Weeknight Chicken 3 Ways

If you’re like me, chicken is a staple in your meal rotation. Whether it’s chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas, raman slaw salad, or Chicken Provence , you’re serving up poultry often. I do our family shopping and meal prep work on Sundays and I almost always decide to cook some chicken for the week ahead. By doing cooking ahead, I know I have at least one “go to” plan for dinner. I have three standard methods I use depending on how I think I’ll use the chicken.

 Roasting

Not only are chicken breasts on the bone MUCH cheaper than boneless and skinless breasts, they always yield the juiciest, most flavorful meat. I use Olive Oil, Kosher Salt, & Freshly ground pepper and bake for 30-45 minutes (depending on the size of the breast).  90% of the time I’m unloading groceries while these babies cook up making me feel like an accomplished multi-tasker!

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These are great to have in the fridge when I travel because Billy will cut off the meat and toss with steamed veggies for an easy meal.

Poaching

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In the summer especially, I make a lot of chicken salad and I don’t want the roasted flavor to factor into the recipes.  As a result, I poach skinless, boneless chicken on the stovetop.  First heat water, with a healthy pinch of kosher salt in a deep saucepan to boiling.

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Then cook on one side for 5 minutes (the pink will fade significantly).Turn over the breasts, cover the pan and turn off the heat.  Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes more.  Allow to cool before cutting up.

Rotisserie

Finally, the easiest thing to do is roast an entire chicken.

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Isn’t that gorgeous?  Of course, my secret is to buy this in the deli section. There is no shame in letting someone else do the work on a rotisserie chicken! I’ll do some work after we’ve eaten and make my own chicken broth, but I love the safety net of having a chicken ready to be heated at a moment's notice.

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Do you use any of these shortcuts?