- 6 hours ago
Looking for easy chicken dinners you’ll actually want to make on repeat? These 5 crave-worthy recipes deliver big flavor with minimal fuss — perfect for busy weeknights or anytime you need a reliable go-to meal. From cheesy casseroles to bold, saucy skillet dishes, this lineup proves that simple doesn’t have to mean boring. Nicole is serving up a little something for every mood: a crunchy, flavor-packed Chicken Crunchwrap Casserole, zesty Chicken Caesar Smashed Tacos, comforting Shortcut Smothered Chicken, sweet-and-spicy Hot Honey Chicken Bowls, and a rich, restaurant-worthy Creamy Tuscan Chicken. Whether you’re feeding a crowd or just planning your weekly rotation, these dinners are easy wins you’ll come back to again and again.
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00:00Think you don't have time to cook?
00:01Well, if you've just got about 30 minutes,
00:03then I've got five easy chicken dinners that you will love.
00:05Starting with a new version of one of our viral hits,
00:08I'm giving you a chicken crunchwrap casserole,
00:10because who doesn't love something for that Taco Tuesday?
00:13And in all these recipes,
00:14I'm using a different type of chicken.
00:16So I'm starting with rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked chicken.
00:19This is a great shortcut
00:20to keeping those meals at 30 minutes.
00:22So we're just gonna heat it up a little bit.
00:24I've got one can of pinto beans
00:25that I've drained and rinsed.
00:27I'm gonna add that in with just about a quarter cup
00:28of water packet of taco seasoning.
00:30Shortcuts like this help keep the cook time less,
00:33because on busy nights, ain't nobody got time for that.
00:36Then I'm just gonna kind of mash these beans a little bit.
00:39It's gonna make the filling creamy and hold together,
00:42and then just stir in the chicken.
00:43And then we're just gonna kind of heat it through.
00:45So it just should take a couple minutes.
00:46So I've got a whole bunch of green onions.
00:48I'm gonna chop these, stir them right in.
00:51I'm gonna save some for the garnish at the end.
00:53Pre-shredded cheese, another shortcut to quick dinners.
00:56So I'm gonna put a little bit in the filling,
00:59and the rest goes in the casserole.
01:01Having your prep done really keeps this one
01:02at under 30 minutes, but this one's probably
01:04the most involved of the day, and it's still easy.
01:07So start by brushing some melted butter
01:09on your casserole dish.
01:11All right, then you're gonna get like 9 to 10 inch tortillas,
01:15and drape them over your casserole dish.
01:18You wanna cover the bottom,
01:19and then you'll have some draping over the edges.
01:20And we know that what starts as the bottom
01:23is going to end up being the top,
01:25because we flip it out.
01:26On this layer goes the rest of our cheese.
01:29This is gonna act as the glue that holds it all together.
01:31To that, going in with some chopped tomato.
01:33You can always play around with the ingredients,
01:35just whatever your family likes.
01:36And then some sour cream.
01:38I'm building the layers just like
01:39in the Taco Bell version of the Crunchwrap.
01:41I love Taco Bell.
01:43Who's with me? Who's with me? Who's with me?
01:45The crunch of the Crunchwrap casserole
01:47comes from tostata shells.
01:49I love having these on hand.
01:50They make great snacks.
01:52So I'm gonna put eight on here,
01:53and you wanna kind of overlap them a little bit.
01:55I can't have too much crunch on a Crunchwrap.
01:57And listen, I don't make the rolls,
01:58but they use the nacho cheese sauce,
02:00so we have to do that.
02:01Straight from the can onto our crunch layer.
02:05I mean, this is just like,
02:07you know why this is so good,
02:08because it's just like nachos meets tacos meets quesadillas.
02:12And then finally, that filling.
02:14Spread that out evenly.
02:15Then you need one more tortilla.
02:17Then you take those pieces that were hanging over the side
02:20and fold them over.
02:23It'll be fine.
02:24Everything will be fine.
02:25Don't worry.
02:26It'll work.
02:26Brush the rest of the butter on here.
02:29This is gonna help glue those tortillas back together.
02:32Once it starts cooking,
02:33it will all stick together on its own.
02:35But if you want a little help along,
02:37you can put another 9x13 on,
02:39or a small sheet pan like this.
02:40That's gonna help.
02:41Keep it down.
02:42Then this goes into the oven 425 degrees
02:45for just about 20 minutes.
02:47I'll take that top pan off after the first 10 minutes.
02:50I'm real excited about this guy, mainly for this reason.
02:54You can cut these servings as big or small as you like.
02:57Look at all those creamy layers in there.
03:01I'm telling you, this is a crowd pleaser.
03:03You could just stop here, eat this with your hands,
03:07or you can top it.
03:08I do like a little cold with the hot,
03:12so I like some cool, crunchy lettuce.
03:15You could top it with more sour cream or some guacamole.
03:18For the sake of this demonstration,
03:20I'm gonna stop here with, of course,
03:22plenty of Taco Bell hot sauce.
03:25The best one there is.
03:26Fight me on that.
03:27And look, y'all.
03:29This is the casserole you can eat with your hands.
03:31I can't say that about many casseroles.
03:38That is a 14 out of 10 perfect bite.
03:43The toasty on the outside
03:44and that little crunch on the inside doesn't go away.
03:47Those tostadas stay good and crunchy.
03:49Then you've got the creamy cheese,
03:51and that chicken is so flavorful
03:52with that taco seasoning in there.
03:54This dish will win your next party,
03:56your next Taco Tuesday,
03:57and will definitely win your family over.
03:59The easiest, cheapest, and fastest one is now.
04:02Chicken Caesar Tacos.
04:04This is a viral hit that we did a while back.
04:08And I have to show you,
04:09in case you're not following us on social media,
04:12which hopefully you are,
04:13because some version of a smash taco
04:16runs through a weekly rotation at my house
04:18because of the simple fact
04:21that you can be so creative with it
04:23and how fast and easy it is.
04:25Plus, all three of my kids and my husband love these,
04:27so don't blink, because it's fast.
04:29Ground chicken, also really inexpensive.
04:33I'm going to season it lightly with a little Greek seasoning
04:37and then a little pinch of salt and some black pepper.
04:40There's a little salt in the Greek seasoning,
04:42so you don't need much.
04:43Ground chicken, ground pork, ground beef,
04:47whenever it's on sale, I stock up
04:49because it freezes so easily.
04:50And it's just a blank canvas for so many recipes.
04:53That's that.
04:55Now grab yourself a tortilla.
04:56I normally do the four-inch tortillas on my smashed tacos.
04:59I'm going to go a little bigger to the six-inch.
05:02That way you can get a lot of salad on the inside.
05:05The salad is the topping.
05:06If you use the smaller tortillas,
05:07you can usually get eight tacos
05:09from one pound of the ground meat.
05:11Take your ground chicken
05:13and you're going to spread it into a thin layer.
05:16And you want to go all the way to the edges,
05:18because when these cook,
05:20it shrinks back a little bit.
05:22And you can see how thin of a layer this goes on.
05:26So it cooks, Linda, all the way through.
05:29Have your tortillas all ready,
05:31because they cook really fast.
05:32Get your blackstone, your griddle,
05:35or just a simple skillet on the stove hot.
05:38And then add on a little olive oil.
05:40And then you're going to place your tortillas meat side down
05:43and let it cook for about three to four minutes.
05:46And then while those cook,
05:48mix together your Caesar salad for the topping.
05:50I like to use the bag here for the simple time-saver shortcut.
05:54By the time these cook all the way through,
05:56your salad's made.
05:57This is a dinner, really.
05:58It's like a 15-minute dinner.
06:00These bag salads come with everything,
06:01your lettuce, the dressing,
06:03and a little crunch from the croutons.
06:06And then even a little cheese.
06:09Ta-da!
06:10So easy.
06:11You can just see around the edges,
06:12the chicken's already cooked through just about.
06:15I like to get it really brown on that first side.
06:17We're going to flip it over and go another minute,
06:20maybe just until it toasts on the outside.
06:22Then when you're ready,
06:23take a good amount of salad to keep this a healthy,
06:26nutritious, and well-rounded dinner.
06:28So you can get a lot more salad in the six-inch tortilla.
06:31Fold it like a taco.
06:33Chicken Caesar smashed tacos.
06:36It's hot on the outside,
06:37but I know that salad's going to cool it off.
06:39Perfect by ya.
06:44Mmm.
06:45They're so perfect.
06:47They're so perfect.
06:48I have had at least two dozen friends message me
06:53about them making these and how good they are
06:55and how they're in their weekly rotation.
06:57And they should be on yours too.
06:59Trust me.
07:02Comfort food is my next chicken dinner.
07:04We are talking smothered chicken.
07:06I'm going to serve this with some mashed potatoes and green beans.
07:09How am I going to do that in 30 minutes?
07:11Let me show you.
07:12This is called shortcut smothered chicken.
07:14And the shortcut here is that I'm using chicken cutlets.
07:17Classically, this dish is made with bone-in chicken,
07:20usually legs and thighs.
07:23We are going to use these chicken cutlets
07:24because you can cook these all the way through
07:26in usually 10 minutes.
07:28I'm going to start by seasoning these up.
07:29Just a little salt, pepper, a little lemon pepper, paprika.
07:33I'm also going to microwave some bacon.
07:37A lot of smothered recipes start with bacon grease,
07:40but I don't want to take the time to cook the bacon
07:41in the skillet and then the chicken.
07:43So I'm going to go ahead and just cook the bacon
07:44in the microwave while we're cooking our chicken.
07:46Time saver.
07:48Going to go in with some olive oil.
07:50Get that hot.
07:51You just need enough to cover the bottom of your skillet.
07:53We're just going to brown the chicken now.
07:54Just want to develop some good color on that first side
07:57to help start our flavor base of our sauce.
08:00You can see, once you can tell that it started to cook
08:03up the sides, then we're going to flip.
08:05And we'll finish cooking it in a minute,
08:07but I'm going to flip it over and go about another minute.
08:11Beautiful.
08:13Color equals flavor.
08:14To our drippings, I'm going to add in some butter.
08:17You still have some of that oil in there.
08:19Add some onion, a little pre-chopped fresh garlic,
08:22because I had it and it's a time saver.
08:24As you stir, the onion will kind of lift some of that flavor
08:28off the bottom of the skillet.
08:29This just takes about a minute for those onions to start softening,
08:33and then I'm going in with some mushrooms.
08:35You're going to cook this until the mushrooms have cooked down.
08:37Now to create that smothering gravy, I'm going to go in with a little bit of flour,
08:42and let that cook for about 30 to 45 seconds, and then end with some chicken broth.
08:47You could also just use water here, because we have created a good bit of flavor in our skillet.
08:53But if you're like me, you always have like some of these open containers in your fridge.
08:57So just use it.
09:00Scrape up any remaining bits on the bottom.
09:02See our skillet's all nice and clean.
09:05I know y'all looked at that thing and thought,
09:06whoo, that skillet's dirty.
09:08Not anymore.
09:08When you think of like some soulful smothered food, you think of indulgence.
09:13I'm also going to go in with some heavy cream.
09:15If you don't want to do this, you can just add a little more stock.
09:17This is going to help make it even extra kind of thick and rich.
09:20All right, now I'm going to place our chicken back in and let it simmer for just about five minutes,
09:25along with any juices.
09:26And in the meantime, get your sides ready in the microwave.
09:30Green beans, I steam them in the microwave and then finish them on the stove.
09:33Look at this goodness right here.
09:36Short-cut smothered chicken.
09:38Simple yet comforting dinner.
09:40Ready to plate up.
09:42You know to keep this at a 30-minute dinner, I'm using store-bought mashed potatoes.
09:47But they're good.
09:49Good little chicken cutlet with plenty of sauce, because we've got to smother it.
09:54You could stir the bacon into the sauce, but I'm just going to put it on top for some extra
10:00texture.
10:01And why not?
10:02A little parsley.
10:03It does not look like a 30-minute dinner, I can tell you that.
10:06Cuts like butter.
10:09Swim in the sauce.
10:14Mm, my God, that's good.
10:16It tastes like a slow Sunday dinner, but fast enough to eat on a busy Tuesday night.
10:22The sheet pan is a great solution to short-cut dinners.
10:26For this 30-minute dinner, sheet pan hot honey chicken bowls.
10:30I love a bowl.
10:31I love doing a bowl night, because kids can make their own.
10:34You can prep everything ahead of time.
10:36Just makes for a really fun and easy dinner.
10:39I'm going to line a sheet pan with a little foil to make cleanup easier.
10:42And I'm going to spray it to keep from sticking.
10:45For this, I'm going to use the buneless, skinless chicken thigh, which happens to be my favorite, like,
10:51easy weeknight way to cook, because you really can't screw them up.
10:55I'm also going to add in some sweet potato and onion to the sheet pan.
10:58So I'll love a roasted sweet potato in a bowl or in a salad.
11:02I'm going to cut these in pretty bite-sized pieces so that they cook fast.
11:06You want to have your oven on a high heat, 425 to 450.
11:10That way we get a lot of caramelization in less time.
11:13And then buneless, skinless chicken thighs.
11:16I want to cut these also pretty bite-sized, just so they can go straight from the sheet pan
11:22onto your bowls.
11:23Chicken thighs.
11:24We love them also because they are so inexpensive.
11:27It's one of the few things that are still pretty inexpensive.
11:30Onto our sheet pan.
11:31I'm just going to season everything directly on the sheet pan.
11:33Put the veggies on first.
11:35Toss it with a little olive oil, a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.
11:41I love, like, a little smokiness with a little sweet.
11:45Okay, kind of get those to one side.
11:48It should all cook about the same time, but, you know, just in case.
11:51You can have the veggies on one side and the meat on the other.
11:53And I'm going to season the meat just the same.
11:55And then just be sure everything is touching the foil.
11:58Okay, that means nothing's stacked on top of each other so that it won't steam,
12:02but it'll actually roast.
12:04And now for the hot honey.
12:05This is also going to help develop color on all of this.
12:09I'm going to give it a little drizzle all over.
12:11If you don't want hot honey, you can just use regular honey here.
12:14Okay, then into our hot oven for about 15 minutes.
12:18So we're going to make bowls.
12:19I always like a base of rice, even though we have that sweet potato in there.
12:23And shortcut.
12:24I love having some of these packets on hand.
12:26So I'm going to do rice.
12:27And I'm also going to pull out another salad kit.
12:32I think something hearty, crunchy green is going to go great here.
12:36So any sort of kale salad mix or like a Mediterranean crunch salad.
12:41Oh, one more thing.
12:44Set of cheese.
12:44So now we have all the flavors in one bite.
12:50450 degrees for about 18 minutes.
12:53Here's what we got.
12:56A little caramelization on our chicken.
12:58It's definitely cooked through.
13:00Potatoes have a little crisp on the outside, but they're tender, as you can see.
13:04So I'm going to take some of the drippings that have accumulated.
13:08I'm going to pour them into a bowl.
13:09Make us a little dressing to go on top of our bowls or sauce.
13:17You can taste that hot honey in there.
13:20It's not really spicy at all.
13:22I'm going to go in with a little more and a little bit of red wine vinegar.
13:25Whisk in a little olive oil, a little salt and pepper.
13:29Set that microwave rice down on the bottom.
13:31One of our good sweet potatoes and onions.
13:34Good hot honey chicken.
13:36Take some of our salad mix.
13:38Toss a little of our dressing in there.
13:40This will give us so much texture, contrast.
13:44And then that feta cheese.
13:46Some of our good dressing.
13:48Crushed parsley.
13:49Hot honey chicken bowls.
13:51Ready in half an hour.
13:53A little bit of everything on the bite.
13:58The chicken is cooked so perfectly.
14:00You wouldn't believe that it could happen that fast in the oven.
14:03And you get the flavor because you can see the caramelization that happened.
14:06A little sweet and a little salty.
14:09There's very little spice in that hot honey.
14:12So you could even kick it up with some more cayenne or crushed red pepper.
14:15I love getting that little hit of saltiness from the feta too.
14:18It balances it all out.
14:19And it feels like just the perfect quick and light dinner to have as it gets warmer out there.
14:26Hot honey chicken bowls for the win.
14:30Another quick skillet dinner for the last trick.
14:32For this I am doing a creamy Tuscan chicken with orzo.
14:37Very similar to a marry me style chicken dinner.
14:41This is going to be so good.
14:43It's going to be rich and creamy.
14:45This might be your Friday night special dinner.
14:47And we're going to serve it over some orzo pasta.
14:49I'm going to go ahead and get this cooking because it only it takes about 12 minutes.
14:53And the whole dish takes less than 20.
14:55Get a large deep skillet.
14:57Hot.
14:57And then in with some olive oil.
15:00For this one though, I'm using the boneless skinless chicken breast.
15:02But to keep the cook time really low, I went ahead and cut it into about one inch pieces.
15:07Yes, I'm going to drop these in.
15:09Just get them into a single layer.
15:11And then once they're in, you can season it.
15:13A little salt and pepper.
15:15The recipe doesn't actually call for salt and pepper, but...
15:19And a little Italian seasoning.
15:21And a little garlic powder.
15:23Almost forgot.
15:24I'm just going to let this chicken brown.
15:26It's just that something when you're like,
15:28I've got another pack of boneless skinless chicken breast.
15:31What to do with it?
15:32Good idea.
15:33And the chicken's about halfway cooked.
15:34We're going to go in with a mixture of chicken broth and heavy cream.
15:38More broth than cream.
15:39And then we're going to bring this up to a simmer.
15:41The chicken will finish cooking and the sauce will get thick and creamy.
15:44A few ingredients to finish it off.
15:46Got some sun-dried tomatoes that I've just chopped up.
15:50And then because I like something green to consider it a full meal,
15:54I'm going in with a whole box.
15:55You could probably even add two boxes.
15:56It cooks down so much.
15:58And then also a big handful of Parmesan cheese.
16:01Now watch it all come together.
16:03That cheese is going to help it thicken.
16:05And then instead of serving this over pasta or rice or the orzo,
16:11I'm going to stir the cooked orzo directly into this.
16:14Stirring the orzo in is going to give it kind of that casserole effect.
16:18And I just love the casserole.
16:20Good move.
16:21Good move.
16:22I'm going out with a real special bang right here.
16:25I'm going to let that absorb a couple minutes.
16:28Time to dish this one out.
16:30This is a heavy and hearty dinner, my friends.
16:33Can we call it healthy because of all that spinach in there?
16:36My daughter would eat this up.
16:39This is the perfect meal to use buneless skinless chicken breast
16:43because it cooks in a short amount of time,
16:46so it's not going to overcook.
16:47That's the problem we have with buneless skinless chicken breast
16:50is a lot of people overcook them and then they're just dry and tough.
16:53But a quick, less than 30-minute dinner is the perfect piece.
17:01That's almost stupid.
17:02It's so good.
17:03I really love the bite of spinach with it.
17:05The sun-dried tomatoes add just like a touch of sweetness
17:07next to that salty, creamy cheese.
17:10I'm telling you, that's so good.
17:15That means it's the perfect score.
17:16Whether you're in the mood for something fast and fresh
17:18or creamy and comforting,
17:21I've got you covered with one of these five 30-minute dinners.
17:24If you've got time to go through a drive-through,
17:26you've got time to make these.
17:28Do this.
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