27 Diabetes-Friendly Chicken Dinners You'll Want to Make Forever
These dependable chicken dinners are here to shake up your typical routine. Whether you want a cozy bowl of hearty soup or a plate of chicken and veggies that will please everyone at the table, we have tasty options for you. Plus, each recipe focuses on complex carbs, like whole grains, and is lower in saturated fat and sodium for a diabetes-friendly, heart-healthy meal. Recipes like our Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese and Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts are delicious, satisfying dinners for any night of the week.
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Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajita Bowls
Skip the tortillas in favor of this warm fajita salad, which features a nutritious medley of chicken with roasted kale, bell peppers and black beans. The chicken, beans and vegetables are all cooked on the same pan, so this healthy dinner is easy to make and the cleanup is easy too.
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Maple-Roasted Chicken Thighs with Sweet Potato Wedges and Brussels Sprouts
This easy sheet-pan recipe brings together many fall favorites into a hearty dinner.
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Creamy White Chili with Cream Cheese
This rich, yet healthy, white chicken chili comes together in a flash thanks to quick-cooking chicken thighs and canned white beans. Mashing some of the beans acts as a fast thickener when your soups don't have a long time to simmer. Cream cheese adds the final bit of richness and a hint of sweet tang.
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Lemon Chicken Pasta
In this easy lemon chicken pasta recipe, we love the combination of lemon zest and toasted breadcrumbs. This healthy dinner is made with rotisserie chicken, quick-cooking spiralized zucchini and baby zucchini, so you get a complete meal in just 10 minutes.
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Roast Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
This sheet-pan dinner combines chicken thighs and sweet potatoes for a healthy dinner that cooks up fast in a very hot oven. Serve with a fall salad of mixed greens, sliced apples and blue cheese.
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Slow-Cooker Chicken & White Bean Stew
This load-and-go slow-cooker chicken recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight dinner. Serve this Tuscan-inspired dish with crusty bread, a glass of Chianti and a salad.
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Skillet Lemon Chicken & Potatoes with Kale
This easy one-pan skillet-roasted lemon chicken is perfect for weeknight dinners. Juicy chicken thighs are cooked in the same pan as baby potatoes and kale for a satisfying meal with the added bonus of minimal cleanup.
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Chicken & White Bean Soup
Once again, rotisserie chickens can really relieve the dinner-rush pressure-especially in this Italian-inspired soup that cries out for a piece of crusty bread and a glass of red wine.
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Kung Pao Chicken with Bell Peppers
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.
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Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas
One sheet pan is all you'll need to whip up these zesty chicken fajitas. They're quick and easy to make and cleanup is even faster!
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Rosemary Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
Chicken and sweet potatoes unite with the delicious taste of rosemary in this easy, one-skillet meal. Because we use parcooked and unseasoned sweet potatoes, the cooking time is much shorter--making this recipe perfect for weeknight cooking.
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Chicken-Spaghetti Squash Bake
In this version of a chicken-and-broccoli casserole, spaghetti squash takes on a creamy texture when baked with cream of mushroom soup.
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Chicken & Vegetable Penne with Parsley-Walnut Pesto
Homemade pesto may seem daunting, but in this quick pasta recipe you can make a simple sauce in minutes while the pasta water comes to a boil. You can substitute frozen green beans and cauliflower for fresh; in Step 4, cook the frozen vegetables according to package directions before tossing with the pasta and pesto.
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Chicken Souvlaki Kebabs with Mediterranean Couscous
Fennel adds a nice flavoring to the marinade in this Mediterranean-inspired chicken souvlaki dish. The kabobs are perfectly paired with a veggie-packed, yogurt-dressed Israeli couscous.
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Chipotle Chicken Quinoa Burrito Bowl
This chipotle-flavored burrito bowl recipe is even better than takeout and just as fast. Loading it with vegetables and using quinoa in place of rice adds nutrition for a healthy dinner.
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One-Pan Chicken & Asparagus Bake
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.
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Mediterranean Chicken with Orzo Salad
Baked chicken breasts cook in the oven while you mix together a Mediterranean salad--packed with veggies, whole-wheat orzo and an easy homemade Greek vinaigrette--for a weekend-worthy dinner on the table in under an hour. The leftovers from this healthy 400-calorie meal make a delicious packable lunch for the next day.
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Sheet-Pan Creole Chicken & Shrimp
This variation of a shrimp boil can be made in the oven on just one baking sheet. A medley of spices gives this healthy dish of chicken, sausage and veggies a rich, complex flavor. Bonus: This easy sheet-pan dinner requires just 20 minutes of active prep time.
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Slow-Cooker Chicken Marsala
This slow-cooker chicken Marsala recipe gets its full flavor from plenty of mushrooms and fragrant shallots. Whole-wheat pasta soaks up the rich sauce. Round it out with a simple green salad for a comforting healthy dinner.
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Cauliflower Chicken Fried "Rice"
Get an extra serving of vegetables and cut back on carbs by replacing rice with riced cauliflower in this healthy chicken fried rice recipe.
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Green Veggie Bowl with Chicken & Lemon-Tahini Dressing
For this healthy 30-minute dinner, treat your veggies like pasta and cook until al dente, or just done. If you have a little extra time, double or triple the lemon-tahini dressing and use it to quickly dress a salad or as a sauce for steak or shrimp.
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Roasted Chicken & Winter Squash over Mixed Greens
This hearty salad comes together with little effort, since the squash and chicken can roast together on the same sheet pan. Prep the dressing and the salad greens while the chicken is roasting.
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Chicken, Arugula & Butternut Squash Salad with Brussels Sprouts
Hot roasted vegetables lightly wilt the arugula in this healthy dinner salad recipe. Keep prep time minimal with leftover chicken, precut butternut squash and trimmed Brussels sprouts.
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Spiced Grilled Chicken with Cauliflower "Rice" Tabbouleh
Chicken breasts on the grill have a smoky flavor that's enhanced with an easy spice rub. We chose flat-leaf parsley in this salad because it has a stronger herbal taste than its sometimes-bitter curly counterpart.
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Chicken & Veggie Fajitas
Time to clean out the fridge? These versatile skillet chicken fajitas are designed to work with whatever vegetables you happen to have on hand. The key is to slice all the veggies to approximately the same size so they cook evenly.
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Balsamic Chicken Pasta Bake with Zucchini Noodles
Packed with plenty of vegetables and tons of flavor, this chicken pasta bake is inspired by the ingredients in a caprese salad.
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Creamy Chicken, Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms One-Pot Pasta
You'll only have to dirty one pot in this easy pasta recipe that cooks chicken and vegetables right along with the noodles. Plus, by using the exact amount of water you need to cook the pasta, the starch that usually gets drained off with your pasta water stays in the pot, giving you delectably creamy results.