10 Easy Dinners with Chicken Breasts

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Instead of sleeping, I did a little rough math while I was lying in bed last night. Three children, one husband, 365 days a year, for approximately ten years, give or take a couple of years when the oldest could talk and the youngest could not….that equals approximately 14,600 times I have been asked the most pressing question in our house: What’s for dinner?

Dinner is always the question of the day for me, for the kids, for my husband. I have used every strategy known to (wo)man to get a fresh, healthy meal on the table each evening. (Not to mention, lunch for the three of us at home and the other two who pack.) Plan and shop for the week’s meals ahead of time? Usually. Spend Sunday prepping all the ingredients for the week? Yep. Do a marathon cooking day and fill the freezer with meals? I’ve done it. Slow cooker recipes. Yes. Make a double batch? All the time.

Yet, I’m still always on the lookout for ways to make feeding the family easier. I’d like to share with you one thing that has been working well for me recently. Pre-cook a big batch of chicken, hamburger, ham, turkey, meatballs, or whatever protein your family likes ahead of time that can then easily be made into meals for one person or five at a moments notice. 

At this stage of life—with teens and tweens, everyone in the house can put together a decent meal for themselves. However, they are only willing to do so if it’s easy. That means clean and chopped vegetables and a cooked, only-microwave-required protein.  And if I am the one making dinner, I can relax knowing I’m halfway to dinner already. I might not know yet exactly what we are having, but at least I can say, “Chicken something!”

Yes, chicken is one of the best options for this strategy because it is so flexible. You can cook a couple of whole chickens or a big, family pack of chicken breasts. You can bake them, grill them (my favorite), or pressure cook them. However you decide to prepare your chicken, keep it simple so the flavors go well in any dish. I use a little grill seasoning and olive oil. Tada!

The next challenge is what to do with all that chicken. I have approximately 1,693 recipes pinned on Pinterest so it’s not like I need more ideas. What I need are simple things that I know my family likes and that I likely have the ingredients to make already in my pantry. For that, I’ve taken to brainstorming lists in the notes app on my phone. Some things I make all the time—like chicken Caesar salad. Others are made out of desperation—what the heck do I have in the refrigerator that could possibly make dinner? When those experiments turn out well, I add them to my list.

To get your list started, these are my ten favorite things to do with cooked chicken. 

Fried Rice You can make fried rice out of almost anything. I scramble a couple of eggs, sauté whatever vegetables I have on hand. Peppers, onion, broccoli, peas (snow peas, snap peas, or even frozen peas), zucchini, mushrooms, corn, carrots. Throw in the rice, a little butter (for browning and yumminess), soy sauce, garlic. Add your chicken or other protein and eggs back in. It’s as easy as that.

Chicken Salad If your family is like mine, you probably already have Grandma’s favorite chicken salad recipe. If not, stir together chicken, a little finely diced onion and celery, a big scoop of mayonnaise, a squirt of mustard (preferably Dijon), a squeeze of lemon juice if you have it, salt, pepper, and a sprinkle of your favorite herb (dill, thyme, basil). You can mix it up with any number of things—almonds, pecans, diced apple, halved grapes, dried cranberries, curry seasoning. Endless possibilities. Serve on buns, bread, crackers, or a bed of lettuce.

BBQ Chicken Shred chicken, stir in your favorite barbeque sauce, and you’re done.

Chicken Pesto Grilled Cheese A masterpiece of simple ingredients. Replace your normal cheese with provolone, mozzarella, or a combination. Slather some pesto in the middle. (No need to make pesto; it’s easy to find at your grocery store.) Add thinly sliced chicken to the middle. If you want to make it extra fancy, sprinkle the outside of the bread with a little garlic powder as it cooks.

Chicken Caesar Salad Romaine lettuce, croutons, diced chicken, grated parmesan, and dressing. We keep a good jar of dressing on hand when we just. can’t. even. I totally understand. But if you have a minute, this homemade dressing is so worth it. 1 cup mayo, 4 TBS lemon juice, 2 TBS olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic or about 2 tsp from a jar, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp pepper, ½ tsp anchovy paste

Chicken Taco Salad All the usual taco fixings you can find. Lettuce, black beans, onion, tomato, corn, avocado, cheese, salsa, tortilla chips or Fritos, and something creamy—sour cream, ranch dressing, French dressing all work well.

Asian Chicken Salad One of my favorite salad dressings of all time is SO simple. Dissolve half a cup of sugar or equivalent sweetener (I prefer monk fruit) in 6 TBS apple cider vinegar. If the sugar won’t dissolve, heat the vinegar in the microwave for a few seconds. That should help. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk in 1 cup vegetable/salad oil. Serve on romaine lettuce with some chopped green onions, crispy chow mien noodles, and sliced chicken.

Chicken Tater Tot Casserole I am not going to lie. This is not on your diet. But it is delicious, easy, comforting, and filling. Everyone in my family loves it. Some days just call for tater tot casserole

Quesadillas Cheese, chicken, tortillas. Anything else you want to throw in there is probably fine too. Toast it up in a pan. Make kids happy.

Chicken Tortilla Soup This is my oldest child’s favorite thing to take in a thermos for lunch, but 1000 mg of sodium in a can of soup from the store is just not ok with me. Out of desperation, I threw these ingredients that I had on hand into my Instant Pot. It turned out well. About 2 cups of diced chicken, a can of black beans, a can of corn, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of low-sodium cream of chicken soup, a can of low-sodium chicken broth, a packet of low-sodium taco seasoning. (Are you seeing a theme yet?). Cook in pressure cooker about 10 minutes, slow cooker 4 hours or so, or in a pot for 30 minutes. Scoop out about a cup of liquid and combine with a block of room temperature cream cheese. Return cheese blend to soup and stir until combined.

Rice Bowls These can be any flavor you like. Salsa, corn, avocado, and chicken for taco bowls. Tzatsiki, red onion, feta, and chicken for Greek bowls. Grilled onions and peppers, shredded provolone, chicken for Philly Chicken bowls. Even the barbeque chicken I mentioned above will work with some coleslaw, corn, and cheese for a BBQ bowl. You get the idea. Excellent for those nights when everyone’s schedule is different, and dinner needs to work like a revolving door. 

I’m sure you have even more family favorites of your own to add. We would all love to hear them because there are NEVER enough ideas for dinner. Please share your ideas in the comments!

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