Easy Chicken Recipes: 3 Tips for Cooking Chicken Fast

November 4, 2008 | By admin In Quick Dinner Recipes - Chicken |

Image by bucklava via Flickr

Chicken is one of the most popular meats and, thanks to pre-cut, ready-to-cook chicken pieces in the grocery, it’s one of the fastest meats to cook. Here’s a guide to creating your own easy chicken recipes. Use these ideas to create a recipe from scratch or to adapt existing recipes and make them easier to prepare.

1. Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Chicken breast fillets are some of the quickest cuts to cook. If you’re really in a hurry, flatten the fillets gently with a rolling pin first. Coat with some flour, dried herbs, salt and pepper, and saute in a hot skillet. Brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and top with bottled salsa or pesto. Or make your own pan sauce by pouring chicken broth and wine in the same skillet, scraping up the brown bits. Let the sauce reduce and then stir in a little butter or olive oil.

2. Chicken Strips

These cook up even faster than chicken breast fillets. Cut the fillets into 1-inch strips. Toss in a hot skillet with olive oil until browned. Add enough barbecue or teriyaki sauce to completely cover the chicken pieces. Serve with rice or pasta.

3. Roasted Chicken

Roast a whole chicken quickly? Yes, it’s possible! But first, you must cut the chicken so that it will lie flat on your roasting pan. Don’t worry, it will still be all one piece. Simply cut out the spine of the chicken, open the chicken up like a butterfly and place flat on the roasting pan. This method is called butterflying (aka spatchcocking) the chicken. Using this technique, the whole chicken will be done in 45 minutes. Simply rub it with salt, pepper, olive oil and other seasonings you like, and then pop it into a 450 degree oven.

This video shows you how to butterfly a chicken:

There you have it: 3 easy chicken recipes. With the first two options, you can have dinner ready in 30 minutes or less. With the third option, it’ll take longer but you’re not minding the chicken for most of the time, so you can go about the rest of the day until the chicken is done.

Click here for more quick and easy chicken recipes.