31 Easy Chicken Dinners with 5 Steps or Less

July 30, 2020

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Credit: Jason Donnelly

Make an easy, delicious chicken recipe for dinner. These recipes have five steps or less, so you can get dinner on the table with little hassle. We pair chicken with fresh vegetables and hearty grains to create a well-balanced meal. Recipes like Cilantro-Lime Chicken Tacos and 20-Minute Creamy Italian Chicken Skillet are flavorful, nutritious and will become your new go-to dinner option throughout the week.

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Cauliflower Chicken Fried "Rice"

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Get an extra serving of vegetables and cut back on carbs by replacing rice with riced cauliflower in this healthy chicken fried rice recipe. Source: EatingWell Magazine, July/August 2016

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Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Spinach & Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

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Serve these saucy, ultra-quick chicken cutlets over your favorite pasta. This easy dinner recipe is sure to become a new weeknight favorite. Source: EatingWell.com, January 2020

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One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake

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In this chicken and asparagus recipe, we use one baking sheet to whip up dinner quickly, veggies included. Pounding the chicken thin helps it cook quickly alongside the carrots and potatoes, with asparagus rounding out the meal. This is one quick dinner recipe you'll be returning to again and again. Source: EatingWell.com, January 2020

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20-Minute Chicken Cutlets & Zucchini Noodles with Creamy Tomato Sauce

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This low-carb chicken dinner whips up in only 20 minutes, thanks to thin-cut chicken breast and packaged zucchini noodles. If you have a spiralizer and want to make your own zucchini noodles, use two medium zucchini. Source: EatingWell.com, January 2020

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20-Minute Creamy Italian Chicken Skillet

Credit: Jason Donnelly

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Chicken cutlets cook quickly and are highlighted with a creamy sauce made with tomatoes, zucchini and Italian seasoning. This recipe is sure to become a new weeknight favorite the whole family will love. Serve it with whole-wheat pasta or rice to make it a meal. Source: EatingWell.com, July 2020

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Chicken & Veggie Quesadilla

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This easy quesadilla recipe uses canned cooked chicken to save time. You can also use leftover cooked chicken or turkey if you have it. Dice the vegetables up to 1 day ahead for even speedier prep. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Summer 2020

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20-Minute Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Pesto Sauce

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Serve these quick chicken cutlets with creamy pesto sauce over your favorite pasta or zucchini noodles. This easy dinner recipe is sure to become a new family favorite. Source: EatingWell.com, February 2020

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Instant-Pot Chicken Taco Soup

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If you love tacos, this Instant Pot chicken taco soup won't disappoint. Silky strained tomatoes add body, while shredded chicken, beans and spices add those rich and spicy familiar flavors. And don't forget the toppings! Melted cheese, creamy sour cream and crushed tortilla chips round out this new family favorite. Source: EatingWell.com, July 2020

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Cilantro-Lime Chicken Tacos

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A quick lime marinade does double duty as a sauce in these tangy chicken tacos. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Summer 2020

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Easy Sesame Chicken with Green Beans

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Sweet-salty hoisin sauce and nutty sesame team up in this easy meal that's cooked on one baking sheet. Serve this sesame chicken with brown rice and sliced cucumbers, drizzled with sesame oil and rice vinegar. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Summer 2020

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Chicken & Zucchini Casserole

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This baked chicken and zucchini casserole is creamy, hearty and low-carb! The whole family will love this easy casserole, plus it's a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies (concealed in a delicious cheese sauce!). Source: EatingWell.com, May 2020

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Chicken & Tomatillo Enchiladas

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Roasting tomatillos before pureeing them into a green enchilada sauce adds another dimension of flavor and a little sweetness. Put out plenty of toppings so everyone can add what they like. Source: EatingWell Magazine, June 2020

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Ginger-Orange Chicken Thighs with Baby Bok Choy

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Searing the chicken before roasting at high heat ensures super-crispy skin. Combine that with mandarin oranges and you've got a healthy orange-chicken dish reminiscent of the favorite fried one at the mall food court--but without the fryer. Source: EatingWell Magazine, March 2020

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Pesto Chicken Bake

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This pesto chicken bake is easy to make as well as delicious! The chicken stays moist while the cheese on top gets bubbly and crispy. The pesto, mozzarella and tomato combination is a home run every time. Serve the chicken over pasta or your favorite grain. Source: EatingWell.com, May 2020

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Herb-Grilled Chicken Frites

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We combine fresh herbs, capers, lemon juice and olive oil along with the juices collected from the chicken as it rests to make a simple sauce that livens up this take on poulet frites, or chicken and fries. Source: EatingWell Magazine, May 2020

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Buffalo Chicken Chili

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Calling all Buffalo chicken lovers! This Buffalo chicken chili recipe features everything you love about Buffalo chicken wings: the veggies, the tangy, spicy kick and a topping of creamy blue cheese. Enjoy it with a small group or double the recipe to enjoy at your next Super Bowl party. Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019

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Chili-Rubbed Chicken with Coconut Rice & Mango Salsa

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This recipe is great for meal prep. Divide the salsa, rice and chicken among 4 food-storage containers and you've got 4 days of ready-made meals in your fridge. Source: EatingWell Magazine, May 2020

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Chicken Massaman Curry with Turmeric Brown Rice

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Massaman curry is a traditional Thai-style curry, popular for being milder in flavor and rich in taste. When students in Georgia were challenged to use local ingredients to come up with a creative dish that could be easily made in cafeterias, this recipe was a finalist. The kids wanted to cook their rice in milk with turmeric to give it a creamy texture and golden color, but they swapped in rice milk to keep the dish dairy-free. Regular milk works just as well. Adapted from Georgia Farm to School. Source: EatingWell Magazine, April 2020

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Honey-Mustard Chicken with Asparagus Farrotto

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Risotto gets a whole-grain upgrade by swapping in farro (a type of wheat) for the white rice. The farrotto adds a chewy bite and nutty flavor, plus 4 extra grams of fiber per serving. Source: EatingWell Magazine, April 2020

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Crock-Pot Lemon Chicken with Tomatoes & Kalamata Olives

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Let your slow cooker do the bulk of the work and end up with a meal that fulfills all your Mediterranean-food cravings. The mix of onions, tomatoes, kalamata olives, oregano and parsley adds pleasing acidity to the browned chicken, while toasted pine nuts lend interest to the orzo. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Chicken Paillards with Blood Orange Pan Sauce

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Each part of the blood orange (zest, segments, juice) lends a layer of flavor--sweet, tart, pungent--to this sophisticated yet speedy-to-prepare dish. Thin-pounded paillards of chicken breast cook quickly and evenly; pork would be great here too. Source: EatingWell Magazine, January/February 2020

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Cauliflower Chicken Nachos

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Swapping in tender-crisp cauliflower slices for chips in these cauliflower nachos ups your veggie servings for the day. Source: EatingWell Magazine, January/February 2020

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Slow-Cooker Sweet & Spicy Glazed Chicken

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You can fully indulge in the sticky-sweetness this slow-cooker chicken dish offers when you know that calories, saturated fat, carbs and sugar are in check. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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One-Skillet Chicken Paprikash with Mushrooms & Onions

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Try this quick and easy one-skillet version of the Hungarian classic chicken paprikash. Serve the chicken cutlets, mushrooms and creamy sauce over egg noodles with a green salad on the side. Source: EatingWell.com, December 2019

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Slow-Cooker Chicken & Honey-Glazed Root Vegetables

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This beautiful slow-cooker chicken dish should be a standby for day-of decisions to host dinner. In the spring, substitute baby white turnips and baby carrots for the regular varieties. To reduce prep time, cut the vegetables the night before; refrigerate. Place in the slow cooker with the browned chicken the next day. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Sheet-Pan Mediterranean Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Gnocchi

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In this healthy dinner recipe, chicken thighs, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomatoes and packaged gnocchi are all roasted on the same sheet pan for a complete meal that couldn't be easier to make. And though it's simple, this dish gets tons of flavor from Mediterranean seasonings, including garlic, oregano and red-wine vinegar. It all adds up to a dish that's ready to go into heavy weeknight rotation in your house. Source: EatingWell.com, September 2019

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Slow-Cooker Chicken Mole with Cilantro Rice

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Mole sauce is a Mexican condiment primarily composed of fruit, chile pepper, nuts and spices. In our rendition, these ingredients take the form of raisins and tomatoes; ancho chiles; smoked almonds; and cocoa, cumin and cinnamon. The rich mixture coats the browned chicken thighs in the slow cooker, and doubles as a topping on the final dish. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, if desired. Source: Everyday Slow Cooker

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Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup with Rotisserie Chicken

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This rich-tasting but better-for-you creamy chicken soup has a delicious chicken pot pie feel to it. We call for rotisserie chicken to streamline your prep time--look for a nice big one with lots of breast meat on it. Pair this comforting and easy soup recipe with a green salad, or, if you're really hungry, a grilled cheese sandwich. Source: EatingWell.com, October 2019

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Chicken Parmesan-Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

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This filling, hearty stuffed spaghetti squash is a lower-carb version of your traditional chicken Parmesan with pasta. This chicken Parmesan recipe is still full of cheesy goodness, but has the added benefit of sweet winter squash. If you can't find two small squashes, use one (3-pound) squash and cut each half into two portions when ready to serve. Source: EatingWell.com, October 2019

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Easy Chicken Tikka Masala

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It's hard to believe you can get such a full-flavored, deeply spiced chicken tikka masala in just 30 minutes, but we did it! And, like the title says, this classic chicken tikka masala recipe really is as easy as it gets. Source: EatingWell.com, September 2019

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31 of 31

Kung Pao Chicken with Bell Peppers

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Here's an easy chicken recipe you'll definitely want to add to your dinner repertoire. A quick marinade tenderizes the chicken and infuses flavor in this healthy version of a take-out favorite. Adding a little oil to finish the marinade coats the chicken and helps keep it from sticking to the pan. Source: Diabetic Living Magazine, Fall 2019

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