Chicken is such a staple in our home because there’s so much you can do for dinner with chicken. You can bake it, air fry it, put it in the crockpot, the oven, or on the stove, and it really goes well with just about any flavor.
So this makes it a really easy, reliable dinner protein.
1) Air Fryer Chicken Breast
If you don’t have an air fryer, they’re really great. You can season your chicken and just easily put that in the air fryer, and it’s going to come out so delicious and cooked perfectly. Then you can serve that with your carb and veggies of choice.
If you did a honey mustard sort of chicken or a ranch chicken, depending on what flavorings you add, I would find some carbs and veggies that easily lend into that. If you want to pop some potatoes in there with it and some asparagus, you could actually put all three in the air fryer together. That would be a really great and easy complete meal.
2) Chicken Parmesan
Yes, we love chicken parmesan, super good. You’re going to take your chicken breast and pound it out to make it a little thinner, dip that in egg, then dip it in breadcrumbs, and cook it over the stove just a little bit on each side to brown it. Then put that into a casserole dish with some marinara sauce down first, and top it off with more marinara sauce, some mozzarella, and some parmesan cheese. So good.
Bake that in the oven. Then I like to serve it with spaghetti or any shape of pasta I have, and some veggies such as asparagus, brussels sprouts, or broccoli, whatever you have.
3) Baked Chicken Breast
There are so many ways you can make baked chicken breast delicious. You can even cook the entire chicken if you want, but we tend to just buy the chicken breasts most of the time. You can bake this with some Italian seasoning or whatever seasoning you like on top, and then chop it up and put it in a salad, put it in a yummy wrap for lunch tomorrow, or serve it over pasta. So many things you can do with your chicken.
And if you don’t have a little thermometer that goes inside, I highly recommend it. There are thermometers now that you can put inside your meat, and they can alert your phone when it gets to the perfect temperature so you don’t overcook it.
4) Chicken Piccata
This is a fancy but not fancy, delicious sort of meal, and super quick. You can serve this over pasta. Of course, I’d add some veggies to this, so maybe some asparagus, broccoli, or whatever veggies you have lying around. Super good, super flavorful, and then you could serve some sort of carbs with this meal as well to round it out if you’d like.
5) Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa
I love a mango salsa, I have to tell you. So fresh and refreshing, and it goes well with fish too, but this mango salsa just kind of fancies it up. You can serve this over a bit of rice, quinoa, or couscous for some carbs if you’d like. Super flavorful and colorful.
I’d probably still add some veggies on the side for some extra veggies. Maybe some asparagus or green beans would go really well with that.
6) Chicken Marsala
This is a delicious savory dinner. You’re going to add some mushrooms and some wine to this, and you could serve it over some noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice, whatever you have, and then, of course, with some veggies. It is so delicious and flavorful, and it kind of fancies up what would otherwise be a plain chicken dinner.
7) Cheesy Spinach Chicken Bake
So good. You can put this all into a casserole dish and bake it all together. You’re going to get lots of protein with the chicken and some beautiful color with that spinach. Of course, cheese makes everything more delicious. Cooking that all together, I would serve it with some sort of carb to round it out, like some bread, pasta, or rice.
8) Chicken Alfredo
So good. You can really use any noodles you like, but I like the fettuccine noodles. You can buy them fresh at the grocery store, the ones that are soft already, not hard, but you could really buy any shape of pasta you like with this one. Then cook the pasta, whether it’s ready-made fettuccine or you make it yourself, cook a chicken breast, dice that up, and mix the alfredo sauce right in there.
So good, serving that over the pasta. Of course, I would add some carrots and broccoli to this because I feel like it goes really well. Tons of parmesan cheese, better if it’s fresh, and delicious.
9) Lemon Garlic Butter Chicken
This one is going to give you so much flavor, and you can serve it right over your carb of choice, rice or some potatoes, and then serve it with some sort of vegetable or a side salad to round it out.
10) Pepper-Crusted Chicken with Pasta
Another fun way to cook the chicken, with a pepper crust on it, using cracked black pepper and any shape of pasta you have. Of course, some parmesan cheese on top, and then adding some veggies, maybe some green beans, broccoli, or cauliflower, whatever you have. Delicious.
11) Bruschetta Chicken
Super delicious. Who doesn’t love some yummy bruschetta with the garlic, tomatoes, and basil? Such good flavoring. I’d probably serve this with some toasted French or sourdough bread, just because I’m going to want to dip that right in any of the leftover bruschetta. Super flavorful, feels fancy, but actually not that hard. Super good.
12) Greek Chicken
Greek chicken is a great idea. You think about going to a Greek restaurant, right? You’re going to have some tzatziki if you want, and some olives, I like the kalamata olives, but any olives are delicious. Feta cheese, some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, and I would probably serve this with a pita bread, or you could do some couscous with this. That would be really good as well. Super delicious.
13) Chicken Fajitas
Oh yes, this is a regular in our house. It’s super easy, especially on a busy night when I don’t have a lot of time. You’re going to slice up that chicken and cook it in a pan or skillet with some fajita seasoning, then slice up all the colorful bell peppers and add that in. I shred up some carrots because I like a little extra vegetables in there, and slice up some onions and cook it all until it’s cooked and not as crispy.
Then I use a tortilla of my choice, I like the uncooked ones that I warm up on the stove, but you could use a spinach, low carb, or whole wheat tortilla. I like to use a little cheese in that tortilla and then top it all off with your fajita mix. Of course, I’m going to have some avocado or guacamole, sour cream or salsa, and lots of cilantro.
14) Chicken Quesadillas
Oh yes, kids request this all the time. Super good, super easy, and fast. Maybe I have some leftover chicken from taco night the night before, or even a rotisserie chicken if I’m in a pinch, or you can use fresh chicken if you have some, and just cook that on the stove or boil it, however you want. Use your tortilla, put some Mexican cheese or sharp cheddar down, and then put that chicken right in there.
I always like to try to sneak in some veggies however I can. Whether that’s some leftover veggies from the night before, or easy for me, I shred up some carrots and put that right inside the quesadilla. I feel like that goes really well. Otherwise, I’ll serve it with a side of veggies or even fruit.
Really, there’s nothing special about vegetables, you can absolutely have fruit with dinner, that’s totally fine. You could do some grapes, mangoes, peaches, or pears, whatever you have lying around. The point is to get lots of plants in and lots of fiber and nutrients.
15) Chicken Stir-Fry
Who doesn’t love a good stir fry? I like to use my wok when I make stir fries. You can chop up your chicken into strips or bite-sized pieces and add whatever flavoring you like. It could be an Asian sort of stir fry with soy sauce and ginger, or a stir fry with mushrooms and broccoli in there.
Typically with my stir fries, I’ll serve it over a bed of rice, maybe white rice or brown rice if I’m trying to get a little fiber in, or some quinoa even for a little extra nutrients.
16) Chicken Cordon Bleu
Oh, excuse me, now we’re being fancy. Chicken cordon bleu is so yummy if you haven’t had it. It’s basically chicken, but you put stuff inside of it, kind of rolling it up with some yummy blue cheese and some delicious flavors, and then cooking it so they all kind of blend together. Super yummy and fancy, but not fancy, it definitely feels like a special dinner.
I would serve it with some sort of carb and veggie, so you could do pasta and broccoli, potatoes and asparagus, something like that.
17) Crockpot Chicken Breast
This is my secret weapon, the crockpot. Especially when I know I’m going to have a busy day, or I’m working and I want dinner to be ready and fast, I’ll throw all my ingredients in the crockpot in the morning with lots of seasoning, and then it’s done. I can get home and do whatever I want, whether I’m eating the breast as is, or shredding the chicken up to put in a taco, a sandwich, or a hamburger bun, whatever you want to do with it.
It’s such a great way to cook the chicken and have it slow cook all day long, and then of course add whatever veggies you’d like on the side.
18) Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken
Who doesn’t love spinach and feta? They go so well together, adding some creaminess and also some nutrients and color. Such a great idea, so fun, and I would add some sort of additional veggies, like a side salad or some carrots on the side, maybe with some mashed potatoes, halved potatoes, or sweet potatoes, which would be really good as well.
19) Pineapple Grilled Chicken
I love chicken and pineapple together, it goes so well. You can easily serve this over some rice, which gives it a luau sort of vibe for me, but you could do quinoa, couscous, or potatoes if you’d like. Then I’d do some additional vegetables if you want to lean into the tropical vibes.
You could even just have some mango on the side, or some other sort of Hawaiian tropical thing. You could do some mac salad if you wanted to, that would be really fun to make it feel like your own little luau.
20) Sheet-Pan Chicken and Veggies
Oh yes, such a great way, because I don’t want to have a lot of dishes to wash. If you’re able to make dinner and put it all onto a big cookie sheet and roast that in the oven, that’s so easy for me. I like to put the chicken there, then maybe some halved potatoes and some asparagus, and bing bang boom, it’s all together on one pan and done in about 20 minutes. Super good.
21) Chicken Shawarma
A special place in my heart for chicken shawarma, I love it so much. Super easy, you can buy it already seasoned, or if you’re fancy like that, you can make this yourself. Super delicious, and I would serve it with some diced tomatoes and cucumbers.
I like to also grab some naan bread, regular or garlic, warm that up, put some hummus on top, put the chicken shawarma on top of that, and then the tomatoes and cucumbers on top. You could also serve it with some pita bread if you’d like. Super, super yummy, one of my favorite dinners.
22) Chicken Enchiladas
You can get some yummy enchilada sauce, like a red or green sauce, whatever you like, and some corn tortillas with some cheese inside. Roll those up, put them into a casserole dish, and pour the sauce on top. You could add some meat inside if you’d like, or you don’t have to, and then I would serve it with some veggies on the side.
23) Pesto Chicken
Oh, I love pesto, especially when you find a pesto that you really like. I like the Costco big huge jar of pesto, it’s such a good price and so delicious. You could also make pesto on your own, it’s really not hard, or so I hear, with some fresh basil it would be really good. But if you’re in a time crunch, grab some pesto sauce, cook up some chicken, and add whatever shape of noodles you have, like fusilli or penne.
I would, of course, tear up some spinach leaves or your lettuce of choice, and some fresh chopped tomatoes, adding that cooked chicken right on top. Super colorful, super yummy, and this refrigerates well, so you can eat it cold the next day.
24) Chicken and Broccolini
You’re going to cook your chicken, your broccolini, and your diced up sweet potatoes all on one cookie sheet if you’d like. Let me tell you my favorite way to cook sweet potatoes. I dice them up, add some avocado oil because it’s a high heat oil, and then I use my herb cutting scissors, if you don’t have them, they’re a game changer. I’ll grab some fresh rosemary from outside along with some thyme and oregano and use my herb scissors to cut those all up, then toss it up. That is my favorite way to make sweet potatoes.
Then you could serve that with the broccolini and your flavored chicken, however you decide to flavor it. Super good, delish meal.
25) Sesame Chicken
If you don’t need to have takeout, you can easily make this at home with a delicious sticky sauce. Then you can serve it with some broccoli and carrots on the side, over a bed of rice, couscous, or quinoa.
26) Chicken Caesar Salad
Oh yes, this is a favorite for us, especially when I don’t feel like cooking or we’re in a time crunch. Go to this, go to the store, pick up a bag of Caesar salad or chopped Caesar salad, grab a rotisserie chicken, and dinner is done. It’s literally that easy. You could easily make the chicken at home as well, season the chicken breasts, grill them right on the stove, then slice that up and serve it on top of your salad.
27) Chicken Bacon Ranch
Super great combination, and you’re going to get lots of protein in this one, with some yummy flavoring from that ranch. I would definitely serve this with some sort of veggies, maybe some carrots, carrots go well with ranch, that would be a fun choice. Then you could choose your carb, maybe some potatoes, pasta, or rice if you want.
28) Caprese Chicken
Oh, I love caprese with the fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil all together. If you’re in a pinch, you can also use string cheese, just slice that up and use it, that totally works. And if you haven’t tried the balsamic glaze, it’s so good, I get mine from Trader Joe’s, and it’s delish.
You can add some avocado and some olive oil as well if you’d like with the chicken. Then I would definitely serve this with some sort of delicious French bread or something like that, because you’re going to want to be dipping that bread in anything that’s left over on that plate.
29) Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders
Who doesn’t love chicken tenders, right? Whether it’s frozen chicken tenders or ones you’re making at home, there are so many ways to make and serve them, and then my favorite part is choosing the dipping sauce. I’m team honey mustard, you do you. You could do barbecue sauce, ranch, or chick-fil-a sauce if you have some leftover.
Delish. And then I would have some veggies on the side, of course, and you could easily serve some sort of carbs with this as well.
