Serious Eats / Niedle Creative

Chicken is a famously versatile and inexpensive protein, and many rely on it for quick weeknight meals. But because it’s so ubiquitous, it can be easy to treat it as an afterthought, preparing it in simple (read: boring) ways, or relying on the same handful of recipes time and again. If you’re looking for ways to get excited about this staple ingredient again in the new year, we’re here to help. Below are 14 meals to help you rejuvenate your weeknight chicken routine, including sheet-pan recipes that actually work, juicy, never-dry chicken breasts, and comforting soups and stews to get you through winter (and cold and flu season).

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

This sheet-pan chicken meal uses some of the best produce the winter months have to offer: creamy sweet potatoes and crisp, savory Brussels sprouts. Both develop deep, caramelized flavor when browned on a piping-hot preheated sheet pan. For tender, flavorful, and juicy meat, reach for chicken thighs.

Serious Eats/Morgan Hunt Glaze

Here, we offer all the crispy delights of chicken katsu, with none of the hassle of pan- or deep-frying. We’ve found that the air fryer (aka a mini convection oven) delivers results virtually indistinguishable from pan-fried katsu—minus the mess. Serve them with the classic accompaniments: shredded cabbage, rice, and tonkatsu sauce, then use the leftovers in sandwiches and salads throughout the week.

Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

If salad is about the furthest thing from your mind when you hear the words "buffalo" and "chicken," our Birmingham, Alabama-based colleague Julia Levy felt the same way before coming up with this killer combo. The fiery heat and savory punch of Frank’s hot sauce–laden chicken pairs so well with cool, crisp vegetables like carrots, romaine, cabbage, and, of course, the celery you’ll recognize from classic Buffalo wings.

The effort level here is relative: It might feel like a lot for a salad, but it takes just 35 minutes to whip up, and the work you’ll put in making dressing and sauce proves it’s every bit as satisfying as a weeknight dinner. A thrown-together lunch salad, it is not.

Serious Eats / Niedle Creative

The chicken marbella from Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso’s iconic The Silver Palate Cookbook was designed to feed crowds. This shortcut version from Serious Eats contributor Rebecca Firkser, however, is scaled down to serve four to six, comes together on a sheet pan instead of in a massive casserole dish. Behold: a classic recipe, made weeknight-friendly.

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Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

This chicken pot pie features a variety of textures and nuanced vegetable flavors, thanks to an array of produce, including carrots, peas, celery, leeks, and garlic. Lemon zest cuts through the richness, offering a welcome burst of brightness. And, of course, store-bought puff pastry is the real star—the thing that makes chicken pot pie possible on a weeknight. Buy the good all-butter kind from the freezer aisle, because flaky, crisp pastry is non-negotiable.

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

This comforting, brothy chicken and rice dish comes together in about 20 minutes and is ubiquitous in Japan. The warming broth gets its depth and complexity from dashi and soy sauce, while sake and sugar add brightness and a touch of sweetness. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs—rather than breasts—are less prone to overcooking in the broth.

Vicky Wasik

Former Serious Eats editor Sohla’s meatballs were inspired by those at the now-closed LA restaurant Red Medicine. Ground chicken takes on funky depth from fish sauce and fresh aromatics, while a clever coating of turbinado sugar gives the meatballs a craggy, caramelized crust. Shape the meatballs into elongated footballs—they’ll fit snugly in a lettuce wrap this way.

Serious Eats / Two Bits

This is the gold standard of weeknight dinners: It involves just six ingredients, comes together in under 20 minutes, and uses only one skillet. For juicy, tender chicken breasts, start them in a cold skillet and gradually increase the heat so they won’t overcook. From there, you’ll make a pilaf with bulgur that’s sweet and bright from blistered, bursting tomatoes, fragrant with scallions, and briny from olives and feta.

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Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

This weeknight-friendly dinner feels so much more luxurious than the effort it involves. Pounding chicken cutlets into thin, even layers ensures they cook evenly. From there, all you need is an elegant pan sauce made with lemon, herbs, and butter.

Melissa Hom

Kung pao chicken is a takeout classic. While bad versions often feature gloppy, under-spiced sauce, this one uses a balanced mix of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil that emulsifies into a luxuriously smooth glaze. Chicken thighs are marinated in Shaoxing wine and cornstarch, ensuring deep flavor and tenderness. Stir-frying the meat and vegetables in stages allows each to hit the hottest part of the wok, achieving deep browning and maximum flavor. Peanuts add the perfect pop of texture and salt to finish.

Serious Eats / Greg Dupree

Chile verde is traditionally made with pork, but here it’s just as deeply savory with chicken, thanks to an unexpected powerhouse ingredient: fish sauce. The pressure cooker keeps flavorful juices locked in a vapor-tight environment and helps develop depth, allowing moisture-rich, bright tomatillos and vegetal peppers to break down into a vibrant green sauce. Bonus: This is one of those pressure cooker recipes where you can simply dump in the ingredients in and have a flavor-packed dish in under an hour.

Vicky Wasik

This Sicilian-by-way-of-Britain dish belongs to that lovely weeknight category of pounded chicken cutlets in a pan sauce, which you’ll recognize from the chicken paillard above. The cutlets are lightly floured here to help create a fond—those deep, browned bits that enrich the pan sauce with umami flavor. As with the paillard, you’ll whisk in unsalted butter at the end for a luxurious finish.

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Yasmin Fahr

Another way to keep chicken breasts from drying out? Gently cook them in a silky canned tomato sauce. This dish gets a boost of heartiness from canned chickpeas and kale, which you’ll toss in to wilt toward the end. A final sprinkle of seasoned breadcrumbs adds a welcome hit of crispiness.

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

The pressure cooker makes quick work of this classic Vietnamese noodle soup—you’re just 20 minutes away from a concentrated, flavorful broth and tender, fall-off-the-bone chicken legs. While the soup cooks, you’ll prep the tender herbs and aromatics, bringing this famously complex dish together in under 30 minutes.