The Most Popular Protein In America

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! In our house, we serve chicken more than any other protein. According to recent statistics, chicken is now the most popular protein served in America, with Americans eating nearly 60 pounds of chicken per year. Chicken is easy, economical, healthy and delicious, but sometimes we get in a chicken rut and need a new way to prepare it. Here are 15 recipes to take your chicken dinner to new heights. Read to the bottom of this email for an important step to skip when you are preparing chicken as well as my favorite cut of chicken.

Spicy Chicken With Mango & Corn Salsa 

This full-flavored chicken recipe is perfect for a quick weeknight meal and can be on the table in a little more than half an hour. Plus, in keeping with my Cook Once, Eat Twice strategy, I make extra chicken to use later in the week to make a Southwestern salad. 

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Two great tools for quick meals

I use two tools to make this chicken quick and tender. My Le Creuset grill pan and a meat tenderizer by Oxo. The grill pan is great for searing protein that can be quickly finished in the oven. As much as I love my Le Creuset and know I will get a life-time of use out of it, it doesn't come cheaply.

An alternative with great ratings is the Lodge grill pan. I do not have personal experience with this pan, but it gets solid ratings on Amazon. 

This OXO meat tenderizer thins and tenderizes protein, speeding the cooking process, while keeping the meat tender. You can use the tenderizer on chicken, beef, pork and turkey. 

More Chicken Recipes 

Here are some of our favorite chicken recipes from our archives.

Slow Cooker Chicken With Walnuts & Pomegranate

 Now that pomegranates are back in season, you need to make this recipe! There is a little bit of prep work to sear the chicken and toast the walnuts, but after the prep is done your slow cooker takes over. This dish can be made a day in advance and reheated. Based on an ancient Persian recipe, this dish is definitely company and special occasion worthy. 

Roast Spatchcock Chicken And Grapes

For ease, simplicity and elegance this chicken is hard to beat. Spatchcocked is a fancy word for butterflied, meaning the back bone is removed so you can cook the chicken flat. Ask your butcher to remove it for you or use kitchen shears to remove it yourself.

Cooking the chicken flat reduces the time in the oven and achieves more surface area for crispier skin, which is undeniably the best part of any roast chicken. Toss some grapes, peewee potatoes and thyme in the roasting pan and you have a delicious accompaniment to serve with your chicken. Yum! Easy enough for a weeknight meal and elegant enough for company.

Za'atar  & Lemon Grilled Chicken

I learned this recipe from my daughter Margo's friend Alex. This recipe has been in Alex's family for generations. It is easy and incredibly delicious. Make extra for a Middle Eastern inspired salad later in the week. You can purchase za'atar here.

Addictive Chicken Sesame Noodles With Veggies

This scrumptious noodle bowl is a meal in itself and can be varied to use just about any vegetable you happen to have on hand. 

Hawaiian Pupu Chicken Wings

These delicious, sticky wings from my childhood in Hawaii are the perfect thing for your next football-viewing extravaganza, whether you are tailgating or in front of the tube. 

Chicken Marbella

Chicken Marbella is a 1980's classic that, like a little black dress, never goes out of style. Marinate the chicken overnight and then pop it in the oven an hour before serving. Prepare yourself for lots of ooh's and ahh's as your guests dig in.

 

Chicken Tomatillo Enchiladas 

These flavorful enchiladas can be made in advance and heated right before serving. Homemade tomatillo sauce takes 20 minutes to make and is well worth it. Click here to learn more about tomatillos.

 

Chicken & Apricot Tagine

This succulent Moroccan dish is a delicious recipe to learn to cook in a tagine. Tagine cooking was designed to cook food in water-restricted environments. The conical shape of the tagine produces steam with very little moisture. The dish is seasoned with apricots, cinnamon, turmeric, garlic, parsley and cilantro. The result is fork-tender and mouthwatering. If you don't have a tagine, you can make this dish in a covered Dutch oven. 

Moroccan Lemon Chicken 

I serve this Moroccan chicken dish with some pita bread and tabouli. Cooked in a Dutch oven with lemons, saffron and olives, the end result is succulent and fork-tender.
 

Beer Can Chicken

Beer can chicken is my go-to method to quickly prepare a couple chickens. I no longer use beer cans, for a variety of reasons I discuss in my recipe. See my recipe for the trick to prevent grease splatter all over your oven. Can you guess from the picture what that trick is?

Employing my Cook Once Eat Twice strategy, I always make two beer can chickens so I have plenty of leftovers to make other dishes during the week. 
 

Recipes That Use Leftover Chicken

I love getting two meals out of one night in the kitchen. Here are some of my favorite ways to use leftover chicken.

Warm Chicken, Pear And Fennel Salad 

This warm salad is the perfect one-dish salad meal for a cool Fall evening. Fennel, carrots, cabbage, onions and pears are lightly sauteed and served with a sprinkling of walnuts, gorgonzola cheese and pomegranate seeds. 

Easy Chicken Tacos 

These easy chicken tacos are a snap to make and get their fresh flavor from homemade roasted tomatillo and mint salsa. 
 

Chicken Frisee Salad With Roasted Peppers, Manchego and Spanish Paprika

This is a family favorite and a salad that we never get tired of. Leftover chicken is served with spicy frisee lettuce, roasted red peppers, slivers of manchego cheese and toasted almonds dusted in spanish paprika and salt.
 

Chicken, Berry, Date & Candies Walnut Salad

This salad is delicious anytime of the year that you can get your hands on some half-decent strawberries and blueberries. It is a great way to use leftover chicken, but in no way feels like you are eating leftovers. My friend Cindy makes this salad as her go-to lunch for bridal and baby showers. Hint: the candied walnuts really make this salad. 

The Most Important Step To Skip When Preparing Chicken

If you grew up like me, you have probably learned to wash your chicken to protect against salmonella and other food-borne pathogens. Read my article to find out why this is a very bad idea. The good news is that by skipping washing you eliminate one step and can get dinner on the table that much faster.

My Favorite Cut Of Chicken

I like all chicken, but I am partial to one particular cut that is less popular in the U.S., but prized in most of the rest of the world. Read my article to discover what this flavorful part of the chicken is and why I think it is the best. The good news is it is easy on your budget and one of the least expensive cuts of chicken you can buy.
 

What is your favorite chicken recipe?