Delicious Chicken Dinners You'll Want to Make All Throughout Spring
We love chicken dinners all year round, but we like to switch up our repertoires as the seasons change. That's where these spring-inspired chicken recipes come in; enjoy everyone's favorite protein with seasonal vegetables, like asparagus and peas, and cooked in lighter, quicker ways.
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Spring is here and it's time to look at the lighter and brighter side of one of the most popular dinner proteins: chicken. Freshen up your dinner routine with these spring chicken recipes, which are packed with peak season produce like asparagus, peas, green beans, and fresh herbs. And to ensure your chicken dinners remain exciting, never boring, we pair the protein with a host of different flavors, to create delicious, healthy dishes you and your family will look forward to eating. Another reason why we love chicken for dinner? This lean protein isn't just loved for its versatility—it's also easy and fast. To make your life even easier on those busy spring days, we even made sure that most of these recipes could be cooked in one pot.
Chicken dinners mean different things to different families. One of our favorite meals to make for spring are eye-popping poached chicken sandwiches, which are topped with pops of color from crunchy snap peas, thinly sliced radishes, and cooling mint. It's all held together with a creamy pea, almond, and ricotta purée. For a plate brimming with spring green, cook up our Chicken with Herbed Pea Purée and Spinach recipe, pictured here. It's a comforting chicken dinner that's loaded with vegetables and super crave-worthy.
Then explore chicken recipes for spring dinners that come together in just one-pot or pan. We figured out just the right timing to cook a warm quinoa salad filled with chicken, asparagus, and peas all in one saucepan, and it's a dish that can be enjoyed warm or cooled and served later. For next-level pan-roasted chicken, season drumsticks with the flavorful spice mix, za'atar, and roast alongside potatoes and wilted greens. It's truly one of our favorite sheet pan dinners.
Lastly, explore different techniques for getting chicken done right, each showing a subtly different side of this favorite meat. Braising is a fantastic way to cook skin-on, bone-in chicken pieces, keeping the meat tender, moist, so flavorful. Try it in a briny artichoke and olive broth. You can also keep chicken breasts super moist and tender by poaching them in buttermilk and serving the meat sliced with a crisp salad and hearty dressing. If you're ready to turn up the heat, cook diced chicken in a fast and easy lemon chicken stir fry with charred green beans and gentle gingery notes.
No matter which recipe you select, these colorful preparations show chicken in its best light, perfectly cooked and paired with fresh seasonal vegetables. Read on and celebrate the welcomed change of season at your dinner table with these spring chicken recipes.
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Chicken and Snap Peas
Assemble this tangy chicken and snap pea dish in 30 minutes in just one skillet, sauce and all. A touch of sweetness from sugar balances tart cider vinegar for an irresistible pan sauce that coats the chicken and crisp-tender snap peas.
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Pan-Roasted Chicken with Za'atar, Potatoes, and Greens
Here's a sheet-pan dinner that elevates the humble and economical chicken drumstick by tossing them with za'atar, a flavorful Middle Eastern spice mix, and roasting them with potatoes and fresh greens. Scoring the drumsticks before seasoning helps the meat absorb the spices and cook faster.
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Warm Quinoa and Chicken Salad
Rather than cooking every ingredient separately, this one pot grain salad speeds up the process and minimizes dishes. The chicken and quinoa cook in the pot and the asparagus and peas are added in stages, so everything is just perfectly done.
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Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry with Green Beans
This high heat cooking method speeds things up and contributes a slightly smoky flavor that elevates even the simplest ingredients. Whisk the ginger-lemon sauce and prep all the ingredients first, once this one gets cooking it comes together in only 10 minutes, leaving no time for last-minute measuring.
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Easy Spiced Chicken with Potatoes and Peas
Transform a humble pairing, chicken with potatoes and peas, into a flavorful and exciting dinner by sprinkling a mix of cumin, coriander, and cayenne over top and finishing the dish with the bright flavor of cilantro leaves. Save this recipe and then adapt it to be your own by trying different spice combinations.
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Creamy Asparagus Chicken
Braised chicken provides the best of two cooking worlds: crispy skin from searing and super moist and tender meat from gently simmering the protein in a shallow broth. Just a touch creamy, this chicken cooks in a white wine sauce alongside potatoes and leeks that turn meltingly tender, then crisp asparagus and dill are added at the end to freshen the whole dish up.
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Braised Chicken with Artichokes, Olives, and Lemon
Brothy chicken dishes are perfect for spring weather when you aren't sure that you want a piping hot bowl of soup but crave something warm. Here, chicken is braised in an oregano and lemon broth with a touch of brininess from artichokes and olives. Enjoy the sauce spooned over top or sopped it up with fresh bread.
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Chicken Risotto
The weather might be warming up but a warm bowl of comfort is still what we need for dinner. That's where this hearty chicken risotto, brimming with bright colored vegetables, comes in.
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Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Lemon, and Asparagus
Welcome the classic pairing that is chicken and potatoes to spring by tossing fresh asparagus into the roasting pan during the final moments of cooking. Sprinkle lemon juice over the whole dish right out of the oven letting it meld with the pan juices for a beautiful tart sauce.
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Chicken Breast Poached in Buttermilk
Chicken and buttermilk are not just paired for fried chicken; here the chicken poaches to perfection in this slightly tart dairy product. The buttermilk lends just enough acidity to tenderize the meat but not too much to overpower it. Serve the tender slices of chicken with a fresh crisp spring salad with crunchy almonds and radishes tossed with a chunky yogurt, shallot, caper, and lemon dressing.
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Grilled Chicken Salad
This salad combines some of spring's most welcomed things: fresh crisp lettuces, bright green peas, and grilling weather. Start in the kitchen by marinating chicken in a simple lemon vinaigrette, then take it outside where you can easily grill a recipe that serves 10. Serve a crowd or save half the chicken for the next meal, it tastes great cold.
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Poached Chicken Sandwiches with Peas and Radishes
A batch of creamy pea, almond, and ricotta spread upgrades poached chicken for these decadent open-faced sandwiches. Adorn each sandwich with crisp radishes, crunchy snap peas, and bright mint for extra spring vibes and a beautiful color palate. This is a meal that looks as good as it tastes.
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Spatchcocked Chicken on Bread with Herbs and Lemon
Spatchcocking a chicken speeds up and helps promote more even cooking. Roasting the chicken on top of bread, as this recipe calls for, has two purposes: the bread creates a rack for maximum heat flow around the bird and also produces the tastiest toast to serving alongside.
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