment-lined baking sheet and then I like still hitting these up with just a little bit of salt and pepper once again I’ll just spoon a little more of this marinade on top to make sure we try to maximize the flavor while we can
Step 4
Then of course we’ll discard our marinade just like we did with our last one we will get it into the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit until it’s cooked through spicy salty sweet what is not to love.
Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
Finally, guys as promised I am sharing Greg’s new favorite chicken it’s this amazing garlic brown sugar chicken and I wish I could take credit for it it’s actually inspired by my mom because this is one of those recipes you honestly have to taste to believe I love starting by seasoning up my chicken liberally you want to hit it with some salt and some pepper as you always do
Ingredients –
- ¼ tsp – Dried Thyme
- ¼ tsp – Butter (Divided)
- ¼ tsp – Dried Basil
- 8 – Chicken Thighs
- ½ tsp – Dried Oregano
- 4 – Garlic Cloves, Minced
- ¼ Cup – Brown Sugar
Directions –
Step 1
I’ve got a nice big oven-safe skillet heating up on the stove it’s important to use an oven-safe skillet here because we’re gonna start our chicken on the stove and then pop it into the oven to finish cooking in my skillet I am going to melt some butter
now if you wanted to oil here it you could but I am a great believer in butter., butter makes things better so we’re gonna meltdown our butter
Step 2
Then we are just going to place our chicken thighs skin side down into our skillet you’ll want to let them cook up for between 3 and 4 minutes or until they become nice and golden brown on one side then we’ll just flip our chicken and let it cook for another 2 to 3 minutes before removing it from the pan
Step 3
Now it’s important to note these are not fully cooked yet so we are gonna get them back into the oven but we’re just gonna give them a little breather while we fire up it touches more butter you can decide if you need more butter or not
I’m also going to add some garlic to the pan and as soon as that becomes fragrant I’ll go ahead and add some brown sugar to the pan so this is like a perfect sweet and savory recipe so much to love too about that flavor factor, even more, I’ve got some dry basil some dried thyme and some dried oregano headed in here
Step 4
Then I’m just going to stir this around until the brown sugar has completely dissolved once that’s happened you can get your chicken back into the pan you’ll want to flip it once or twice to coat it in that mixture we will get it into the oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes or so or until it reaches a safe internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit on a meat thermometer
I wish you could seriously smell this I’m pretty sure this is going to be your new favorite Quick and Easy Chicken Dinner Recipes don’t believe me you need to try it for yourself.
Okay, guys there we have it an absolute flavor bomb that came together in 20 minutes or less you have to put this on your must-try list because guys it’s a must try it’s rich it’s savory it’s comforting and it’s perfect for that chillier weather I hope you guys will give this recipe a try and if you do be sure to follow me Pinterest.
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